First Act ME509

Single cutaway body. Similar to a Tele, but with it's own vibe. White finish, Hardtail bridge, non string through body. The tuners seems decent enough, no major issues. A friend of mine gave it to me, so I'm not to sure what the original price would be, probably not too high. The neck on this thing is incredible. Really smooth, much thinner than my '52RI Tele, which is a nice difference. 22 rosewood fretboard and it stays in tune even on the high frets. Most guitars that I've played get a little out around 15 ot 17, but not this little guy. I like to keep controls pretty simple, so the one humber with just tone and volume knobs is nice. They're black plastic, but seem to be fine.

The single humbucker puts out a great sound. I was really suprised at the bite this thing has. I play mostly jazz, rock and alt. country. This guitar is really great for both. It's not as snappy as my Tele, which is another welcome difference. Sounds great through my AC30 and works great for some Rubber Soul/Revolver tones. I wouldn't use it for jazz, but that's about it.

The only dislike I kind of have is that I am used to playing with at least two pickups, but the one that this has is great.

The action was terrible when I got it. It was sitting in my friends attick for quite some time. But after I got it home, adjusted the neck, the action, and the pickup it was great. The neck was like butter. The finish got this cool yellowy age to it, which I dig. I haven't played one new, so I can't really comment on how it would be, but it sets up real easy anyways, so whatever.

The body is like a rock. It's been dropped, without a doubt, but it's still all together. The hardware seems sturdy enough, and if anything needs to be repalce, I don't see it being an issue. Everything seems like it would be compatable with other brands and such. I haven't had a change to use it live, but I most likely will. It'll be a backup, but I'm sure it will see some live action.

I called First Act's customer support to get some more info on the guitar before I wrote a review. They were very helpful and seemed happy to give me info on the guitar. I've also been to their store in Boston. Man, that place was great. Really helpful staff, comfortable seats, nice gear. And the encourage you to play the nice stuff!!! All the other music stores I go to keep their pricey stuff out of range, but they had their real nice custom stuff all at arms reach. A lot of cool effects too.

This is a good guitar. Period. Luckily I got mine for nothing, but I wouldn't think twice to pay to $200 or whatever it would usually go for. I may just go ahead and buy another First Act just to fix up and mess around with. I've been playing for about 6 years and own a '68 SG, 50's Tele, '52RI Tele, Epi Sheraton II, and MIM Strat. I wouldn't hesitate to put this along side the other. Probably wouldn't be my first pick, but it'll still get played.