ME501 Review

Custom body shape, designed in First Act's Studio for Artists, single cutaway solid basswood body for rich and warm sound. Two Alnico magnet "vintage-style" covered humbucking pickups with crisp "vintage" sound and warm "rock" distortion. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard for a solid feel and warm tones.

Features:	10
Sound:	10
Action:	10
Reliability:	10
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	10
Users rating:	4.3
Comments:	74

overall: 10

Reviewed by: ministerpumbaa, on september 15, 2006

Price paid: $ 159.99

Purchased from: wal mart

Features: I got a 2004 model. Bolt-on, 3 peice neck. 3 & 3 headstock. It has 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard, maple neck. Dot inlays, with markers on the top side of the neck. it's a solid body guitar. Not sure of the wood though. It has a red fade finish with a cream colored binding on the body and on the fingerboard. Has a cream colored pickguard, same colored pickup seats. The shape is like a modified Telecaster, but still looks really original. Chrome hardware. String-thru body bridge with adjustable heighth/length saddles. Has bridge and neck Humbuckers. Two volume knobs. One tone knob. 3-way selector switch. Excelent covered tuner keys. It did not come with anything except an extra B and high E string, an allen wrench to adjust the truss rod and a beginners book. // 10

Sound: I play a lot of different styles. From country to rock to classic rock, heavy metal, death metal, a little funk, punk, ska, reggae and everything in between. And this guitar keeps up! I actually use it thru a First Act 15 watt amp. The amp sounded really bad until I replaced the generic speaker with an alpine. Now it screams! I also use it thru a DigiTech RP100 pedal. The guitar has a sustain of about 5.5 seconds, not bad. It is very crisp all the way up the fretboard. No buzzing of any kind. The guitar can produce a varied sounds, depending on the pick up selection. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: I have been friends with a guitar tech for while. I take all my guitars to him. He did not even have to touch this guitar. the action is fast, the pickups were in the right spot. The neck is straight. No flaws, even after 2 years of abuse! All the hardware is tight. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I use this guitar constantly! practice, gigs, wherever. It has held up very good so far. I have broken 1 high e string, because I bent the shit out of it. I have to tune it after about 20 hours of playing, I replace the strings about every 100-120 hours of playing. The finish has normal dings in it, but I am kind of hard on it. No real flaws as of yet. But give me time! // 10

Impression: I play all sorts of different music and this guitar is awesome. I've been playing for about 10 years. I have owned a high end Fender and Washburn, an Epiphone G, a Holiday, a Vintage Teisco, a Synsonic and a Squire (Fender knock-offs). I sold them (all except the Teisco) for some quick cash and stopped playing for about 2 and a half years. I bought this, after testing a couple other cheap guitars (including a Washburn, an ESP, and a few others) just to get my chops back to speed before I spent any real money. I was not expecting too much from this guitar, but I am very impressed with it. I would say it sounds better then the high end Wasburn and the Epiphone that I used to own. I currently own the ME501, a First Act accoustic (says Mark II on it for some reason, though), that I am also very impressed with, and the Teisco. Also have a DigiTech RP100 effect pedal, and the vamped up First Act amp If this guitar was stolen I would not be too upset just because of the price because. I am about to buy another high end guitar and I will go to First Act. I have played a couple and they sound really good. There I s actually a lot going on with First Act. I have read about quite a few pro studio guitarist starting to use them. Unlike other cheaper first acts, this guitar is well worth the money! // 10

Comments

[CoBmundus]

1st post

[doive]

Don't claim posts!!

I'm suprised this guitar is actually any good considering you got it for about £80 from wal mart. oh well beggars can;t be choosy

[heffe]

I have one too, and am a BEGGAR too.

I completely rebuilt the electronics (using the same pickups), but new knobs, wiring, star grounded, cavity sheilded...

You should hear it then!!! No THAT much difference, but sounds very nice. I run it through a yamaha aw16g then to the firstact little amp.

[xxadamnxx]

dude i saw this guitar at a toys r us and really wanted it just because it looks really nice. im really debating buying it and fixing up whatever is sub par

[seanie!]

"I would say it sounds better then the high end Wasburn and the Epiphone that I used to own"... I wouldn't go that far. these things are at the most Ok. People who have no idea about guitars think they're real nice, but there's really no comparison.

[teamzaius]

Never played one, maybe a good guitar for the money but in no way a perfect "10".

[hemi-san]

i have never had good experiences with first acts. if you are a beginner go for an ibanez pack, those are really good. besides nobody is gonna take you seriously with an axe called "first act". hells gonna freeze over before this thing earns a perfect 10. i mock your ratings hahahahaha.

[JacksonShred13]

umm i dont think i can trust this thread since you called and ESP cheap and explained that squires are fender knockoffs.

[Kutanmoogle]

It's almost like he was hired to glorify First Act...

To redeem the guitar though, I kinda like the pickguard shape.

[Buckethead4Prez]

I have a firstact. Don't bash it because of its name, it is a functional guitar. Mine isn't the greatest, but what do you expect for $85 guitar.

[claptonfan55]

So someone actually likes a First Act?! Wow.

[angusmeetsjimi]

First Act guitar, $159.99, purchased at Wal-Mart, and it gets straight 10's? Seriously???

[RadioMuse]

Right... Well maybe I'm missing something, I've only played one of their cheaper models at GC because it was on the used wall. They're definently solid guitars, but they are what they are. First Acts sound and feel cheap, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise. Well, I guess it's a personal choice, just don't count out more expensives brands just because they cost more, there's a reason for the extra $$$.

[hemi-san]

its really a lp knockoff gone terribly wrong

[seanie!]

i never said anything bad about first act, but literally. there's a HUGE difference between a guitar that costs $120 and a gutar that costs $1,200 besides a brand name. it's not even the fact you can pick up a first act at friggin' toys'r'us. it's made of crappy 3rd rate parts. just like epihpones, squires, and cheaper ibanezes, b.c. riches, and all the others, they are low end guitars. you've gotta think of what kind of parts, pain, and wood they're using when they sell them for $120 and still make money off them. you wouldn't give a bronze series b.c. rich warlock a perfect 10. i started playing on a rogue strat copy and most people've starting playing on or have played on cheap guitars. they're fine for what they are but they can't hold a candle to something even moderately priced.

[punkrcksk8er182]

it cant be a perfect 10!!!

[E V H 5150]

Cost matters nothing. You could probrably run the cheapest, worst first act guitar through a really nice amp and a good setup, and it would probrably sound better than a Gibson through a Frontman 15G. The point of Squires and Epiphones and other cheaper guitar lines is for learning. I will say, however, that those brands do have some nice guitars.

[i'm a noob]

that pickguard looks nice, never played the guitar, i hate walmart

[hemi-san]

boy thems fightin words where im from

[ready4thebreak]

i own a first act ME-95. Which basically looks like an ibanez GAX. I was blown away by how good they were at first. And i too owned and frequently played nice guitars while owning that. As time went on i started to realize that I was more shocked and awed at how good it was for a first act, rather than how good it was in general. Even when i first started playing guitar I would have never given this or any first act a 10 across the board. Not bad especiallly considering the convience(wal-mart stays open late) but thats not things that should really be added into the equation of the guitar itself

[Rest In Pieces]

I think we are all in agreement that (given a price to performance ratio) beginner guitars are just that, good to begin learning with. We want to develop skill before we buy the higher rate stuff. But I seriously think this guy works for First Act, cuz thats a bullsh*t review. Im slightly biased though, I discredited him since he bought it at WALMART aka world's largest retailer due to its innovative business. By innovative I mean questionable business ethics, borderline illegal practices, and the invention of "Minimum wage slavery.".... but I digress.

[axejam123]

yeah. no way a guitar this cheap would get all perfect 10s. in fact i dont think any guitars should ever get perfect 10s, cause no guitars are absolutely perfect. also, whats with comparing epiphones to first acts? spiphones are up there with the qualities of ibanez and some fenders if you ask me.

[loeuf]

What's with that review? A first act getting 10 on 10!?! My brother has a first act and it's simply the worst guitar I've ever played on! It can't even stay in tune! Even my old Stage is better than that and how could you possibly get a good quality guitar from Wal-mart? Me too I really think he's working for first act and only wants to do good publicity.

[Smitty101]

ok... a first act guitar.... from walmart, getting Perfect 10's.... WTF?! Man this guitar is shit... my little sister has one and you cant even tune it, you pluck the string and it goes out of tune, they're pieces of shits, stop publictising here, its for reviews, not to sell your products.

[supersolus666]

if first acts are so bad then why do mastodon and the guys from ministry use them?

[easthatred]

Because they dont make crap guitars for names in the business. And ministry is like first act they suck, and thats putting it nicely

[hemi-san]

they dont get their guitars off the shelf theirs are customshop and worth something

[RainingFire]

I bought my friends First Act off of him for $30 because I wanted something to smash at a gig and look like a badass... that tells you what I think of these "quality instruments"

[Wazini]

Perfect 10's... Ok ill go trade my fender for one...

[astrocreep71]

Man I have been playing for years. I have played some nice guitars and some that are just crap. I picked up my girlfriends one time too show her a little scale or something for her to practice, and didn't put it down for two hours. I am not saying that they're the best guitar or anything close to that, but for a low end price guitar, I was impressed. The action was nice and the fretboard was fast. Probably the best beginner guitar I have ever played. They may not all be that way(she may have lucked out) but if you only have a hundred bucks, I say go for it.

[supersolus666]

easthatred wrote:

Because they dont make crap guitars for names in the business. And ministry is like first act they suck, and thats putting it nicely

You can't say crap about mastodon though because they are god. just because some of the guitars from a brand are crap doesnt mean all of them are

[DirtyFryBassGuy]

squier is owned by fender! they're not knockoffs! they're just not quite as good quality as a fender and priced down. there was a time when squier was better than fender. learn about guitars before you review a piece of crap (such as a first act guitar) to be this godly guitar that no one takes seriously

[WhiteLightning]

yea i played a few first acts and they sucked... but who knows?.. and you say epiphone and b.c. rich and low end ibanezs are cheap and poorly made, well save some money and get the nicer ones not the $99 dollar ones like the posers at junior high or w/e, im first act has some better end guitars...

[WhiteLightning]

im sure first act has better end guitars*****

[SwingOnThis]

LOL, this whole thread is ridiculous. I have to agree with those of you that say that this guy works for First Act. My aunt owns a First Act, and my ex girlfriend left me hers that she bought for a guitar class at her school. She was a foreign exchange student and didn't bring her own because of cost. Now, I live in a small town and Wal-Mart is the biggest store for 30 miles. First Act guitars are located in the TOY SECTION there. These guitars are meant for children to learn on and even then, it is cruel to give a child something like this. I have played on 7 different First Act guitars and they cannot even stay in tune. I hate this company because they do in fact make $2000+ USD guitars, but they unleash this bull***t on the public and unsuspecting people expecting to learn something. You can't even learn on something that can't stay in tune. F*** you First Act.

[epiphone_sg]

dude wut the h ell this is a sick guitar i have like 2 years plaing everysingle day n i stil pick it up it is like buying a gibson lp for 500 bucks its like a really good guitar for the money it should be like 250 or so i mean it has two really nice humbuckers of course u can't compare it to a gibson fender bc rich or ibanez but it really keeps up...

[SwingOnThis]

epiphone_sg, you, my friend, are retarded.

[bobthesgman]

SwingOnThis wrote:

epiphone_sg, you, my friend, are retarded.

i agree 110%, whoever thinks this guitar is crappy is wrong, its Sh***Y

[Greendaygeek10]

LMFAO this is a walmart piece of ****ing shit! WASTE OF MONEY.

[Captain Insano]

Look at the brightside. If you bought one You can still smash it at the end of your show. I might buy one for that.

[skulkid288]

Greendaygeek10 wrote:

LMFAO this is a walmart piece of ****ing shit! WASTE OF MONEY.

You sir, are an idiot....all my frineds have these baracuda's, fenders, and fancy guitars that they paid hundreds of dollers on....i got my frist act for 40$ and it not only sounds way better but is way easier to play.

[skulkid288]

Captain Insano wrote:

Look at the brightside. If you bought one You can still smash it at the end of your show. I might buy one for that.

Yes its true, they sounds really good for a live show and if you make at least 100$ a gig you can smash one at the end of each show....and i plan to

[Diseased]

*ahem* I happen to to have this EXCACT model just diffrent colors and the reviewer knows what the **** hes talking about its a damn good guitar and i got mine for 200$ at guitar center. a bit more expensive then the one he got but still. it has a great sound and its easy to play just like skullkid said. so there :P

[TehLukeh]

I have a ME505 and the electronics fried after 5 months of play. Put your $150 towards the strat pack or something.

[TehLukeh]

Oh, and Diseased, why in the HELL would you pay $200 for a First Act?

[Kynyster_K]

Yeah Diseased... yer ****ed in the head. First Act SUCKS... I don't care what ANY of u say!!!!!

[Kynyster_K]

Why the Hell did I even look one up!? LOL... bored

[COBHC_inurface]

i used to have one of these and loved it. i paid 50 dollars for this and was the best fifty dollars i ever spent. this guitar handled everything i threw at it. at the time i bought it i also owned a fender strat sss and a gold top les paul. this thing blew them both away as soon as i tuned it up. the sustain and tone is excellent! i dont care what any of you stuck up pricks say about first act but listen to this, my friend has a b.c. rich zombie and a schecter discontinued model like the one the guy from haste the day has and my first act sounded better and played better than both his guitars on the same rig. this guitar powns. it handles overdrive ditortion grunge and clean way better than my sg and my tele. i regret selling it.

[I am punk "BF"]

First act is actually a real good company. Some sell for over 2,000 dollars. People always say that first act is a beginners company. The first act beginner guitars are called first act "Discovery." First act is a real company. Some first act guitars are more expensive than an epiphone.

[j eastman]

Having just bought this model, it's just as good as the reviewer states.
I've played Fender Telecasters, Stratocasters, Gibson SG's and Les Pauls, and this little $50 guitar can stand up with the best of them.
I received mine last night via UPS...I was on my way to rehearsal, and didn't have time to even change the strings, but I was so excited, I didn't care. I showed up and played for three hours with the stock strings, and was pleasantly surprised. Although I checked the tuning after every song, the guitar stayed balls on through the whole rehearsal, and being the lead guitarist, I bends those strings quite a bit. Yeah, the rest of the band laughed at first, but afterwards they all wanted to know where they could get one...
I used to be hung up on the name brand guitars, but no more - I'll be bringing this ax on stage with me next week...My American made Telecaster will take the back seat for a while...

[j eastman]

Having just bought this model, it's just as good as the reviewer states.
I've played Fender Telecasters, Stratocasters, Gibson SG's and Les Pauls, and this little $50 guitar can stand up with the best of them.
I received mine last night via UPS...I was on my way to rehearsal, and didn't have time to even change the strings, but I was so excited, I didn't care. I showed up and played for three hours with the stock strings through my Tech 21 Trademark 60 amp, and was pleasantly surprised. Although I checked the tuning after every song, the guitar stayed balls on through the whole rehearsal, and being the lead guitarist, I bend those strings quite a bit. Yeah, the rest of the band laughed at first, but afterwards they all wanted to know where they could get one...
I used to be hung up on the name brand guitars, but no more - I'll be bringing this ax on stage with me next week...My American made Telecaster will take the back seat for a while...

[I am punk "BF"]

Buckethead4Prez wrote:

I have a firstact. Don't bash it because of its name, it is a functional guitar. Mine isn't the greatest, but what do you expect for $85 guitar.

Dude, i so agree, the reason people bash it is because the beginner first act guitars are called "First Act Discovery" the real ones are called just "First Act" They play great, and they make studio guitars. Also, more famous rock artists use First act guitars then Washburns, I checked. First acts are pretty sweet.

[ThatGuy177]

This review has to be a joke. And ESP guitars aren't cheap.

[blackborrego]

it only looks great ! hahaha

[Happy Meal]

j eastman wrote:

Having just bought this model, it's just as good as the reviewer states.
I've played Fender Telecasters, Stratocasters, Gibson SG's and Les Pauls, and this little $50 guitar can stand up with the best of them.

need i say anything more retard...

[mr. ...]

[quote]heffe wrote:

I have one too, and am a BEGGAR too.

I completely rebuilt the electronics (using the same pickups), but new knobs, wiring, star grounded, cavity sheilded...

why would you put all that wwork into a crappy wal mart guitar?

[quote]j eastman wrote:

I've played Fender Telecasters, Stratocasters, Gibson SG's and Les Pauls, and this little $50 guitar can stand up with the best of them.

this has to be a joke

[kjkamo]

This guitar sucks, the pickups sound ok for clean, but they're horrible for distortion, if u get this guitar and want to keep it i'd recomend buying better pickups

[underoath0902]

i had one of these...before i destroyed it i was ok but then i got a manly-man guitar so i took this one and beat it up and ripped the neck pickup out

[ChicNStu0017]

well...I guess I can say it looks cool

[herrotim]

i have one of these
it was my first gitar and i liked it
its not extremely good
but its slightly better than a squier
good enough for 50 bucks

[TAOD4ever]

Never buy a guitar from Wal-Mart it should be a no-brainer

[j eastman]

I'm back, and I think it's humorous people's response to my review. The ME501 has replaced my Fender Telecaster as my main guitar for stage and recording - I love it. I love the sound, and the playability. It's still stock, though the finish has cracked on the body.

If you're the type concerned with perception, then this isn't the guitar for you...keep playing your overpriced ESPs, Gibsons, and Fenders - for those of us you enjoy a good garage band and Pabst, do yourself a favor and pick up this gem in the rough.

As evidence, here's some poorly shot video of my band in the studio - you can see me playing the First Act

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC3e4kc5ZSs

[fret_it_fast]

The first electric I ever owned... I still play it almost every day. I like the Alnico pickups that came stock. I did have to remove a few screws to fix the bridge, seeing that it was at a HORRIBLE angle and the neck isn't set straight in the joint, but overall, I really dig it. I use it to play mostly metal but play AC/DC, Def Leppard, etc. as well. Great guitar.

[teknotard]

FIrst act can make very respectable guitars. This comming from someone who owns over 20 instruments (most of which are guitars).

What it comes down to is affordabilty. This is an affordable (if you get it from first act it is 60 dollars). It isn't a 2000 dollar guitar, I realize. But what people fail to factor in, is that a guitar can only sound as good as the person playing it. I am very accomplished guitarist and I can make a 100 dollar guitar sing. When I play on stage no one ever questions the quality of my instrument because they don't need to.

And lets be realalistic here, how many average people can tell the differnce between a cheap guitar and a good one? Most can't... So what's the big deal you are playing for people who can tell the difference between a flager and a phaser, or an overdirve vs a distortion.

Don't get me wrong I love a good tone, but Tone Snobs are usually just that, tone snobs, because they have to make up for a lack of talent.

[rocker12344]

j eastman wrote:

Having just bought this model, it's just as good as the reviewer states.
I've played Fender Telecasters, Stratocasters, Gibson SG's and Les Pauls, and this little $50 guitar can stand up with the best of them.
I received mine last night via UPS...I was on my way to rehearsal, and didn't have time to even change the strings, but I was so excited, I didn't care. I showed up and played for three hours with the stock strings through my Tech 21 Trademark 60 amp, and was pleasantly surprised. Although I checked the tuning after every song, the guitar stayed balls on through the whole rehearsal, and being the lead guitarist, I bend those strings quite a bit. Yeah, the rest of the band laughed at first, but afterwards they all wanted to know where they could get one...
I used to be hung up on the name brand guitars, but no more - I'll be bringing this ax on stage with me next week...My American made Telecaster will take the back seat for a while...

i totally agree but this is all opinionated. test one out and see what its like and if you dont like it thats fine. but i might just buy one
[quote]

[falco.1993]

used to play a First Act strat copy....damned thing didn't stay in tune more than a day. And the pickup was faulty, couldn't get any sound out of the 5th and 6th strings. Bad thing is, I'm probably gonna have to settle for another one if I want to play an electric again....

[badbass64]

I use a Digitech RP100 as well with my First Act and it works pretty well.

[Jonesie110]

first act is the guitar you get for a snot nosed little brat that wants to learn guitar and the parents dont think hell stay wit it... but if u want a guitar that will last for moderate players, you gotta spend more than 100 dollers on the shit- dam a lot of people are retarded!!

[oBAYESo]

not gunna lie i had a first act guitar i thought it was amazing until i played a good guitar ha then i actually threw mine off of my house on my friends cell phone video ha

[mattcoggins515]

I got the car 5 years ago, and it's still around, but no thanks to the first act company. The wiring had been messed up since i got it, and the sound was always terrible anyway. I ended up covering it in white ducttape (so that it would look nice), giving it a seymour duncan bridge pickup, and getting the wiring fixed, and now i play a semi-nice quality guitar through my crate amp.

the stupid thing is, all of the upgrades cost more than the guitar itself. probably twice as much. with that price i could have gotten a jay turser jt50, which have the same sound as my current guitar and look much better.

but yeah, beggars cant be choosers.

[A.J.4991]

ok seriously ESP dominates first act. I don't care if your useing an h-50, an ec-50, or any of the other ESP "50s" ESP just butt rapes first act. no one takes first act guitars seriously. And to the person who said Mastodon uses first act, Bill Kelliher used a first act for one song and one song only, other than that Mastodon uses Gibson.

[warbeast19]

If you had $150 to throw around on junky guitars, why not take the time to go price yourself a nice name-brand guitar on ebay???

[warbeast19]

Buckethead4Prez wrote:

I have a firstact. Don't bash it because of its name, it is a functional guitar. Mine isn't the greatest, but what do you expect for $85 guitar.

correction - $150 guitar

[skooponsomebody]

Please don't bash, First Act is beginning to become a real guitar company. With models reaching into the $2,000 range, they are being picked up and reckognized by many famous artists. I have the newest version of this guitar, and coming from a Fender Standard Strat, I must say this is a well built guitar, and has great tone. I wouldnt, however, take this to a gig, I might be a little embarrassed. Not because of the quality, but because of the name. It will take many years for First Act to be respected.