REVIEW: First Act VE591
The First Act VE591 is a unique beast. Part quality solid body electric, part modeling preamp, part headphone amp, there’s really not many competitors in this particular niche.
For starters we have a single cutaway electric guitar with two humbucking pickups, 22 frets, and a fixed bridge. The body outline is somewhere between a melted Fender Telecaster and a custom Manson guitar like those used by Matt Bellamy of Muse.
What makes this guitar different to the similar-looking Sheena model offered by First Act is its built in preamp. First Act says this system is designed to work with a stere, desktop recording console, mixing board, computer, headphones, or even through a standard guitar amplifier. The preamp utilizes V-Stack analog modeling technology to impart a little valve-inspired tone. The guitar itself features a basswood body in a very funky metallic platinum colour which further enhances the slight Manson look. The maple neck has a rather un-flashy rosewood fretboard, and the Alnco 5 pickups are of First Act’s classy semi-enclosed design. The guitar’s playability was fine straight out of the box, with the perfect amount of neck pitch to make the bolt-on neck feel more like a set-neck design. Those used to Les Pauls will feel immediately comfortable with this guitar.
The preamp has an on/off switch, a clean/distortion switch, and a voicing switch. One of the voices is round and full of harmonic overtones, almost like a wah wah pedal left in the stationary position. In clean mode, this is a good setting for jazz, but in distortion mode it’s a great, expressive lead sound. The other voicing sounds nice and sparkly in clean mode, and in distortion mode it creates a very listenable, nearly “Van Halen brown sound on a budget” kind of tone, especially through headphones or a mixing desk. This system would be perfect if there was some kind of ambience option, but as it is it’s a great way of getting very usable recorded sounds down, or to practice without the hassle of a tiny amp or a bunch of cords – just plug in a pair of headphones and off you go.
The preamp is also a great addition to a regular guitar amp, because you can kick the distortion in as a solo boost, or completely change your tone with the voicing switch. I found the distortion setting to be especially effective at squeezing a little more juice out of the crunch channel of my Marshall DSL50 head.
BODY: Basswood
NECK: Maple
FRETBOARD: Rosewood
ELECTRONICS: 2 Alnico 5 Humbuckers, V-Stack Preamp
EXTRAS: Soft case, headphones.
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3 Responses to REVIEW: First Act VE591
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Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), guitarworld.com, Tone Deaf, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Reverbnation or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com
I have to confess something. I normally gag at certain guitar designs like this. But this particular design has somehow grabbed my interest in a big way. I don't know what it is, but it looks perfect for its type.
On top of that, the fact that it sports double humbuckers, rosewood board, and especially this built-in preamp makes it all the more impressive.
Thank you for this review.
- G. E. Marrs (MusiciansDojo.com)
I'm really glad that you reviewed this guitar since I've heard that some pro guitarists prefer First Act guitars but I've never got to hear some straight dope on one (so speaking)
You did a good once over on this thing and I'm glad with what you heard, plus that body looks sick. haha
-Kyle
I bought this one used…well new and the guy passed this up for an EPISG…I love it it does have a decent range of sounds for stock set-up. I am thinking about doing a lower set-up on it. It has some nice variation between tele and some decent humbucker warmth…for the money hey you cannot beat it!Then again I had researched First ACt anyway before I had heard of this guiatr and had been buying my patch cables at WalMart…their patches are as good or better than way higher priced ones…only they cheapened them in the recent year with a molded plug instead of the blue screw-on which can be repaired! Get this guitar it's just plain fun…oh yeah I have a Start and a Squire tele…love them both this complements them well!