I have this guitar and completely took it apart to clean every inch of it, and when I took the neck off the body, VOILA!!! Solid MAHOGANY body :)

I own over two dozen First Act guitars. I love them. Not fancy but great for DIY projects. Definitely not for guitar snobs.

@nicksargent8851

6 жыл бұрын

Lance E my 953 is gonna be here tomorrow. Have you done anything cool with them?

@sheepkillindog

3 жыл бұрын

That’s great to know. Going to pick one up for under 20 bucks and chop it down to a travel guitar.

@aniquinstark4347

3 жыл бұрын

The old custom shop First Act's were genuinely fantastic quality, easily rivaling Gibson and Fender. They were unfortunately managed by idiots though so that shop was closed years ago, leaving only their kinda shitty factory-built instruments.

@kodyschmautz7799

2 жыл бұрын

Actually first act makes guitars/instruments with several thousand dollar price tags made by hand by luth's in USA, that traverse well into potential snobbery territory. I think they kinda tarnished up their own name in a way by cranking out cheap guitars and basically dominating all of the different "___mart" stores especially Walmart, for almost two decades if not longer, to the point that most people my age (31) who play guitar will likely say their first ever guitar was either a first act or possibly a squire mine was a first act. Was shitty but at the same time really wasn't that bad, sounded ok but memory is telling me it felt not the best but again it got the job done and I can attribute my continuing playing to this day at least in part to that old first act guitar. But it's to the point that most people don't even realize first act makes high quality custom shop one off instruments and inknow at least I myself simply can't get it outa my head that they are NOT a student guitar company and I believe their name itself doesn't do them any favors in that regard

Love the "pawn" shop look of this :)

I know its an old video, but I just got one of these the other day from a pawnshop for $25 that is simply awesome. Frets need a polish, but they're dressed perfectly and level enough for a good action without dead spots, feels great to play. No tuning or electronics issues in mine, though I do hate the top loading bridge. I have several different First Act guitars and they usually require a lot of work to the nut and frets to become playable guitars. I got started on them for learning to do that work on cheap instruments and found that once said work is done they do make fun guitars. But this 222 I got required no work. I don't know if you got a dud, or I got one that some previous owner put the work into, but I love mine.

love the guitar and the others on the background and those pedals too

not bad looks sum jack white whould play

@bleckybob

6 жыл бұрын

HELLCHILDFAN101 yeah...jack white could play literally anything and make it sound crappy. Lol.

@whatskraken3886

5 жыл бұрын

@Mona r/woosh

Got one of these at a guitar center for 50 bucks. It played amazingly. I sanded the pickguard and painted it black, and then sanded off the black paint in areas to make it look like cow print. I replaced the pot and switch, neck plate and put on some Hipshot open gear locking tuners. While comparing it to my dad's 2008 Les Paul standard gold top, it's amazingly comparable, plays like butter and sounds great. I use Ernie ball 10.5 strings on it, and used a radius guage to match the radius of the saddles to the fretboard. Great guitar, it intonated really well, plays amazingly and I play it all the time. Love this guitar!!

The model name is pronounced "Twenty-Two-Twent," if I recall correctly.

@bleckybob

6 жыл бұрын

Aaron Abubo isn’t it two twotee Twenter?

Ok agree with most of what you said. The body on mine is solid wood not plywood. The restringing is a pain but doable. I set the action and tweaked the neck tuned it and set the high e bridge adjustment at 25" and set the follow on to my regular way of setting this type of bridge. Rough intonation settings were nearly spot on. It had a noname 500K pot and the wiring was fine as was the switch. The tuners were horrible. The teflon spacers were gone on most of them. So I have some inexpensive replacements coming. Back to the bridge....it is working fine without the screw problem you mentioned. I set all my action low by a tweak between all the truss rod and the bridge height which was rough set for the 9.5 radius. Good review and thanks. I put 10's on it EB slinky green packs.

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

the bridge functions, having the press against the screw like that just makes me nervous. I couldn't find much hard info on it which is why i guessed in places.

I picked up one of this, Im waiting for shiping haha. Just I love the weird/vintage japanese guitar design. Thanks for review

@pulpero666

7 жыл бұрын

I promise a sound test soon, its a model with only one HB

i had two of these for janking around with when i was in high school and poor, and the output jacks just straight up fell out on both of them

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

Feral Star Records I'm not surprised

@dannyh7557

6 жыл бұрын

First Act is still better than Gibson.

@theearthenstar1355

6 жыл бұрын

I was ready for a heartwarming story but got a disaster tale instead xD

I picked this model up a few days ago and proceeded to strip it to clean the hell out of it, and after removing the neck, found out why the damned thing feels so heavy. The body is solid mahogany! There, saved you the trouble of scraping anywhere on the body lol

I just picked up one of these same color too...60 bucks with a little Fender front man 15G amp, I bought it to sharpen my set up skills and I thought looked cool too, the pickup toggle switch is broken off...guess I'll order a cheap China one from Amazon and see what I can accomplish from it, I don't expect it to play that well but hey! You never know. Thanks for the video!

Guitar is made from Basswood. My friends one is made from 4 pieces. Perfectly good guitar !

I picked up a First Act guitar from Craigslist for $30 for the sole purpose of using it for parts. I used the neck, tuners, bridge, controls, and the single humbucker. I made a license plate guitar from all of it. I was really amazed! I must have got lucky and got a good set of tuners...they work great! The pickup sounds awesome too! From what seemed like junk, actually turned into one of my most favorite guitars to play! It's crazy, cause I have maybe $45 at most in the whole project! I have guitars that cost 10 times that and more and seems like I grab the lil cheap license plate guitar to jam on most of the time!

Just picked up one of these from my local shop for cheap. Sounds good, feels good. FANTASTIC guitar if you plan to do work on it and thrash it out. 🤘

It's a FIRST ACT 222 ELECTRIC GUITAR that was designed as the Adam Levine model, this is a pretty sharp looking guitar that doesn't play bad either. Featuring a White Body Design Double Cut-Away Electric Guitar Package Custom Designed by Adam Levine & First Act Features Die-Cast Tuning Machines Pick Guard, Precision Tuning Gears, Smooth, Fast Feel

I just bought this guitar for 20 bucks.It's great!Solid build quality.I am very happy.

The bridge on my squire telecaster is almost exactly like you mentioned. It's quite a feat to restring because of the way you have to lace then through. And some of the screws also touch the strings. That's probably the biggest problem. I pretty much got the stringing down pat.

The tuners are probably the most expensive part that will need replacing. Mine were all different feeling to each other from new, and soon one of them got stiffer and stiffer until the force needed to turn it snapped the peg off. If you want one, get some replacement tuners at the same time, and a small metal saw to cut down the bridge intonation screws....

My first guitar was a First Act ME 4016 the brown one with the decal on the arm comfort carve

the pickups are artec 8k for the bridge, I broke one apart, the necks are pretty solid on those too, so with a file you can get the neck really good for what it is.

I bought an older model first Act single Humbucker P/U. I was very surprised at how well it was built and sounded (after I put a set of new strings). Solid body & Neck well balanced. So NO NECK DIVE! Now they make the bodies our of a plastic so the neck is heavier than the body. It's a PITA onless you just sit & play.

I had the Volkswagen gutiar for a short time. LOVED those pickups! I would put them in something else

Plywood guitars are a thing of the past. CNC brought down the cost of production. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s companies would use plywood to save money because they had to pay more for labor.

I have/had several FA's. I paid 30 or less for each. Awesome once set up.

Found a me537 and a red flying arrow ....next to the dumpster for free!!! and they work! missing a couple strings though .....

@markflores2475

2 жыл бұрын

Dude you lucked out with 2 free guitars!

Had me one of these and it played very well. Cheap and kinda thin sounding but with 12s it sounded great

@arkie74

Жыл бұрын

or have a 2x12, with a 2x15 bottom cab. then add some gain. alot of gain, because it isnt a heavy enough guitar for low end metal, like doom, or drown metal. more of just "a guitar" for starter , to intermittent.

@STAY-GOLD-VINYL

Жыл бұрын

@arkie74 most low end guitars sound killer on a setup like you mentioned. My first guitar was a warped old shed find lol

@arkie74

Жыл бұрын

@@STAY-GOLD-VINYL ..when you said "12s". did you mean strings or speakers? lol

@STAY-GOLD-VINYL

Жыл бұрын

@@arkie74 Yep 12 like Not Even Sminky Ernie Ball strings. Thick and robust sound

Thanks you just talked me out of buying one of these.

@noahh4682

3 жыл бұрын

You probably made a good financial decision.

Hah! I picked up my first act guitar at a yard sale for 25 bucks also! Fun little rig for the price!

This was my first electric guitar, wish i still had it lol

I have a First Act Strat copy that I got for 35 bucks, after I put 11s on it, it hasn't gone out of tune since

@griffinm4224

6 жыл бұрын

David Chamberlain I use 12’s on 222 (different one then this video) and it’s surprisingly great tuning and action wise

Fix it and keep it Dude! Looks Killer

a giant see through pasty dude playing a tiny guitar. love it.

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

Joshua Fraser lol ;-)

@joedohn9727

4 жыл бұрын

This is Amurrican is it comes!

@nathanjaredellis

3 жыл бұрын

Umm has a full head of hair and doesn't need a man bra... maybe focus on the guitar break down rather than critiquing his appearance there big sexy. ;)

@JoshuaFraserK

3 жыл бұрын

@@nathanjaredellis it's a running gag. You might notice the lol from Ryan. Ryan plays the way he plays and looks the way he looks and is who is he is, and that's cool. As far as the man bra comment, I can say that I also play the way I play, look the way I look, and am who I am, and that's somewhat less cool than Ryan.

Bridge looks like a copy of the one on a Squier Mini Strat. Mine has 2 shorter screws to keep from hitting the strings during intonation adjustments. ;)

This was my first guitar ever, I still have it, thing has hella issues but it’s rigged to still work good enough lol.

Ryan, that ac15 sound really good, very dynamic.

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

Joey Chamblee you are going to love my next demo

What's that gold upside down V guitar in back??

Modern day Tiesco/Kay/Silvertone

@popsfereal

4 жыл бұрын

Except better.

the body makes it look like a jr. model.

I got one today for absolutely nothing. Seriously, I got it for free. Mine is also missing a string, and the volume pot is super scratchy. I'm gonna put some grovers and a pair of filtertrons in it because it's my new experimentation instrument.

please do a mod on this guitar....show us what bridge replacement would work with a top loading bridge. Swapping out the tuners would be cool as well... would it work with a squire neck? Many guitar modders like me, love the looks of many of these models and would like to explore fixing one up so it would be a gig ready guitar for "a few songs"... I appreciate your channel a bunch.... your honesty about guitars is refreshing...

@60CycleHumcast

2 жыл бұрын

This was filmed years ago and I don't have this guitar anymore.

Hi there I just picked up this guitar was an amp books and a gig bag and a stand for 40 bucks strung new strings on it today and I cannot get intonation right anybody have any tips strum E string open Perfectly in tune hold on the 12th fret saying it is a D

If you only paid $25, and it's needing a bridge replacement and new tuners, go for it! Parts, inexpensive, can be found on eBay.

I think I see where they got the body shape; it's a Silvertone 1448 at the neck with a circle overlapping everything else.

@oyobass

6 жыл бұрын

To me it looks very Brian May Red Special-ish

First act guitars may be cheap and not sound very good, but I'll give them credit for designing their own guitar bodies and pickups and not copying Fender or Gibson

I had a Dean Vendetta (shortscale of some sort... maybe 3/4) with the same terrible bridge. I know just what you mean here. It also wasn't seated in the correct place, so I have to use some pretty heavy strings in order to get the low E to even intonate. I gave it to my cousin once I got it to intonate, because I was so mad at it I was never going to use it. And I know it's stupid, but it makes be wary of ever considering a Dean ever again... even though it was a crappy student version. Companies should probably think about that a little more. If they're going to make a piece of crap, they shouldn't put their regular brand name on it. It left a really bad taste in my mouth for Deans even though I've heard good things about some of their stuff.

Thoughts on the First Act VW guitar?

@Roccolittlechicago

3 жыл бұрын

They're fantastic. All the old mid-range FA are killer

Exotic plywood Hahahah that's funny!

How heavy (weight) is this? Is it a short scale?

Heh, I just picked up (this morning) a white Adam Levine 222 model for free, somebody had dropped it off at the rubbish and recycle bins at our apartment complex. It's in real good condition, just the top of the toggle switch has been snapped off and needs a new set of strings, but otherwise looks brand new. Could be fun, we'll see.

@Ezra.rae28

4 жыл бұрын

Rogue Cheddar hahaha a similar situation I went for a late night taco bell run and pulled into a church and when I went to throw my trash away they had it sitting next to the garbage

@mikegraphone2736

2 жыл бұрын

I hope to find a guitar in the trash someday.

@roguecheddar

2 жыл бұрын

@@mikegraphone2736 I was lucky, I put the DR Neon colored strings that correspond to the Rocksmith 2014 guitar software for the PC. The guitar plays good and stays in tune. Can't get much better than that.

@mikegraphone2736

2 жыл бұрын

@@roguecheddar That is real cool I actually have one of these guitars as well I like the neck.

If anyone knows where I can find/buy one of these, I am searching for it desperately. It was the first guitar I ever played as a kid, saved my birthday money and bought it at target! Trying to get my hands on one for ol sentimental value

@GreendayversusU2

3 жыл бұрын

here it is on reverb: reverb.com/item/40839938-first-act-adam-levine-222?gclid=CjwKCAjwoZWHBhBgEiwAiMN66cVqZvr5DbP9g6o5Jhrpnt6jDvyMHMvd6jx0dg_VEaebh4CbHd3nZBoCUu0QAvD_BwE

it puts u in PRS terf, norma jean and other bands use to play the custom area of them .... JS

i have this and adore it. Feels amazing. It needs some hardware upgrades but it sounds better than some of my 400 dollar guitars. If anyone has experience modding them, hit me up!

@edwardevans652

3 жыл бұрын

I have one too. The mods I’d make are Block the trem, Level and dress the frets, Replace the nut with tusq or other hard synthetic compound and a setup of course. I’d also upgrade the wiring and pots and tuning pegs. I think that’ll be the best upgrade for the 222. Switching out the pickups and bridge will make this project too expensive. Good luck with your mod.

amazon reviews, compare this 35 bucks guitar with 500 dollar level - pll seems to love it

@maxsideburn

2 жыл бұрын

they really do sound way better than you'd think they do. feel and play well too. really they're a steal.

Where do you get these Hawaiian shirts?

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

happysound? Old navy, I love their tall sizes

@plainfuji1865

6 жыл бұрын

Thrift shops duuude

@grantkoeller8911

6 жыл бұрын

Hawaiian shirts are for sale at any Salvation Army or goodwill store

acabo de obtener una guitarra 222 es negra y tiene solo 2 botones y una pastilla ??

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

Hay algunos modelos diferentes en la serie 222. - steve

I have that guitar

$25 ? Holy shit !

I think Kurt Cobain would have played these

I was about to buy this guitar but after seeing this I won't now, thanks a lot!

Could you put a toploader tele style bridge on it?

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

slartbarg probably, the question is "how much do i want to invest into this guitar?"

@slartbarg

7 жыл бұрын

60 Cycle Hum true, could be an interesting opportunity/exercise in doing it as inexpensively as humanly possible

@60CycleHumcast

7 жыл бұрын

I have have enough scrap tuners around i might go down that road.

I have one - fucking thing plays and sounds better than an old Gibson melody Maker! I think they put the wrong pups in it, because they ROCK. Just have to replace the tuners; they do slip out lol...

@EnvyOw

5 жыл бұрын

I'm looking at a Les paul copy from first act what is the body made and neck made up? And would paying 60$ for be overpaying?

@maxsideburn

2 жыл бұрын

these things really do have no right to sound as good as they do. they sound like something 5x the price, easily. very unique sound too.

You can find these on shopgoodwill.com for like $10.

Put a switch in it and enjoy it.Most tuning problems are because of the nut slots not being cut right or you don't know how to wind the strings properly on the tuners properly to keep them from slipping.I have a First Act Garage Master VW promotion guitar and its a solid player I love it.The humbuckers kick ass IMO I'm not sure beta males type that live in their parents basement are supposed to play guitar and that shirt is really awful dude just sayin'.

Better than nout! 🤘

This video scared the shit out of me because I saw listing for the same guitar missing a string but I wasn't I quite enjoy it the tuners a kinda of shitty might change them I picked up the single pickup version next month for 30

are you going to fix it?

@dannyh7557

6 жыл бұрын

no

The cheap guitar modding punk rocker in me seriously want one. Ha!

@nicolea2839

Жыл бұрын

OMG! Fellow punk! I’m a guitarist too

10:1 ratio on the tuners make it hard to tune.

my guitar

sell it to me-e-e!!

Adam levine guitar

CHECK OUT THE VW GARAGE MASTERS. AWESOME GUITARS AND COLLECTABLE

The stringing is the worst part of most first - act guitars. I've owned several. With a little bit of work they range from playable to very decent

Pickups p90????

It wouldnt make it a through a........ song. LOL.

I'll pass. Better axes out there for $100. Jackson Dinky is where it's at.

I'm not sure how a guitar of such poor build quality -- a switch and pots that break if you look at them funny, unreliable tuners -- could be considered "student quality", unless it's for a student you don't like. I hope you decided to trash it. The bridge with its Fender-ish individual saddles looks like the top-loading one on a Squier Affinity Tele, which works fine except for having to thread the string through the saddle from behind (a finicky job, I agree!) rather than from the traditional hole directly below the saddle.

maroon 5

Looks small. My Grandson could use this for his first guitar.