# Whatever happened to First Act customs?



## MoshJosh (Oct 13, 2013)

So back in the day I listened to a lot of "core" music (I still do but don't tell) and I remember a whole bunch of bands played first act customs. Off the top of my head I can remember bring me the horizon, Norma Jean, and everytime I die. Where they just "endorsement whoring"(kinda harsh sounding but not sure how else to put it) to gain popularity and it didn't work out??? Just wondering what you guys think

Guitarist for Norma Jean 













Everytime I die





Underoath





Bring me the horizon


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## sell2792 (Oct 13, 2013)

I'm not sure, though I have played one in the past, and it was actual incredibly nice.


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## MoshJosh (Oct 13, 2013)

They always seemed pretty sweet to me, always wanted one especially the one in the 1st picture


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## MoshJosh (Oct 13, 2013)

Apparently this dude too


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## xzyryabx (Oct 13, 2013)

can someone explain first act customs to me?
I was always under the impression that first act guitars are pure crap....below entry level, probably geared towards kids as their first guitar......so the idea of anybody wanting a custom shop from from first act never made sense to me?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 13, 2013)

First Act: Shitty beginner guitars you can get for $50 at Wal-Mart
First Act Custom Shop: Really, really ....ing good custom-built guitars. I believe they have a store in Boston where you can check out their customs and possibly buy them and place an order, if they still do it. 

I remember seeing the double neck guitar/bass Ric copy they made for the guy from Boris. ....ing delicious.


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## Toshiro (Oct 13, 2013)

I would imagine it's hard to have brand recognition when you sell absolute garbage with your logo at Walmart. They should've keep the two lines separate, with different names and/or logos.


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## Exit Existence (Oct 13, 2013)

xzyryabx said:


> can someone explain first act customs to me?
> I was always under the impression that first act guitars are pure crap....below entry level, probably geared towards kids as their first guitar......so the idea of anybody wanting a custom shop from from first act never made sense to me?





Sure, They are a company that mainly makes guitars overseas for starter packages and entry level players like you said.

They also have a store/their headquarters in Boston Massachusetts, where they have their own US custom shop to build higher quality US made guitars.. just because they can.

I was there once like 10 years ago, kinda cool.. I guess lol
I played a few and honestly, they were "good" guitars but I wouldn't say in the same caliber as some of the major big brand's USA/JAP lines. IMO


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## bradthelegend (Oct 14, 2013)

You're right. I haven't really seen anybody playing one in a while. It looks like the shop is still up and running, though.

https://m.facebook.com/FirstActCustomShop?__user=1366994119

EDIT: I'm pretty sure Kurt Ballou still plays his.


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## smfcbow (Oct 14, 2013)

MoshJosh said:


> Apparently this dude too



That dude is one of the best metal riff writing machines out there. He is Brent hinds from mastodon.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 14, 2013)

It still exists, though they've scaled back considerably. I believe they're on the verge of being absorbed by one of the bigger guitar brand conglomerates. 

To me, their biggest fumble was not the cheap stuff itself, all brands have budget bullshit, it was not creating the "in between" lines of gear to help enforce the brand strength.


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## theronaldchase (Oct 15, 2013)

I actually have a ME501 that I got from a friend for $20. He had modded it with a Bare Knuckle Warpig in the bridge and I basically just bought it for that pickup but surprisingly it plays pretty decently. I may upgrade the hardware and maybe refinish it but I would much rather have a custom shop one.


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## -42- (Oct 15, 2013)

Someone who wants a bass should jump on this. It's a steal, really.


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## Valnob (Oct 15, 2013)

Lee from Bmth uses it in the studio but since he's getting a sig by epiphone, he only plays gibson/epi during live shows.

Guys from Architecs, Tdwp and other "core" bands uses them.
Apparently the First act customs guitar are the real shit quality wise.


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## Valnob (Oct 15, 2013)

This one is gorgeous !! green flame top hmmmmm.
and the shape is quite nice and I really like their "fender" style headstock


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## nikt (Oct 15, 2013)

I love this custom from First Act


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## Mysticlamp (Oct 15, 2013)

i have a girst act custom shop lola i got 2nd hand a few years back and it is on eof the nicest playing guitars i have ever owned, cost the guy about 2800 when he first commissioned it


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## jayelnyc (Oct 16, 2013)

I traveled to Boston in 2006 and happened to stumble into their store, never hearing about them before. Wasn't impressed with what they had, maybe it was just entry level crap I was looking at.


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## The Scenic View (Oct 16, 2013)

I was talking to an ex- First Act artist about the customs and he felt that, essentially, the "guitars lost their feel and tone overtime, and didn't hold up that great on the road". I was fortunate enough to play 2 of his customs and, I will say they were very nice. Also sounded great when plugged in (y). Unless they just stopped customs from lack of interest? It would be nice to see some new Custom FA's in the future though.


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## Chuck (Oct 17, 2013)

Always loved this one:






Tom Searle's, he plays in Architects


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## jordanky (Oct 17, 2013)

I have a one off Delia Hybrid and it is awesome. I will post up some pictures tomorrow when I get to work since I'm posting this from my phone, but I love my First Act and I also love the looks I get at shows when I am using it as my main guitar and one of my Les Paul's or Tele's are sitting idly on the guitar stand behind me haha.


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## imgarrett (Oct 17, 2013)

Dead and Divine also played/were endorsed by First Act.


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## JEngelking (Oct 17, 2013)

I love the First Act customs from the dudes in Mastodon, raises my GAS for both 9/12 strings and silverburst guitars.


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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 9, 2014)

Hey guys, just wanted to necrobump this out of interest.

I didn't really know about the First Act Custom Shop until early this year when I started doing some serious digging. Like many of you, I was instantly put off by the name and the fact that when people think of "First Act" they think of these "not even real" guitars that are kids toys sitting in WalMart.

From what I've been told, the First Act Custom Shop was created by one of the chief luthiers and some gentlemen who worked in the Gibson Custom Shop but branched off to do their own thing. Some pretty recognizable names in luthiery at the name. (I'd have to double-check with my dude who is my source for this.) But it makes perfect sense since all these artists whom you saw playing FACS guitars all played Gibsons before (and during) the time they had their FACS guitars.

Their artist roster during their pinnacle was crazy with bands like Underoath, Norma Jean, Converge, Bring Me the Horizon, Mastodon, High On Fire, Every Time I Die, etc.


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## MoshJosh (Dec 9, 2014)

I think dude from Cheap Trick had a custom, as well as one of the new Guns & Roses guitarists.

They definitely had a crazy roster going on


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## JD27 (Dec 9, 2014)

Nate and Scott from Skeletonwitch used them for a bit. Did they finally close up shop?


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## SandyRavage (Dec 10, 2014)

The luthier behind all of the first act custom shop stuff is John McGuire. He's also making the current God City stuff for Kurt Ballou and is an absolutely incredibly talented luthier.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-McGuire-Guitars/510929292270024?ref=ts&fref=ts

I'm pretty sure he still does custom stuff as well.


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## xwmucradiox (Dec 10, 2014)

They were giving all those big dudes whatever they wanted and were willing to do pretty much anything. Nick from Daughters had an absolutely insane 9 string. Regular people had to pay quite a bit though. A 9 string with pretty much no features was $3500 if you ordered it but occasionally they would post one on eBay and it would sell for around $1000.


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## AdenM (Dec 10, 2014)

Back around 09-10 it seemed like literally every major metal band in the scene was using them. They looked awesome, I remember seeing Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds raving about 9 string (think half a twelve string, not After the Burial style) customs that they used on Crack the Skye. Never saw the point of paying for an expensive custom shop guitar with a brand name associated with Walmart quality though. Definitely interested to see if they get rebranded if they are absorbed, some $800-$1.5k stuff along the lines of their customs could be interesting.


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## Emperor Guillotine (Dec 10, 2014)

Their is a custom Delia on Guitar Center's used site. Price droppin'.

Also, while we're at it, let's not forget Serj Tankian!
Serj Tankian | First Act Musical Instruments


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Dec 10, 2014)

SandyRavage said:


> The luthier behind all of the first act custom shop stuff is John McGuire. He's also making the current God City stuff for Kurt Ballou and is an absolutely incredibly talented luthier.
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-McGuire-Guitars/510929292270024?ref=ts&fref=ts
> 
> I'm pretty sure he still does custom stuff as well.



Those GCI guitars gave me a strong First Act custom vibe... NOW it makes sense.


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## Spaceman_Spiff (Dec 11, 2014)

I remember Matt Pike had one. Dunno if he still does.


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## Garfish (Dec 11, 2014)

Spaceman_Spiff said:


> I remember Matt Pike had one. Dunno if he still does.



Of what I have seen, he mostly plays his les pauls. 

Man, what I wouldn't do to own one of those les pau-ishl double cut in silverburst, besides paying $3.5k


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## RevelGTR (Dec 11, 2014)

So, does anyone know why the luthiers used/were associated with the First Act name? Seems like a bad business move.


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## Emperor Guillotine (Jun 23, 2015)

*mod edit: lets not necrobump ancient threads with what is basically a WTB... we have a classifieds section for those*


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