Visitors to First Act’s NAMM booth heard both the GarageMaster and VE591 guitars played through the audio system of a brand new Volkswagen GTI, echoing the recent ad campaign starring Slash, John Mayer, and Christopher Guest.

The spotlight was also on our Limited Edition and SFA guitars, which were hooked up to V-Stack amps for players to try out on the sonically vibrant tradeshow floor.

A “wall of fame” display was filled with autographed album covers, replicas of custom guitars created by First Act for famous artists, from Martin Gore of Depeche Mode to Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick.

First Act’s Director of Sales, Alton Etheridge, gave Fox News a tour of the booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Click on the link below and scroll down “Guitars, Guitars, More Guitars” to watch the tour:

Guitars, Guitars, More Guitars

First Act is proud to have been named “Vendor of the Year” by Toys “R” Us. This award is given annually to the vendor that “best exemplifies the Toys “R” Us commitment to kids, family, and fun.”

We created a stylin’ double cutaway, carved-top electric for Adam Levine of Maroon 5. Loaded with two First Act high output humbuckers, it’s ready for big studio and stage sound. A flame maple top shines through the transparent black burst finish. White binding with abalone purfling runs around the body, fretboard, and headstock, punctuating the guitar’s unique shape with subtle, shimmering color.

As a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for the illustrious Los Lobos, David Hidalgo is fluent in blues, rockabilly, jazz, and Latin musical styles. His custom First Act guitar has a Delia body with a premium flame maple top and an antiqued natural finish. Two P-900 pickups deliver gorgeous tone. Gold hardware adds a warm sparkle.

Brad Rice’s custom guitar dishes up warm country and rootsy rock sound. Beginning with the Delia body, we added a P-90 pickup in the neck position and a humbucker in the bridge position. The vibrato tailpiece delivers delicious blues squeals and country twang. Crisp white binding offsets the ebony finish and gold hardware dresses it up. Brad’s nickname
“Sweet B” is inlayed at the 12th fret.

ESPN launches a new promotion this month, and a First Act custom guitar is the star. For the brand new, full-featured ESPN Fantasy Baseball, First Act crafted a custom guitar in the shape of home base. The 30-second spot titled "Fantasy Baseball is Free" is a mock-opera and features "Baseball Tonight" co-host John Kruk. ESPN sportswriter/media personality Peter Gammons plays the First Act Base Guitar along with cameo appearances by Bronson Arroyo, Carlos Lee, Gary Sheffield, Joe Borowski and baseball fanatic and Rush bassist, Geddy Lee. The spot airs this month on all ESPN networks.

Watch the ad here and the making of the ad here.

Fueled by the success of the recent promotion with Volkswagen, First Act’s engineers have created the VE591 guitar. Designed with a built-in V-Stack pre-amp, the VE591 can be plugged into anything with an input and a speaker, and it sounds like it’s being played through a real guitar amp. Players can shred through their home stereo, car stereo, desktop recording setup, mixing board, or boom box and get incredible tone. Of course, the VE591 can be rocked old school through a guitar amp. Turn down the amp’s gain, and the pre-amp acts like an effect pedal, allowing rich analog distortion through the amp.

Craig Small, Senior Product Manager, described the guitar’s sound:

“The VE591 is sensitive to the touch of a light or a heavy strum. It can sound crystal clean, a little rock ‘n’ roll dirty, or like full-on metal. The design challenge was to make it sound great through almost anything, and to create a vintage yet timeless look for the guitar. Guitar geeks and desktop recording enthusiasts will be excited about the warm, sunny, organic analog touch in a cold, dark, digital age.”

The body shape was created in First Act’s Studio For Artists custom shop. Basswood was chosen for its bright sound and light weight. A maple neck warms up the tone, and a rosewood fingerboard provides just enough mid-range to complete mother nature’s EQ.

Two Alnico V magnet, vintage-style chrome humbuckers deliver the juicy tone. The VE591 comes with both 1/4" and 1/8" adaptors, a padded guitar case, and headphones.

Paolo Nutini was discovered at age 17 in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland. He soon found himself opening for KT Tunstall and The Rolling Stones, and inking a worldwide record deal. Two years later, he's touring the world with a voice that is rich with soul and emotion. Nutini infuses his songs with raw feeling and a natural ability to tell stories. Singing with a three-piece band, Nutini showcased his considerable vocal talent and songwriting ability to a thrilled Studio audience.

The Cold War Kids brought their full band setup to the Studio in January. With diverse influences from Billie Holliday to the Velvet Underground, the group creates soulful, bluesy indie rock. The band played a selection of story-laden songs from their current album, Robbers and Cowards.