NGD - A guitar with Fahrvergnügen

[Tiga]

And they just keep coming. Picked this up today at a yard sale - a First Act Garage Master Volkswagen Guitar. These were incuded with the purchase/lease of a new VW in the early 2000's. From what I read the guitar has a pre-amp system built in that allows you to plug into the cars Fender stereo system. I think there are few built in effects too. Haven't done anything to the guitar yet or even plugged it in to an amp. It's covered in an inch of dust, has some ridiculously heavy strings and is very poorly set up. Action is really high.

The good news is that it looks like it's barely been played. Has a nice chunky neck and it very comfortable. Picked it up for $70 - which seems like a good deal. Anyone ever owned one of these? Hoping with some mods this might turn into a good player. Here's some pictures::

[dabbler]

Yes, that is a unique guitar! I have First Act's generic single cut version, the VE591:

They both have a built-in preamp that allows you to play straight thru headphones for quiet practicing, and a V-Stack distortion section that you can turn on or off. It's a fun piece of kit.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Far out. Groovy. Looks fun.

[Tiga]

Yes, that is a unique guitar! I have First Act's generic single cut version, the VE591:

FirstActVE591003.jpg

They both have a built-in preamp that allows you to play straight thru headphones for quiet practicing, and a V-Stack distortion section that you can turn on or off. It's a fun piece of kit.

Interesting - so if I turn on the preamp I should be able to connect headphones into the output jack? Makes sense - didn't really consider that. Very cool.

I like yours - very cool shape.

[dabbler]

Yes, that is a unique guitar! I have First Act's generic single cut version, the VE591:

FirstActVE591003.jpg

They both have a built-in preamp that allows you to play straight thru headphones for quiet practicing, and a V-Stack distortion section that you can turn on or off. It's a fun piece of kit.

Interesting - so if I turn on the preamp I should be able to connect headphones into the output jack? Makes sense - didn't really consider that. Very cool.

I like yours - very cool shape.

Thanks, mine has a funky kinda shape, IMO.

Anyways, the amount of volume you get from the headphones will vary depending on the sensitivity and/or impedance of the particular headphone you use, and TBH I don't use this feature, but it was one of the advertised features of the guitar.

[tlarson58]

HNGD! That's a guitar with a story. Keep us in the loop as your get it set up.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I remember playing some First Act guitar with a girls' name..was quite impressed but the seller wanted some outrageous amount $$ for it so I passed.

[andrewsrea]

Back when I owned a VW Jetta, I wanted to get one. I tried one, but like @Tonray's Ghost , they wanted $400 for it. I liked it an actually thought 'stock' was pretty good, it wasn't $400 good.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I had to look it up. Apparently Fahrvergnügen (pronouced like far fig newton) means "enjoying the drive". So absolutely pick your favorite drive pedal to play it through!