Got a V-Stack amp

[polara]

I'm cheap.

I work in branding.

So it follows (I guess) that I am fascinated with First Act, a company whose brand identity is so twisted it makes Hamer, with its convoluted "import-Slammer Series-USA-Sunburst that isn't in sunburst-Standard that is an Explorer-are they still in business?" brand identity seem SANE.

This is a company that makes guitars of scrap wood in the low-rent districts of rural China, sold in Wal-Mart, but also makes mega-swanky axes with their ex-Gibby custom shop luthiers. Who put Kent Armstrong pickups in guitars made of sawdust and Elmer's glue (I bought one for $20 at a thrift store and while the fit and finish were atrocious, the pickup ROARED.) They never seem to update their website, the probably have a bigger income (thanks to the aforementioned Wal-Mart/Target thing) than Gibson, and it seems to be a complete crapshoot to buy anything with their logo.

So I got a First Act VA881 amp off Ebay for $129. I've been playing in two bands, one as the sole guitarist and one as the singer and occasional guitarist. It's a pain in the ass to carry my Genz Benz Black Pearl back and forth so I wanted a second amp that could be a giggable backup for the Pearl. I'd read about the V-Stack thing and the pedals got great reviews. So did the amps on the handful of reviews I could find. So I figured for a little over a Benjamin, what the hell.

It's the same size as the Genz Benz. Seems solid, cool "racing stripe" Tolex. No corner protectors...weird. Knobs and such look high quality, and it it goes in a rack space so it's good to know I can stick it in a rack as a backup.

75 watts. Four channels, voices to resemble blackface Fender, AC30, JCM, and Trainwreck. Built-in tape echo simulation, tremolo, and reverb. +10dm boost. Universal EQ. Supposed to have a monstrous footswitch to turn all that on and off but they're hard to find. Dunno what kind of speaker it is: labeled First Act. Cabinet is open-backed with a sort of beam blocker thing.

Sounds okay at low volumes but turn it up and... well. I'm impressed. The channels sound vaguely what they're modeled after -- though I'd never know with the 'wreck channel -- and all are good. Tweaking EQ... darned good. A little flab on the bottom end in the BF channel, but EQd it out. Cleans up with softer picking or guitar volume. Echo is REALLY good, tremolo seems very good. Reverb is kind of metallic and odd.

A-Bd it with the Genz Benz. Has enough volume. Pretty darned good. It lack a certain chimey, 3-D quality that the Black Pearl has, but it really does crunch-to-lead tones well. Better than the tube amp actually.

Hmmm.

I'm a pretty picky guy with amps. My One True Overdriven Sound is the Aiken Tomcat I played. Also loved a Victoria, the Boogie Blue Angel. Matchless Chieftain frankly didn't cut it. The Genz Benz is nice, and to me is a good compromise between the cool overdrive sounds of the Aiken and the cleans I love from a good AC30.

The point is... while I'm not sure the V-Stack is the equal of any of those, it sounds very good. It is very versatile. I suspect with a different speaker it has more potential still. And it is solid-state with a First Act logo on it.

I am SURE that in any given live performance situation no one in the audience (unless they're a guitarist staring intently at the logo on the amp) will know you're not playing a far more expensive amp, and this one seems as solid built as any transistorize appliance and is dirt cheap. Very interesting.