First Act ME301 strat style SECOND ACT PROGRAM

[I work on enough of these First Act guitars that I have come up with a term regarding my Catch and Release approach to them:

Second Act Program.

The idea is that I perform a certain number of procedures upon each guitar to make it qualify, including level/crown/polish, greasing of the stock tuners, bone nut, neck shim, switchcraft output jack. I believe that these things make this guitar and all other first acts into all-timers, rather than beginner guitars sold at Walmart]

I found this guitar on the Goodwill app late one night and put in a bid because I thought the color combo was so cool and I hadn't seen another one like it. It turns out that was the case because this one had both the body and pickguard spray painted by someone else and then reassembled! They did a pretty good job all things considered and I really don't mind the orange peel on the finish. It feels fine and is that case where you don't feel super precious about the guitar, but it is worth protecting. The components that make up these instruments are largely of a decent quality and can usually be coaxed into shape pretty easily. Some things, on the other hand, and just luck of the draw. Look at the neck on this one, for example. There is certainly more flame and chatoyance than you typically find on a budget guitar. I replaced the nut with one I crafted from a bleached bone blank after the whole level/crown/polish routine on the frets. I deep cleaned and greased the tuners and changed the output jack to a more reliable switchcraft jack. The setup was pretty easy for this (as with most First Act guitars) and it has all the sounds you would expect from a cheap-ish strat style guitar. This could be your very own mod platform with a core that is already very dialed in and comfortable to play, or just enjoyed as is without any fear of bashing it or anything. I understand that there are other First Act ME301 for sale throughout this website and elsewhere in the world, but only *this* guitar plays and sounds the way this this one sounds and plays. It's really more of an experience and my drive to save things that already exist rather than create more things.