Limited Edition Lola
Before Lola existed, she was just a twinkle in the eye of our chief luthier, Kelly Butler. Born and raised in Nashville, Kelly played professionally and learned the time-honored craft of guitar making.
After a decade of creating guitars for some of the best players in the industry, Kelly learned firsthand the needs and desires of pro players. He imagined an instrument with outstanding looks, sustain, and playability. Warmth, depth, attitude.
Drawing on his extensive knowledge and experience, Kelly and the First Act team set out to build the ultimate rock guitar. In the workshop, they hand-carved a beveled mahogany body, and developed a new low-profile bridge to keep the string tones distinct. An innovative through-the-body string retainer was created to enhance sustain, and allow a truer vibration through the wood. A velvety rosewood fretboard was adorned with pearl inlays.
The result is Lola. Every inch is handcrafted, every detail perfected. Every ingredient carefully chosen to deliver superior sound, comfort, and precision.
The first Lola was given to a living rock legend. He loved it. He played it that night at a sold-out stadium show, and immediately packed it for a world tour.
Guitar World magazine calls it a "modern classic."
Lola will be your favorite guitar. She'll come alive in your hands and become the perfect vessel for your expression. She longs to be unfettered, cranked up loud, wailed on... and once you pick her up, you won't want to put her down.
Lola comes in a custom-fit, hardshell case.
Make Lola yours.
Guitar World Magazine review
By Chris Gill
Issue Date: March 2005
[read entire review]
The company's new Limited Edition Series guitars are made by its Studio for Artists luthiers and offer the same sound, playability, and craftsmanship as the company's stellar custom instruments. I checked out the Lola, a sweet single-cutaway solid body with two humbuckers.
CONSTRUCTION
Several of Lola's features are reminiscent of those found on classic axes. It's as if First Act's luthiers combined the coolest features of several vintage guitars to come up with their own modern classic.
The Lola's beveled body makes the guitar very comfortable to play. Thanks to the added thickness of the second layer of mahogany, the guitar delivers a fat, punchy tone with ample sustain. The string-through-body design enhances the Lola's sustain and liveliness as well. Master volume and tone knobs and a three-way pickup selector switch are located on the lower bout, where they're easy to reach but out of the way when you bash out power chords with Pete Townshend-style windmills.
Lola's bound rosewood fretboard and mirror-polished frets deliver better action then the latest Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster. As chunky as Cajun gumbo, these frets feature a smooth, rounded profile, medium width and a high crown, and feel as luxurious as freshly minted gold under your fingertips.
SOUND
... it's pure bliss once you finally plug into this beauty. The Armstrong humbuckers crank out bold, well-defined tone with a high-end bite often lacking from beefy humbuckers. Thanks to the resonant mahogany body, bass notes are punchy and lively, giving power chords extra oomph through a blazing Marshall or Hiwatt. Even through a high-gain Mesa/Boogie, the guitar retains the percussive "chunk" of the pick hitting the strings. The tone is bright and lively like a good SG but with more midrange girth. If you want the sparkle and crunch of Angus Young's rhythm tone but a little more fatness for leads, the Lola will satisfy your needs.
The Lola's features and construction are like the greatest hits of classic electric guitar design combined to make a new axe that will prove to be a legend as well... "If this is the company's first act, we can't wait to see what it does for an encore."
List price: $1,500.00
Manufacturer: First Act, 745 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116; (781) 453-2221; firstact.com