Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great intro guitar!
Comment: I bought one of these for my 4 year old son to play, restrung it with semi-steel strings, and it lasted a good 2 years before the neck finally pulled away from the body (gently, not in a violent eye-injuring explosion). Over the course of the two years, he and I both played it vigorously (perhaps me more than him!), and I found that it stayed in tune better than any other "toy" guitar I've played - despite numerous floor-droppings, etc. I even caught him standing on it a few times (and was able to teach him that's not a good way to treat instruments)! So, I've just ordered another one, and look forward to another couple years of exhuberant playing on it, before he is old enough to own his own "real" instrument. And by the way, I've been playing music for thirty years. I agree with the previous comment, the thirty-dollar price tag should tell any potential buyer exactly what this is - and as far as I'm concerned, that first thirty dollars was well spent! I look forward to a few more years out of the next guitar, and believe me, the dollar cost is a pittance for the fun I expect us to have.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It got me started...BUT
Comment: I bought this about 3 years ago cause I wanted to learn guitar. It got me started. It's a laminated guitar = very cheap, not well made. You can stratch the paint very easily--I've curved just about anything on mine. There's excess glue showing, another sign of a badly made guitar. It's durable enough. It doesn't stay in tune very well--for only about a day. The sound is terrible when you go up the fret. The action's pretty low but sometimes too low that you got fret buzz. The strings it comes with is bad--change it! The inlays are just stickers and they stratch right off. The neck is not fast at all. Sounds terrible with a capo!!!
You can play actual music on it I guess though it leans toward the toy side. I've learned classical, folk, and rock music on it. I've played stuff by Dylan, James Taylor, and Phish on it but it just doesn't sound professional. Now I play a Gibson SG, thank goodness.
Recommended: No.
Customer Rating:
Summary: First Act's Item Title & Description Contradict Purchasers' Experience
Comment: Title: "First Act Discovery FG130 *Student* Acoustic Guitar"
"Product Description:
The First Act Student Acoustic guitar is designed especially for children to learn and grow on. Its steel reinforced neck prevents warping, twisting and snapping and also allows the neck to be thinner which makes the guitar easier to hold for a child's smaller hand."
Perhaps it is the product manufacturer's choice of wording that understandably angers purchasers when they subsequently discover that this item does not meet with that description.
I would not expect "a toy" if the manufacturer described the product as a "Student Acoustic Guitar"..."designed especially for children to learn and grow on."
As for "its steel reinforced neck prevents warping, twisting and snapping": sounds like that descriptor is in direct opposition to users' experiences.
Based on some of the claims, perhaps Amazon should pair this First Act guitar with a First Aid kit.
I will concede potential purchasers should consider the price point for an item of this nature for which this item clearly demonstrates its potential or lack there of. Anyone interested in providing their child with exposure to positive musical experiences from a very young age should consider the quality of such as much as their pocketbook will allow.
Would you settle for a bargain alphabet teaching toy that claimed to prepare your child for kindergarden while only containing 17 letters? Those who compromise by posturing with "It's just a toy" might consider that very attitude compromises us all and permits sub-standard quality to pass the sniff-test and subvert the standards for everyone!
The customers that have stood up and pointed out the obvious discrepancies between the description and the actual product should be praised for demanding accuracy in advertising.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Stay away from this guitar
Comment: This guitar is dangerous for children. Tuning this guitar may seriously injure someone, because the strings will snap and fly into your face before you even reach the pitch it needs to be.
Also, it stays in tune for less than 30 seconds. After tuning each string, I strummed it, and it sounded absolutely awful. Each string had dropped at least a whole step in the time it took to tune it.
If your child is learning guitar, do him the favor of spending $50-100 for a playable guitar. This will only cause difficulty and frustration that a beginner does not need.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It is a TOY, people
Comment: My 3-year-old loves this guitar, has loved it since Santa brought it for him because he feels just like Murray from the Wiggles. We are currently about to buy our second one because after a LOT of use, the first one fell apart. I must stress that this is a TOY, not a real guitar. Do not purchase it to teach your child to play, or try to tune it like a real guitar. It is a toy, and is priced as such. You wouldn't buy your child a squirt gun and then try to put pellets in it, would you? I feel certain there are child-sized, real, quality guitars out there if your child has a genuine interest in learning to play. But for the child who just wants to be like the Wiggles, this one is perfect!
Summary: Great intro guitar!
Comment: I bought one of these for my 4 year old son to play, restrung it with semi-steel strings, and it lasted a good 2 years before the neck finally pulled away from the body (gently, not in a violent eye-injuring explosion). Over the course of the two years, he and I both played it vigorously (perhaps me more than him!), and I found that it stayed in tune better than any other "toy" guitar I've played - despite numerous floor-droppings, etc. I even caught him standing on it a few times (and was able to teach him that's not a good way to treat instruments)! So, I've just ordered another one, and look forward to another couple years of exhuberant playing on it, before he is old enough to own his own "real" instrument. And by the way, I've been playing music for thirty years. I agree with the previous comment, the thirty-dollar price tag should tell any potential buyer exactly what this is - and as far as I'm concerned, that first thirty dollars was well spent! I look forward to a few more years out of the next guitar, and believe me, the dollar cost is a pittance for the fun I expect us to have.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It got me started...BUT
Comment: I bought this about 3 years ago cause I wanted to learn guitar. It got me started. It's a laminated guitar = very cheap, not well made. You can stratch the paint very easily--I've curved just about anything on mine. There's excess glue showing, another sign of a badly made guitar. It's durable enough. It doesn't stay in tune very well--for only about a day. The sound is terrible when you go up the fret. The action's pretty low but sometimes too low that you got fret buzz. The strings it comes with is bad--change it! The inlays are just stickers and they stratch right off. The neck is not fast at all. Sounds terrible with a capo!!!
You can play actual music on it I guess though it leans toward the toy side. I've learned classical, folk, and rock music on it. I've played stuff by Dylan, James Taylor, and Phish on it but it just doesn't sound professional. Now I play a Gibson SG, thank goodness.
Recommended: No.
Customer Rating:
Summary: First Act's Item Title & Description Contradict Purchasers' Experience
Comment: Title: "First Act Discovery FG130 *Student* Acoustic Guitar"
"Product Description:
The First Act Student Acoustic guitar is designed especially for children to learn and grow on. Its steel reinforced neck prevents warping, twisting and snapping and also allows the neck to be thinner which makes the guitar easier to hold for a child's smaller hand."
Perhaps it is the product manufacturer's choice of wording that understandably angers purchasers when they subsequently discover that this item does not meet with that description.
I would not expect "a toy" if the manufacturer described the product as a "Student Acoustic Guitar"..."designed especially for children to learn and grow on."
As for "its steel reinforced neck prevents warping, twisting and snapping": sounds like that descriptor is in direct opposition to users' experiences.
Based on some of the claims, perhaps Amazon should pair this First Act guitar with a First Aid kit.
I will concede potential purchasers should consider the price point for an item of this nature for which this item clearly demonstrates its potential or lack there of. Anyone interested in providing their child with exposure to positive musical experiences from a very young age should consider the quality of such as much as their pocketbook will allow.
Would you settle for a bargain alphabet teaching toy that claimed to prepare your child for kindergarden while only containing 17 letters? Those who compromise by posturing with "It's just a toy" might consider that very attitude compromises us all and permits sub-standard quality to pass the sniff-test and subvert the standards for everyone!
The customers that have stood up and pointed out the obvious discrepancies between the description and the actual product should be praised for demanding accuracy in advertising.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Stay away from this guitar
Comment: This guitar is dangerous for children. Tuning this guitar may seriously injure someone, because the strings will snap and fly into your face before you even reach the pitch it needs to be.
Also, it stays in tune for less than 30 seconds. After tuning each string, I strummed it, and it sounded absolutely awful. Each string had dropped at least a whole step in the time it took to tune it.
If your child is learning guitar, do him the favor of spending $50-100 for a playable guitar. This will only cause difficulty and frustration that a beginner does not need.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It is a TOY, people
Comment: My 3-year-old loves this guitar, has loved it since Santa brought it for him because he feels just like Murray from the Wiggles. We are currently about to buy our second one because after a LOT of use, the first one fell apart. I must stress that this is a TOY, not a real guitar. Do not purchase it to teach your child to play, or try to tune it like a real guitar. It is a toy, and is priced as such. You wouldn't buy your child a squirt gun and then try to put pellets in it, would you? I feel certain there are child-sized, real, quality guitars out there if your child has a genuine interest in learning to play. But for the child who just wants to be like the Wiggles, this one is perfect!