A Great First Act
In the relatively pedestrian arena of automotive journalism, Ronnie Schreiber is that rarest of birds: a classically educated, research-oriented, undeniably intellectual writer who also has the ability to spark an emotional response in his readers beyond the typical "OH NO YOU DIN'T." His path into the business is also perhaps a unique one; he began by impersonating an automotive journalist for the purposes of obtaining press kits which he then resold on eBay and elsewhere. In the course of sneaking into various auto shows and press events, he realized just how low the bar was set for writing and critical thinking in this business, so it made perfect sense for him to become an actual automotive journalist and make money that way.
Not everybody has been willing to forgive Ronnie for his origin, story, particularly not the journosaur crew that runs the Chicago Auto Show, but the depth of Ronnie's talent has spoken for itself at TTAC, Hemmings, and elsewhere.
(This paragraph was removed at the request of the person discussed in it.)
As a former memorabilia seller, Ronnie is always on the look out for items with collector potential. Which is how he got involved with First Act guitars, which eventually led to him building the guitar you see above and presenting it to me as a gift.
A few years ago, Volkswagen teamed up with First Act to include a guitar with the purchase of certain new VW models. VW had previously included bicycles and various other outdoor-centric items with their cars --- remember the "VW Jetta Trek"? --- but this was their first shot at doing a musical instrument. The guitar used a special cable to plug into the 1/8" input of whatever VW you bought, and it had a built-in solid-state distortion circuit. Here's John Mayer in the original ad:
Ronnie owns quite a few First Acts, figuring that they might be valuable someday. He also likes the idea of being able to buy a fully functional guitar on Craigslist for under fifty bucks.
On a whim, he decided to customize one of his VW First Acts. Lime green paint, an Entwhistle humbucker pickup in the bridge position, carbon-fiber wrap for the pickguard, and a custom "shocker" truss rod cover. Last but not least, he milled out a ziggurat-style relief on the upper bout. He then gave it to me as a gift, presumably for all the times I completely lost my temper with him, with little or no provocation, when I was Editor-In-Chief of TTAC.
It's a lovely guitar and I can't wait to play it out somewhere. The quality is about what you'd expect from a Chinese-made instrument given away free with the purchase of a Mexican-made Beetle, but it's very far from unplayable. The built-in distortion is possibly the worst thing I've ever heard; it makes the distortion in the $99 "Gorilla" solid-state amps of the Eighties sound like Clapton's Bluesbreaker amp dimed. That's okay. I have my own distortion pedals. Just a few of 'em.
I'm grateful to Ronnie for the gift and for his friendship. If you only know him from TTAC, check out this story on Hemmings. Ronnie was about as perfect a writer for Hemmings as you could imagine. Unfortunately, his editor, Daniel Strohl, was a bit of a moral coward when it came to standing up against a bunch of Internet trolls who had Ronnie in their collective sights. Let's hope that Ronnie eventually finds the readership, and the respect, that his writing deserves --- indeed, demands.
