Ace Frehley

Ace played this creation of his on That Metal Show back in 2011 (Episode 8). He said the idea came to him when he was down in the Bahamas. It was given to Eddie Trunk after Ace played it (and the smoke finished).

A blackface Princeton is visible in this June 1978 photo of Frehley in his home studio (as annotated in the May 1996 issue of Guitar), in addition to this companion photo.

Visible in the two backstage photos featured on Frehley’s official Peterson artist page. The second photo can be found here.

Original lead guitarist for the uber glam-rock band Kiss, Ace Frehley's guitar pyrotechnic guitar work is stuff of legend. Ace's Les Pauls have always gone through a pretty tough time with exploding pick-ups and very energetic performances. Restringing and tuning downtime is kept to a minimum because Ace has used Peterson and Conn strobe tuners since the 1970s. He currently uses a StroboFlip.

According to Guitar Geek's rig diagram, Frehley uses the Boss TU-12 tuning pedal.

From Laney Amplification's Facebook page:

"Ace Frehley looking BAD ASS in the 80's with his AOR stacks and his Washburn.

Looking back though, the amount of hairspray in this picture combined with tracksuit must have made a fire hazard of epic proportions, especially when melting faces with such hot riffs!"

Visible in this June 1978 photo of Frehley in his home studio (as annotated in the May 1996 issue of Guitar), in addition to this companion photo.

Visible in this June 1978 photo of Frehley in his home studio (as annotated in the May 1996 issue of Guitar), in addition to this companion photo.

On this image you can see Ace Frehley with a signed Telecaster Deluxe that he intends to donate.

Ace Frehley playing on Takamine P6NC at Creatures Fest 2000 with Steve Brown

A picture of Steve Brown in Ace in the Hole Studios NJ plays Ace Frehley's Fender American Vintage '63 Precision Bass (Cherry Medicine song), which Ace used in his 1978 solo album and for all subsequent albums where he plays bass. A photo with Ace himself is expected

In an Instagram post by myartofglass, Ace Frehley is shown playing his ESP LTD TL-6 acoustic-electric guitar.

In this picture, you can see a Gibson Les Paul SG Custom 3-Pickup in Ace Frehley's guitar collection.

This very rare double-neck guitar/mandolin with SG body shape was used by Ace Frehley when recording the song "Fractured Mirror", as stated in this 1978 Guitar interview. It can be seen in this June 1978 photo of Frehley in his home studio (as annotated in the May 1996 issue of Guitar), in addition to this companion photo.

“Fractured Mirror” has some pretty acoustic guitar effects on the intro, almost like a harpsichord.

I used an old Gibson electric double-neck for that, a very rare one with a 6-string guitar neck and a mandolin neck. I don’t think they make them anymore. On that intro I tuned the mandolin neck to open E and let it drone and resonate while I was picking the figure on the other neck. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it on record before, that sound. We really got excited about that when I came up with it. I was also going through a Marshall stack that we were miking, so that’s how we got a lot of the ambience.

Used by Ace Frehley when recording his songs "Ozone’" and "What’s on Your Mind?"’, as stated in this 1978 Guitar interview. It can be seen in this June 1978 photo of Frehley in his home studio (as annotated in the May 1996 issue of Guitar), in addition to this companion photo.

What kind of acoustic guitar do you use on “Ozone’’ and “What’s on Your Mind?’’

Guild 12-string.

Do you know the model, offhand?

It’s the top of the line; it has pearl inlays. It’s the big-body Guild, the real big one.

" - What kind of guitar synthesizer do you use on the solo record? (1978) - I used an ARP Avatar, I called them up and told them that I wanted to use their synthesizer and said that I would endorse it for them, and they said, ah, well, you know, they’d take $150 off the price, $200 maybe, and I said, Oh, I won’t bother then. If they want to take a few hundred dollars off, big deal. [Ed. Note: An ARP spokesman responded that company personnel were pleased when they learned that Ace was interested in using their products, and they recognized that Kiss could introduce synthesizers to a new, younger market; however, as a matter of policy ARP does not trade equipment for endorsements.]"

Here you can see Ace Frehley and Steve Brown during recording "10,000 Volts" album in Ace In The Hole Studios NJ. A black Gibson Thunderbird bass can be seen in the background

“Supposedly, the ’59 Les Paul I bought before recording my [1978] solo album is now up to $350,000 or more,” he says. “That was the biggest regret. It was after I quit KISS; I was still getting fucked up and I wanted to go to Atlantic City because I love to gamble.

“So I booked the helicopter on the West Side [of New York City], where they have those helipads, and I stopped at Richie Friedman’s We Buy [Guitars] and sold it.”

Frehley purchased the guitar for $4,000, and – as he has previously explained to Guitar Player – managed to recoup $18,000 when he later sold it. A fairly sizable mark-up, but one that absolutely pales in comparison to the guitar’s current value.

Ace Frehley purchased a 1973 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe when Kiss received their first significant paycheck, and it became his primary guitar for the next four albums and his number one guitar for live performances. According to Sam Roche from Guitar World, this guitar was later taken to Strings and Things in Memphis, where it was painted black and modified to a double cutaway.

In this instaram post you can see Ace Frehley during recording of the alternate solo for the song "Cosmic Heart" from "10,000 Volts" album. He uses a blue Gibson Les Paul Standard and Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer pedal