Access Backstage Pass
Ace Frehley’s iconic 1975 Gibson Les Paul just went under the hammer for $512,000 as part of auction house Julien’s' recent “Music Icons” sale.
Nicknamed “Budokan” after Kiss’ four shows at Tokyo’s legendary Budokan Hall in 1977 – which broke the attendance record set by The Beatles – the triple ’buckered, Cherry Sunburst model was a constant companion during Frehley’s tenure with the band.
“Ace used it to record the Kiss album Love Gun in May of 1977 and continued to use it on tour as his main guitar through 1979, when it was relegated to back-up duty,” specifies the listing.
The guitar saw less frequent stage time during 1980’s Unmasked Tour through to the end of Frehley’s tenure in the band at the tail end of 1982. He continued to use it post-Kiss, however, even modifying it to replace the bridge pickup with a black humbucker and installing a chrome Washburn Wonderbar vibrato system with a matching string retainer at the nut.
The guitar was eventually restored to its former specs and even spawned a series of high-end signature model collaborations with Gibson.
In 2011, Gibson unveiled a limited Custom Shop replica of this very guitar, offered in both Aged and VOS versions, alongside a Gibson USA release.
Several of Frehley’s other guitars were also sold during the auction, and even exceeded their initial projections.
These included his modified 1996 Gibson Les Paul Junior “Flasher” light show guitar – customized by Sammy Sanchez – which went under the hammer for $57,600; a 1997 Gibson Signature Les Paul Custom artist prototype that Frehley played during the Super Bowl XXXIII pre-game show, which sold for $76,800; and his 1995 MTV Unplugged Epiphone PR 7E/RS acoustic, which fetched $28,800.
For the full rundown of items sold, including guitars owned and stage-played by Eddie Van Halen and Johnny Cash, visit Julien’s.
