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Gibson has just announced a brand-new signature Les Paul model based on Ace Frehley's famed modified guitar, the one he hit the stage with at Nippon Budokan in Japan in 1977.
Gibson once again made use of digital scanning technology to get capture every last detail of Space Ace's signature axe.
You can check out a video of Ace discussing his new guitar here, and be sure to keep up to date on everything happening at NAMM 2012 right here
From Gibson: In the image of the original Les Paul Custom, the guitar has a four-piece maple top glued to a mid-’70s “sandwich” body made from a middle and back section of solid mahogany joined by a thin maple veneer, with no chambering. The top is hand-sprayed in nitrocellulose to give it the same Heritage Cherry Sunburst finish as the original, with 150 hand-aged to match the wear of the existing guitar. The three-piece mahogany neck has been made made to match the original’s thin profile. Decorative elements include mother-of-pearl block fingerboard inlays, multi-ply body and headstock binding, mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo and split-diamond inlay, and a cream pickguard.
To match Ace’s original guitar, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is loaded with three period-correct double-cream DiMarzio humbucking pickups—two PAF models in the neck and middle positions, and a Super Distortion in the bridge. And just like on Ace's guitar, the traditional 3-way toggle switch has been modified to only allow the use of the bridge pickup, allowing you to be able to accomplish one of Ace's most noted effects. The DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup offers searing lead tones and fat, chunky rhythm for the ultimate hard-rock performance. Hardware includes the classic pairing of chrome ABR-1 bridge and stopbar tailpiece, with Ace’s choice of Grover tuners with pearloid “banjo” buttons and Dunlop straplocks to keep the guitar securely strapped on through the wildest on-stage antics. In short, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is the ultimate embodiment of mid-’70s arena-rock balls and bluster, and it’s available in strictly limited numbers. Check it out today at your authorized Gibson Custom dealer.
All guitars include a Gibson Custom hardshell case silkscreened with Ace’s signature. Aged/signed guitars (limited to 50 worldwide) are all played by the artist during final approval, and include a leather-bound Certificate of Authenticity; aged guitars (100) include a leather-bound CoA, and VOS guitars (150) include a standard CoA.
Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
