The guitar – which was purchased as a Tobacco Burst-finished single-cut – now sports a double cutaway and black finish, and features Ace Frehley's signature on the back
The guitar was purchased in 1973 by Frehley himself at New York's Manny's Music, and was a regular single-cut, Tobacco Burst-finished Les Paul Deluxe at the time.
(Image credit: Gotta Have Rock and Roll)
Frehley played it heavily onstage between 1973 and 1976, before taking it Strings & Things in Memphis, Tennessee for a facelift, transforming it into the one-of-a-kind, double-cut LP Frehley dubbed “Blackie”.
Years after the guitar's visual overhaul, Frehley sold the guitar, after which it “switched hands from collector to collector” until it was purchased by one of the guitarist's good friends, whom he later bought it back from.
Little is divulged in terms of the guitar's specs, though it looks to feature a typical LP double humbucker pickup configuration, with two volume and two tone controls. It also features Les Paul-style block inlays, an “Ace” inlay on the headstock and Ace Frehley's signature on the back.
(Image credit: Gotta Have Rock and Roll)
The guitar is set to hit the auction block tomorrow (August 11), and is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $250,000. The winning bidder will also receive a letter of authenticity from Frehley, a letter of provenance, and a certificate of authenticity from Gotta Have Rock and Roll.
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
