Take a Tour of Ace Frehley’s ‘Budokan’ Les Paul Custom Replica Guitar

Ace Frehley’s Les Paul was one of many guitars featured at the Musikmesse Frankfurt 2012 Fair that took place last week in Germany, and Dr. Will Jones, the Professor of the Epiphone, was on hand to show it off to Music TV.

Frehley's ‘Budokan’ Les Paul Custom guitar has recently been produced in a very limited edition, fifty of them signed by Frehley. These replica guitars are everything one might anticipate coming from Gibson. That makes this axe no ordinary copycat instrument, but instead the spitting image of the original guitar Frehley hit the stage with at Nippon Budokan with Kiss in Japan, 1977.

Gibson Custom, Frehley and the guitar’s current owner Matt Swanson have employed digital scanning technology to capture every minute detail of the original instrument. The specs of this guitar are far too numerous to list here, however we have to mention that the back section of the guitar is made of solid mahogany and the decorative elements are generous.

Imagine mother-of-pearl block fingerboard inlays, multi-ply body and headstock binding,  a split-diamond inlay and a cream pick guard. Those who are more serious will be interested to know that that just like Frehley’s guitar, the three-way toggle switch has been modified to only allow the use of the bridge pickup, allowing you to pull off your own Frehley effects.

Last but far from least, this guitar promises “searing lead tones and fat, chunky rhythm for the ultimate hard rock performance” and that’s a sound worth replicating.

Take a Closer Look at Ace Frehley’s Les Paul Custom Replica Guitar: