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Gibson Launch Ace Frehley 'Budokan' Les Paul Custom

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The Ace Frehley Les Paul was one of a number of new axes unveiled at the Musikmesse Frankfurt 2012 music fair that we covered last week in Germany.

The guitar has been produced in a very limited edition, with fifty of them personally signed by Frehley himself and with Gibson insisting that it is an exact replica of the original guitar Frehley used onstage with Kiss at Nippon Budokan in Japan, 1977.

Gibson Custom, Frehley and the guitar's current owner Matt Swanson used digital scanning technology to capture every detail of the original instrument. Gibson say this about the guitar.

The Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom is crafted with the traditional ingredients of the Les Paul Custom circa the early to mid-1970s. Its carved Grade-A maple top is joined to a Grade-A mahogany body that is weight relieved to reduce the load and enhance resonance. This classic tonewood pairing gives you the blend of maple's snap and articulation with mahogany's depth and warmth, cornerstones of the legendary Les Paul sound. Seven-ply white-and-black body binding enhances the Custom, as do the neck's acrylic pearloid block markers and the headstock's multi-ply binding and split-diamond inlays. The quarter-sawn mahogany neck is carved to a traditional slim, yet rounded, profile that measures .818" at the 1st fret and .963" at the 12th, and is topped with a fingerboard made from renewable Richlite®. A fabricated material composed of cellulose fiber and phenolic resin, Richlite® offers the constructional and resonant properties of fine hardwood, but with improved durability, for a superb playing feel.

In the image of Ace's original guitar, the Ace Frehley "Budokan" Les Paul Custom from Gibson USA is loaded with three period-correct, double-cream DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups for maximum rhythm crunch and lead tones of unparalleled fire and fury. To maximize the sonic versatility of the traditional three-way toggle switch and four-knob control section, the guitar is wired to select the neck pickup alone in the switch's upper position, both middle and bridge pickups in the middle position (sharing the lower volume and tone controls), and bridge pickup alone in the lower position. Hardware includes the classic pairing of chrome Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece for optimum sustain and precise intonation, with Ace's modification of Grover™ tuners with pearloid "banjo" buttons. Strap it on, and it's your own slab or raging glam-rock excess, as well as the perfect Les Paul for any breed of heavy rock and traditional metal riffing.

Each guitar includes a Gibson hardshell case, owner's manual, and Gibson USA's Limited Lifetime Warranty and 24/7/365 Customer Service.

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