Ace Frehley’s iconic “Budokan” guitar was auctioned at Julien’s Auctions and was sold for the staggering price of $512,000. The Spaceman used the guitar to record 1977 album Love Gun and was used during KISS’ Rock And Roll Over Tour through 1979’s Dynasty Tour.
It earned the “Budokan” nickname due to Ace’s use of it at KISS’ four-night stay at Japan’s legendary Nippon Budokan arena in April 1977.
Julien’s description of the guitar:
“Ace Frehley’s stage played #1 ‘Budokan’ 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom with three cream pickups and cherry sunburst finish, serial #657947 with what appears to be an A prefix. Instantly recognizable as Ace’s main axe during the band’s most prolific period, this triple-pickup Les Paul Custom was used by Frehley for every KISS concert during the band’s 1976 Rock And Roll Over tour through 1979’s Dynasty tour.
“This is the very guitar Ace played at the band’s legendary four-night residency at Japan’s Nippon Budokan arena from April 1st-4th, 1977, where it gained the nickname “Budokan.” 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. As a result, it saw less frequent stage time during the Unmasked tour in 1980 through the end of Ace’s tenure in the band at the tail end of 1982 after a short promotional tour in Europe.
“He continued to use this guitar throughout the 1980s, albeit with some modifications down the line that included replacing the bridge pickup with a black humbucker and adding a chrome Washburn Wonderbar vibrato system with matching string retainer at the nut, which explains the holes located at the truss rod cover area of the headstock. Photos of Ace using the guitar in this configuration in 1987 are included, but the guitar was soon restored back to its more famous bridge and pickup complement as seen here.
“Ace Frehley’s sunburst 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom is a truly iconic instrument inextricably linked to Frehley’s career and of utmost historical importance for KISS fans around the globe. It spawned a number of high-end signature model collaborations with Gibson guitars, with initial prototypes built in 1996 for its first batch of three-pickup Ace Frehley Les Pauls known as “The 300” finally released in 1997, which featured lightning bolt inlays and Ace’s face inlaid on the headstock in mother of pearl. Alongside The 300, Gibson also offered USA made signature models, and in 2011 Gibson released ‘The Budokan’ Les Paul, a limited Custom Shop replica of this very guitar in both Aged and VOS runs, plus a concurrent Gibson USA release.
“While previously reported to be a 1974 model, this Gibson Les Paul Custom has a date stamp of August 13, 1975 located on the neck heel which is visible from the neck pickup rout, as well as potentiometer date codes indicating the 37th and 52nd weeks of 1974. It features a 24.75 inch scale length three piece mahogany neck with a bound ebony fretboard re-fretted with 22 very large frets, no binding nibs, mother of pearl block inlays, a headstock bound with five ply white and black plastic, mother of pearl Gibson logo and split diamond inlays on the headstock veneer, and is fitted with six chrome Grover tuners with pearloid buttons. The body has ‘pancake’ construction, with two layers of mahogany and a thin middle layer of maple between them, plus an additional layer of maple beneath the maple top; the three piece maple top, back, sides, and neck are finished in cherry sunburst.
“The top is bound with seven ply white and black binding with five ply on the back, with cream plastics for the DiMarzio pickup bobbins, pickup rings, pickguard, switch tip and poker chip. On the back of the body is a blue and gold presidential seal. The Gibson ABR-1 bridge and stop bar tailpiece are chrome plated and the guitar wears a mismatched set of gold speed knobs. The guitar is equipped with a pair of DiMarzio PAF pickups in the neck and middle positions which are not wired into the circuit, and a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge position connected the appropriate set of volume and tone controls; the three way toggle selector switch engages the bridge pickup in the bridge and middle positions with a mute on the neck.
“Ace’s Budokan Gibson Les Paul Custom includes a 1990s brown Gibson hardshell case with pink interior and shroud. The exterior of the case has neon tape on the outside with “#1” written on it and white stenciling which reads “R1” and “Top.” Also includes a collection of 17 photographs of Ace playing the guitar onstage with KISS and a pink receipt from Gibson Custom Shop from June of 2011, when Gibson was inspecting the guitar in preparation for the ‘Budokan’ replica guitars.”