Posts Tagged ‘rare’
February 25th, 2010 | 
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Frehley spent the early 1970s in a series of local bands. In late 1972, his best friend, Bob McAdams, spotted an advertisement for a lead guitarist in the Village Voice and showed the ad to Frehley. Both McAdams and Frehley went to 10 East 23rd Street above the Live Bait Bar. Frehley auditioned for the trio of Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (bass guitar) and Peter Criss (drums). Frehley (who showed up wearing one red sneaker and one orange sneaker) was less than impressive visually, but the band liked what they heard from his playing. About three weeks after Frehley auditioned, the new group named him their lead guitarist. By January 1973, Wicked Lester decided on a new name – Kiss. Frehley designed the band’s unique, double-lightning-bolt logo. The band quickly decided to paint their faces for live performances, and Frehley decided to start painting silver stars on his eyes. When the group eventually decided to adopt stage personas to go with their makeup designs, Frehley became “The Spaceman.”
The SpacemanWhile Kiss spent their early days rehearsing and playing in empty clubs, Frehley took a job as a part-time cab driver to pay his bills. In September 1973, Kiss began to receive a salary from new manager Bill Aucoin that paid each member $75 a week. This enabled Frehley to quit his job.
Kiss released their debut album, Kiss, in February 1974 Frehley’s sole songwriting contribution was “Cold Gin”. Due to Frehley’s lack of confidence in his own singing voice, however, the vocals were performed by Simmons. Frehley wrote or co-wrote several of the band’s songs over the next few years but didn’t record his vocals on a song until “Shock Me” (inspired by his near-electrocution during a concert in Lakeland, Florida), which appeared on 1977’s Love Gun.
As lead guitarist, Frehley was known for his frenetic, atmospheric playing, becoming one of the most popular guitarists in the 70s and spawning a generation of new players. Indeed, Frehley stated in the book Kiss: Behind the Mask that many guitarists have told him his playing on 1975’s hit Alive! prompted them to pick up the instrument. Frehley is well recognized for using Gibson Les Paul guitars, including his trademarked model conversion Cara Guitars which filled the stage full of smoke during his live guitar solo.
According to Gene Simmons in Kiss Behind the Mask, Frehley was drunk most of the time on tour, except for on stage.
Along with the three other Kiss members, Frehley released an eponymous solo album in 1978. His was the best-selling of the four, and the album’s lone single (the Russ Ballard written “New York Groove”), originally recorded by Hello reached the Top 20 in the United States.
Frehley’s songwriting presence within the group increased in 1979, contributing two songs for 1979’s Dynasty and three for 1980s Unmasked. While this was not the best time for Kiss on a commercial level in the United States, they were only just beginning to take off in other countries (mostly in Australia where Dynasty and Unmasked are their highest selling albums). But even as his songwriting role within Kiss was increasing, Frehley found himself increasingly at odds with the musical direction of the band. After Peter Criss left Kiss in 1980, Frehley was often outvoted 2-1 in band decisions, as replacement drummer Eric Carr was not a partner in Kiss and had no vote. Frehley’s participation in the recording of 1981’s Music from “The Elder” was far more limited than with previous albums. This was, in large part, due to his unhappiness with the band’s decision to create a concept album rather than a straightforward rock album, and also, by Frehley’s own admission, his “not relating all that well” to producer Bob Ezrin who cut many of Frehley’s solos from the recorded tracks.
Exacerbating the situation was Frehley’s escalating erratic behavior and substance abuse. In April 1982, Frehley was involved in a serious automobile accident (drummer Anton Fig was the driver). In May, he led police on a 90-mph car chase on the Bronx River Parkway. This incident led to a $600 fine and a six-month suspension of his driver’s license. Although Frehley appeared on the covers for 1982’s greatest hits album Killers and studio album Creatures of the Night, he had no involvement with Killers, and minimal (no musical) input on Creatures of the Night. Frehley’s last appearances with the band were the video for “I Love it Loud,” a series of European promotional appearances in November 1982 and a band interview with MTV in early 1983 promoting their world tour.
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An old mini chorus from DOD…actually a pretty cool box. Ahh…..the bucket brigade! I used a 59 historic Les Paul and a Jaguar Twin Amplifier from http://www.jaguaramplification.com
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Posted in Used Vintage Guitars | 
Tags: analog, analogman, board, boss, boutique, CE-2, choral, clone, demonstration, digital, dude, electro, flange, flanger, Gear, harmonix, ibanez, Japan, keeley, MAN, maxon, mod, modded, Modified, monte, out, outs, pedalboard, pedals, rare, shoot, shootout, stereo | 
20 Comments »
This very light guitar weighs just 8.50 lbs. and has a very fat nut width of over 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid mahogany body with a solid carved maple top covered by a bookmatched highly figured maple veneer, one-piece mahogany neck, and bound rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets (expertly refretted) and inlaid pearl crown position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl “Gibson” logo and “Les Paul Model” silk-screened in gold. Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with single-ring Keystone plastic buttons. Serial number “5 0520″ inked on in black on back of headstock. Two original double-black PAF humbucker pickups with outputs of 7.51k and 8.08k. Cream-colored plastic pickguard. Four controls (two volume, two tone) on lower treble bout, plus three-way selector switch on upper bass bout. The potentiometers are stamped “134 738″ (Centralab September 1957). Gold plastic bell-shaped “Bell” knobs. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic non-retainer bridge with metal saddles and separate stud tailpiece. This guitar is in mint (9.50) condition, with a fantastic veneer maple layer over the solid maple. It sounds absolutely unbelievable. Housed in the original 1955 Gibson brown hardshell case with maroon plush lining (8.00).
This conversion was done ca. 1995 by Scott Lentz for a Southern California University professor. The wiring harness, the PAF pickups, the ABR-1 bridge, and the stud tailpiece are all 1958 to 1959. The following parts are not original to a 1959 Burst: the pickguard, which has been cut to size, and the control covers are from the original 1955 Goldtop; the pickup rings are the facsimile English rings, which are virtually indistinguishable from the originals; the tuner buttons, the switch ring, and the jack plug cover are later.
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The very first electric guitar with three pickups This is the exceptionally rare prototype version of the ES-5. One of only twelve of an experimental batch of ES-350 Specials made by Gibson during June and July of 1949. This 17-inch-wide single soft (Venetian) cutaway guitar weighs just 6.70 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Three original P-90 single-coil pickups with outputs of 7.45k, 7.19k and 7.05k. Four controls (three volume on lower treble bout, plus one master tone on upper treble bout). Rosewood bridge on rosewood base. Original trapeze tailpiece. This near mint (9.25) guitar, which was formerly in the Chinery collection, is featured on p. 74 of The History of the American Guitar Housed in the original brown “Lifton” hardshell case.
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Posted in Gibson Vintage Guitar |
Tags: Americana, DAUGHTRY, Fretted, Gibson, guitars, PhilX, rare, Vintage |
25 Comments »
http://www.frettedamericana.com/details.php?id=679&counter=0
This rare little guitar weighs just 7.20 lbs. Solid mahogany body, one-piece medium profile mahogany neck with a scale length of 22 3/4 inches and a nut width of just over 1 9/16 inches. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 19 original frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Single P-90 pickup with a strong output of 7.18k. Combination “wrap-over” bar bridge/stud tailpiece. This is an exceptional example of one of only 222 “three-quarter” Les Paul Juniors shipped in 1957 (compared to 2,959 “full-size” Juniors shipped that year). Housed in the original Gibson brown “alligator” softshell case with brown felt lining (8.50).
MUSIC BY POWDER
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This very light guitar weighs 6.80 lbs. and has two Melody Maker pickups. Solid mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with pearl dot inlays. Combination wrap-over bar bridge/tailpiece. Original “alligator” softshell case.
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http://www.frettedamericana.com/details.php?id=992&counter=0
Yes, it really is an original PAF ES-295! This incredibly rare guitar weighs just 6.70 lbs. and has a very comfortable nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Reminiscent of the ES-175, with the same sharp-edged single Florentine cutaway and pearl split-parallelogram inlays, this wonderful guitar has a 16-inch-wide laminated maple body. One-piece mahogany neck with a wonderful thick profile. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 20 original small frets. Two original ‘double-black’ PAF humbucker pickups with nicely balanced outputs of 7.43k and 7.62k. All hardware gold-plated. This guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. There is some light body checking and a little tarnishing to the gold-plated parts, but otherwise, the body is exceptionally clean and the neck remarkably so. This is a totally original, untouched and exceptional example of an extremely rare guitar — one of about a hundred PAF ES-295s ever made. This actual guitar, which was formerly in the Chinery collection, is featured on p. 87 of The History of the American Guitar from 1833 to the Present Day by Tony Bacon. Housed in the original brown hardshell case with purple plush lining (9.00).
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http://www.frettedamericana.com/details.php?id=917&counter=0
This custom-built double-neck (conventional six-string neck in the lower position combined with a twelve-string neck weighs just 10.50 lbs. Both necks are one-piece mahogany and have a nut width of 1 9/16 inches and a medium-to-thick profile. Four “patent-number” humbucker pickups. Each pickup with a black label (”Patent No. 2,737,842″) on the underside and with outputs of 7.40k and 7.53k on the six-string guitar and outputs of 7.49k and 8.61k on the twelve-string guitar. One of just 4 guitars built in 1966. Housed in the original Gibson black rectangular hardshell case with yellow/orange plush lining (9.00). A great rarity
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http://www.frettedamericana.com/details.php?id=601&counter=0
This incredible totally original one-owner guitar weighs just 8.50 lbs. Solid mahogany body with a carved maple top. One-piece mahogany neck with a wonderful thick profile, Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 original frets and pearl crown position markers. Two incredibly hot P-90 pickups with outputs of 8.28k and 7.85k. Combination “wrap-over” bar bridge/stud tailpiece. This totally original ‘55 Les Paul Standard Gold Top — with a neck and a sound to die for — is the one of the best that we have ever seen. At just eight and a half pounds, it is a real lightweight. This one owner guitar is housed in its original Gibson four-latch brown hardshell case with pink plush lining (9.00).
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A nice vintage Kay Value Leader made in Chicago, Illinois around 1965 (earlier?).
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