Gibson Custom Shop Ace Frehley Signature Les Paul
The Story of the AFS Guitars
Ace's 1996-2001 contract with Gibson provided for four versions of his signature guitar. The first to be released was The 300 from the Gibson Custom Shop. Second was the Production models from the Gibson USA shop with the Gibson Custom Shop making the AFS versions beginning sometime in early-1998. Production of the Epiphone versions also began in 1997, in Korea. A clause in the contract between Ace and Gibson was that Ace had exclusive branding rights for any/all 3 pickup, Heritage Cherry Sunburst Les Paul Customs, Gibson would build during the validity of this contract (1997 to 2001). Simply put, Gibson could build them, but they would have to have Ace’s name associated with them.
What are the AFS guitars and why do they exist ...
As I mentioned on "The Story of The 300" page, ALL of The 300 guitars had been pre-sold at the winter NAMM show, in 1997. Eventually, Ace had prototype ACE 002 but would obviously need more guitars as backups and spares for Kiss' Reunion tour and beyond. The AFS guitars would be built by the Gibson Custom Shop and contrary to popular lore, these guitars were built AFTER The 300. T.C. Harrison said that Ace sent him the Les Paul Custom (6 9454) he had for the initial Reunion tour shows and photoshoots (the Marshall Law ad is the most well known) to replicate it's neck for the AFS guitars. According to his notes from 1998, T.C. mentions to Ace that 6 9454 has a more asymmetrical neck (thinner on the high-E side and thicker on the low-E side) than a typical LP Custom and/or any of The 300 guitars ... including ACE 002.
There was a total of 13 guitars built for the AFS run and they all went directly to Ace. Once they were in his possession, he could do whatever he wanted with them. So, in total, as T.C. mentioned, Ace actually received
14 guitars from Gibson ... ACE 002 and all 13 AFS stamped guitars. These ink stamped serial numbers are
AFS 001 through AFS 013. I can't say for certain what Ace did with all of them, but around mid-2002 he began selling his remaining AFS guitars.
*Note: As of late-2025, I am personally aware of 11 of the 13 AFS guitars having been sold to private collectors.
AAA Flamed Maple top
Les Paul "Custom" platform in Cherry Sunburst Finish
Custom Ace Frehley headstock veneer (CNC machine replicas as per T.C. Harrison)
Ebony fingerboard with lightning bolt inlays & 12th fret "Ace Frehley" pearl inlay
Asymmetrical neck shape
Custom Ace Frehley serial number ... inked on as AFS 001 through AFS 013
Grover 103 tuners with pearloid buttons
Gibson ABR-1 Bridge OR Gibson Nashville Tune-O-Matic
Sterling Silver Engraved trussrod cover, switch plate and back plate
Pick guard included but not installed
Hardshell, Gibson Custom & Historic Shop case (identical to the ones that The 300 came with)
Screenprint of Ace's signature outside the case
Red interior with no silk flap, typically found in the Custom Shop cases
Three DiMarzio, Double Creme, Super Distortion pickups ... (DP100)
*Note: Because these guitars were not meant for the public, there was never any literature for them, published
by Gibson. The information above is what I've learned by studying these guitars.
April 11, 2007 - Watchtower Guitars, Morristown, NJ
A handwritten note from Ace certifying the authenticity of AFS 009 and verifying the fact that the AFS guitars were given to him as "partial payment" for his endorsement deal, with Gibson.
*Note: Ace states that there were 12 guitars as part of his deal.
But, as you'll see in the photo archive below, the serial number stamps definitely went to 13.
AFS Photo Archive
AFS 001 - Gibson Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge
AFS 002 - Gibson Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge
AFS 002 is one of the guitars that Ace used most frequently. However, it came with a HUGE surprise !!!
That, my friends, is a Seymour Duncan Distortion (DDJ) pickup in the bridge position. How do I know ?
1.) That's my arm holding the guitar and 2.) By the 3 sets of holes in the bobbins ... a Seymour Duncan feature until DiMarzio began producing their PAF 59 and PAF 57 pickups in 2017 and 2024, respectively.
AFS 003 - uncirculated
AFS 004
AFS 005
AFS 006
AFS 007 - uncirculated
AFS 008
When AFS 008 was purchased by Jeff Donahoe, we had to find out for ourselves,
whether or not all the AFS guitars were loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups. They weren't.
However, we did make another discovery ... albeit a little less surprising.
All the pickups were DiMarzio Super Distortion (DP100).
But, the middle and neck pickups were never wired in, for use !!
Only connecting the bridge pickup was not an uncommon thing for Ace and in fact, even his original
1974 Cherry Sunburst Custom was wired this way. And you thought EVH was the first guy to do that !?!?
AFS 009
AFS 010
AFS 010 was Ace's second most played AFS guitar and was also played by Slash
AFS 011
AFS 012
AFS 013
Ace and some of the AFS guitars
* Click on the thumbnail to see this mini-gallery
.
