Ace Frehley Epiphone LP (Budokan Lookalike)

[TheAce93]

Someone suggested I take my thread from Custom Shop section to the Epiphone section so here it is:

I'll start by saying, I don't mean any offense to anyone (in case this is one of you guys) in terms of questioning whether this guitar genuinely did originally come with a pickguard and pearl grovers.

This seller claims that this Ace Frehley LP is rare because it came with a pickguard installed 'like the Gibsons'. There's no way of knowing if it came from the factory like that or if he simply added it himself with a custom made guard. I mean, how easy is it to just install a pickguard? And it seems to have pearl tuners like the Budokans. I'm pretty sure that the 2000's era Ace Les Pauls had chrome kidney bean tuners or the chrome tulip shaped ones.

Either way, it's an awesome looking guitar, and exactly what I'm looking to do with my Ace LP (Make it look more like a Budokan with a pickguard and pearl tuners)

Any thoughts on the legitimacy of this thing originally having a pickguard?

ACE FREHLEY LES PAUL GUITAR KISS Epiphone / Gibson | eBay

 

[storey]

If it's supposed to be a Budokan, i thought they all came with a pickguard.

 

[Barcham]

Who knows? Mistakes happen at the Epi factories on occasion and it might have had a pick guard installed. Doesn't make it worth any extra or anything because it would be no different than the owner adding one himself.

As usual, the all important shot of the headstock binding meeting the neck is not there and the headstock binding looks to be a little too thick to me so it could be a fake. I'd definitely ask for that pic before considering this guitar.

 

[TheAce93]

You read me wrong man, the guitar on eBay is from the 2000's era of Ace Les Paul's, this one:

All of these guitars (to my knowledge) came with chrome tuners and no pickguards. The Budokans come with pearloid tuners and pickguards, which is why this guitar is strange. I'm just wondering if it actually came with these from the factory of if they were added by someone else.

 

[TheAce93]

Who knows? Mistakes happen at the Epi factories on occasion and it might have had a pick guard installed. Doesn't make it worth any extra or anything because it would be no different than the owner adding one himself.

As usual, the all important shot of the headstock binding meeting the neck is not there and the headstock binding looks to be a little too thick to me so it could be a fake. I'd definitely ask for that pic before considering this guitar.

I'm not planning on buying it, I already have my own. I'm planning on making it look more like a Budokan by adding a pickguard and pearloid Grovers! This guitar just caught my interest because it's exactly what I'm going for in terms of modifying mine.

 

[TheAce93]

I'm getting pretty tired of the same old shit on these forums, if you have something to say, say it. Don't just leave a snarky tag and rate the thread 1 star. Some people can't even man up enough to leave a comment anonymously on the internet.

 

[Tanqueray]

That model didn't come stock with pearloid tuners or a pickguard. It is highly unlikely that the factory made it that way. My guess is that the seller or previous owner did his own mods, or the guitar is a forgery.

 

[TheAce93]

That model didn't come stock with pearloid tuners or a pickguard. It is highly unlikely that the factory made it that way. My guess is that the seller or previous owner did his own mods, or the guitar is a forgery.

He's advertising it as 'rare' because of the pickguard, so he's either trying to milk more money out of whoever buys it or he genuinely believes it's some sort of special model.

 

[SwisherSweets]

i dont believe thats the guitars original nut either.
the pickgaurd never came with them. neither did those buttons.

i give him brownie points for laying it on thick for the sale.

only 700$? i wounder whats wrong with it deep down.

a few years ago though, there was a guitar online magazine type deal had a contest to win a Modded Epiphone ace frehley signature. had the pearl buttons and pickgaurd. so this could be that very same guitar.
or the guy bought it this way from a previous person adding this stuff or themselves. either way its not rare. he could just get the basic asking price plus maybe a little more for his mods. though i think for some people buying a guitar is like buying a car, you can sup it up all high end but no one wants to pay for your "labor of love" as they say

i should send him a picture of mine so he knows how rare it is lol

 

[TheAce93]

His description makes it sound like it was made by Ace Frehley himself

It doesn't look fake but it's certainly not any more special than anyone else's Ace LP.

 

[Tanqueray]

He's either mistaken or he's trying to inflate the price of his guitar. My money's on the latter.

 

[SwisherSweets]

this guys asking isnt as bad as this other guy on ebay selling a signed epi ace sig for 5k when ace himself on his own website is selling autographed budokans for 1300$

 

[TheAce93]

this guys asking isnt as bad as this other guy on ebay selling a signed epi ace sig for 5k when ace himself on his own website is selling autographed budokans for 1300$

He's only burning himself, no one is stupid enough to pay that much!
I wouldn't pay more than $1000 for an Epiphone even if it was signed by Satan himself.

 

[eschatts]

I have the Gibson USA version of the budokan. I do not like the tuners at all. I am probably going to swap them out at some point. There is a lot of slop in them.

 

[workerunit]

I have the Gibson USA version of the budokan. I do not like the tuners at all. I am probably going to swap them out at some point. There is a lot of slop in them.

How could this possibly be?? I thought Gibson only made perfect guitars???

 

[eschatts]

It is just the way it is.

 

[radiomatts]

You read me wrong man, the guitar on eBay is from the 2000's era of Ace Les Paul's, this one:

All of these guitars (to my knowledge) came with chrome tuners and no pickguards. The Budokans come with pearloid tuners and pickguards, which is why this guitar is strange. I'm just wondering if it actually came with these from the factory of if they were added by someone else.

Not all the Epiphone Ace guitars came without pickguards. I went with a buddy to buy his at Guitar Center, and it came out of the box with a pickguard. There are more without them, but I can vouch for the PG.

I got the vibe though that this one is fake. The binding issue is first, secondly, the headstock isn't quite right. The other thing to look for is that even the Epi's had DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups in them. They have adjustable pole pieces that are Allen screws, not PAF style slotted screws. I didn't look that closely but the fakes all miss that detail.

 

[battra]

The headstock looked fake to me too...that was my first thought...

 

[markerdown]

I swapped the tuner buttons on my ace LP when I first got it too. I got mine NIB, no pickguard.

 

[battra]

Real quick things that make me giggle...

1) The first sig was the Ace Frehley sig version of his Budokan.

2) Ace still places the first version in concert.