By Brett Ratner

There was a hint of electricity circulating around Gibson early last month.

Most employees here went to high school about the time that the makeup marvels of arena rock (A.K.A. KISS) were rocking all night and partying every day. Because of this, rumor spread fast and furious that we had in our midst a special guest from that era.

I got a call about 9:00 in the morning: It was the Custom Division's Tim Bolin, looking for some computer advice.

"I was hoping you could come over and help me out with some questions I have about the web," Bolin said politely.

Despite the fact that I never need an excuse to hop over to the Custom Shop and peek at the finest guitars made today, I still felt a little daring and thought I'd go for broke.

"What's in it for me?" I replied with unusual bravado.

"Well," replied Tim, with a degree of pride in his voice, "I've got the Smoker guitar over here. We're attempting to build Ace a replica for Kiss's upcoming makeup tour."

"Faster than you can say "I'm there, dude," I snagged the trusty Quicktake camera and squealed tires the entire way.

Calmly and patiently performing the obligatory tutorial, I soon reached the end of my proverbial rope and decided that I had to see it now!

"Is that it in the case?" I asked with faux apathy. "Can I open her up?"

The next thing I know, it was in my hands. A black, three-pickup Les Paul Custom.

For those unfamiliar with Ace Frehley's signature ax, this instrument has a trap door in place of the neck pickup which spews smoke and fire. In keeping with the over-the-top persona of the band, this smoking effect isn't done with dry ice or anything cheesy like that. This is the real thing and that's real combustion going on in there!

As you might guess, some complex components are required to cause yet control such a reaction, on call, inside of a working electric guitar.

The entire back of the guitar was routed out (probably to great expense of the tone) and a variety of devices were installed. Just from looking at the guitar, it's difficult to tell exactly how this charred bundle of wires works, but based on a crude diagram (scribbled by Ace himself) it appears that two large batteries provide the juice to ignite the flammable material that reside inside the combustion compartment. On stage, Ace incites the ignition with a five way rotary switch that replaces one of the tone pots. Each click begins a different stage, from the opening of the trap door on to the final spewing of smoke.

Cosmetically, this poor thing has seen better days. For non believers who think that Ace didn't have a real fire going on in there should note that the pickup rings are melted, as is the binding and even the inlay on the 20th fret. Oh, by the way, the thing smells awful too. Surprisingly, it still plays fairly well for a guitar that could earn the distinction as the "Most Mistreated Ax Since The Who." Unfortunately, I didn't get an opportunity to plug it in.

But who cares how it looks? This thing's got character, and plenty of it. Besides, it is a powerful icon for an entire era of music, and the fans who to this day pay big bucks to share their enthusiasm. I think Mr. Bolin, an avid Kiss fan himself phrased the guitar's mystique most artfully.

"It's a piece of rock and roll history."