What Marshall amps did Ace Frehley use in the 1970s?

[ericb]

Ace endorsed Lane's in the late 80's if I remember correctly.

You mean Laney's right? IF so , I remember that. I saw them in 1977 in Montreal and it was Marshalls then . I have no clue which amps, but just like all the other guitarists of MY generation , KISS was a big reason we played guitar and continued to play... Hendrix was my primary inspiration and the reason I started.. BUT I have to say just like loads of others Kiss tunes were amongst the easiest to learn note for note in the 70's (along with Black Sabbath ) and they were the 1st 2 bands I learned lots of their stuff. .

For sure great riffs, and great Marshall tones.

Eric

 

[MBreinin]

Yeah, Ace was the reason I picked up a guitar. There really was nothing cooler to a 7 year old than a dude dressed up like a Space Man cranking it out on a Les Paul that smoked and shot fireworks. I decided that was something I had to be in on!

I saw them live in 1978. I was 8.

Mike

 

[richey88]

You mean Laney's right? IF so , I remember that. I saw them in 1977 in Montreal and it was Marshalls then . I have no clue which amps, but just like all the other guitarists of MY generation , KISS was a big reason we played guitar and continued to play... Hendrix was my primary inspiration and the reason I started.. BUT I have to say just like loads of others Kiss tunes were amongst the easiest to learn note for note in the 70's (along with Black Sabbath ) and they were the 1st 2 bands I learned lots of their stuff. .

For sure great riffs, and great Marshall tones.

Eric

Saw Frehley's Comet in a small club in Austin the 80's and it was Laneys......Anton Fig on drums great band! We took a leak together!!

Saw Apr. '08 in NYC, Ace's tone was SCORCHING!! Looked like Marshalls, I read he rents when on tour now. I'm an old fart now too and hadda wear earplugs! Great fun to see him, good band, young cats...his playing....it was great fun to see him!!

 

[skhan007]

Ace is the reason I picked up the guitar! :AOK

 

[dmb70]

Live I think KISS used whatever Marshall's where current at that time. In the very early days they were probably ealy 70's Metal Pannel JMP 100 watters or possibly Plexi's. If you look at pictures of their back line from 74 through early 76 you sometimes can see some of Ace's or Paul's amps have the metal toggle switches & some had rocker switches. By the Love Gun/Alive 2 tour they were using MK2's. I know when Gene & Paul had their big auction a few years back they auctioned off some MK2 heads.

 

[Andre357]

Count me in as another guitar player who never would have picked up the guitar if it was not for Ace Frehley.....

Simple meat and potatoes guitar player he was, nothing wrong with that. I loved his tone ( the first Kiss album and dressed to kill are two of my favorite guilty pleasure to this day )....

I saw them at the Boston Orpheum in the early 70's ( Before Kiss ALive came out ! ). I was in Junior high and they changed my life for years to come.

I eventually moved on to Jazz and other genres as i got older but I'm still gratefull to ACE for the original inspiration....

IMHO - he has one the greatest rock vibrato's ever in his lead playing ( there, I said it )....

 

[jtm622]

I saw them on tour about the time of "Detroit Rock City", and can I guarantee you that they were using a HUGE backline of BRAND NEW Marshalls - they had black grill-cloth and 9" logos on the cabinets, which meant that they were most likely JMP 2203's. Also, Ace had solid creme colored pickups in his LP's - and the only solid creme colored pups on the market at that time were DiMarzio "Super Distortions".

That said, the only folks who can say for sure what he used in the studio would have had to have been there!

 

[gdomeier]

 

[gregit]

Whatever Rick said he should use.

 

[Marshall Man]

Count me in as another guitar player who never would have picked up the guitar if it was not for Ace Frehley.....

Simple meat and potatoes guitar player he was, nothing wrong with that. I loved his tone ( the first Kiss album and dressed to kill are two of my favorite guilty pleasure to this day )....

I saw them at the Boston Orpheum in the early 70's ( Before Kiss ALive came out ! ). I was in Junior high and they changed my life for years to come.

I eventually moved on to Jazz and other genres as i got older but I'm still gratefull to ACE for the original inspiration....

IMHO - he has one the greatest rock vibrato's ever in his lead playing ( there, I said it )....

He does have a killer vibrato and tone!

 

[JDW3]

Kiss Alive is Ace's tonal benchmark, for me.

That said, what would his amp and settings be?

By RARO it sounded like he was using pedals for his lead tones, heavy as they were. I Want You, Doctor Love, etc...

 

[roknfnrol]

I love the tones on the very first album.

 

[Geetarpicker]

I've owned a few mid 70s metal panel Marshall 50s-100s. On some of them the taper on the volume knob was so quick to come up that 5 or even 4 would be almost as loud and gainy as full up, and that's even with the bright cap removed.

That pic from Kiss Alive 1 is the coolest. The 1st live album must have quite a bit of crowd and room mics going on, as it sounds so much like you are there and quite raw at that. I saw them 2-3 times back in the late 70s, and to me it was always a thrill to see that many Marshalls stacked up! That said on the Alive 2 tour I went back behind the stacks (which were maybe 3 cabs high or was it 4?) and only the bottom cabs were plugged up. Seems they might have had JBLs in them, chrome center domes and such. They sure put on a show!

 

[keith_t4e]

If anyone got the orange lovepedal E6 a few years ago, that sounded kiss like to me. I first saw them on Rock and Roll Over tour. Next time was new years eve 77/78 with Billy Squire's band Piper. Piper was way beter than Billy's solo stuff. Didn't it used to say "Kiss uses Gibson guitars and Marshall amps" on the LPs. Go Frank. Tell us about the early years. Ace has the kind of leads where every note rings out in your mind. There are no senseless playing super fast with no meaning. He uses the litle licks we all probably know but man does he know how to link them together in a song. He kicks ass on Peter Criss' songs for some reason. He is very under rated. He is coming out with a new CD very soon Anamolly. His problem is that he hasn't grown much at all. A player like Alex Lifeson has grown leaps and bounds where as Ace hasn't. Ace will always be one of the best players of the 70s and because of him, many, many guys picked up a guitar. Paul Stanley. Well, he is another story all together.

 

[Knuckles]

Check out some of the books (like Gene Simmons' Kiss and Make Up, or Kiss Kompendium) with early pics of Wicked Lester and Kiss. Lots of really cool old Marshalls just toseed around in rehearsal rooms - small box 50 watters, Plexi's, a custom fawn colored head here and there.

 

[Maven]

 

[charveldan]

Marshall Super Leads. Over the years Kiss has used everything Marshall wise.

 

[tcmono]

Was backstage for a show in probably '75 (Kalamazoo Ice Arena). Marshall's were not plugged in. Behind the stacks were SF Deluxe Reverbs (miced) for Ace and Paul Stanley, a miced Musicmaster bass amp for Gene Simmons. No lie.

Funny story: at the end of the show they lit up these two giant gas jets on either side of the drum riser. It was about 110 degrees on stage. The drummer passed out and fell over backwards off of the riser, the drum tech grabbed sticks got on the drums and finished the show.

 

[stratotastic]

Wow, lots of love for Kiss on TGP. Who woulda thunk it?! Count me in as well. I remember getting the Alive II double LP when I was 8 or so, which was the most amazing thing I had ever seen or heard at the time!

 

[ToneGrail]

Was backstage for a show in probably '75 (Kalamazoo Ice Arena). Marshall's were not plugged in. Behind the stacks were SF Deluxe Reverbs (miced) for Ace and Paul Stanley, a miced Musicmaster bass amp for Gene Simmons. No lie.

I believe you. My question is, why would they do that when they have all those sweet sounding Marshalls?