Ace seems like a cool next door neighbor who sits in his garage with a beer and a smoke, and just talks to anyone who stops by while he's noodling around on his guitar.
There used to be two magazines out back in the 70's Circus mag and Creem mag. One of them used to have ranking's in the back for guitarist,singers and I believe bassist. Ace Frehley was in the top 5 every week! His solo's are unique! I had the pleasure to see them live when they ruled the world back in 77' and 78' in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Self taught and don't read music. He is a classic for the ages!
Ace Frehley is pure and total talent who learned by himself like Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page and made classic melodic solos that will been and will being on the minds of who can hear with heart and soul. NOT BY THE EARS. His personal life, drugs, alcohol, doesn´t matter for me. He´s a great musician and he made amazing things while many people never did and he did with his simple way. I use to say that if a guitar player can´t feel Hendrix, BB King and ACE FREHLEY he really need methods and vids to learn ... And it´s so true. If you can´t absorving his rock´n roll atmosphere here is not place for you.
Yeah, Ace isnt the best tech wise - not even close. But he has his signature licks and a nice sound to his playing. It isn't always about the "full shreddddd". Ace rules!
Ace rules.....He's just giving a lesson here and he plays more by feeling than strict technique. That's why I like him more than the other guy playing for Kiss now....He's playing the solos note for note perfect but when Ace plays it there's just more attitude;.....The bends in the notes seem " bigger", the vibrato is a more care free sound;.....He speaks to you through his playing;...Just like Hendrix. And Ace has a tone that is different than any other Les Paul tone I've ever heard.....
Some good vibrato tips: do it with a metronome, bend up with the metronome click and return to the original note in between clicks and try and keep it even with the metronome, also do it at different speeds. For, example vibrato's made up of mini bends so you have hills and valleys in the sound. you want the hill/peak to be even with the beep and the valleys to come between. Lastly, make sure when you bend the string up the speed is the same as when you bend it down.
When I first heard the solo on Strutter, I remember being BLOWN AWAY at the way he made those few notes bend & sing the way he did. It was so impressive
No, it's not trivia. It's the way he picks up or down and immediately bends the string into the vibrato. It's very subtle, if you haven't noticed it then you're not much of a fan and listen with, paradoxically, deaf ears. I'm 53 years old, so maybe you're too young to notice yet.
Ace is a hero and is part of the makers of rock guitar. Soils in some fantastic classic KISS Firehouse as, for example, leave no doubt. The guy is a genius and is not discussed.
Ace was always known for his sweet vibrato, but his phrasing is really good too. Listen to the way he phrases the solo on Shock Me, for example. That's a classic 70's style guitar solo.
Ace has always had a fantastic vibrato, but Angus' vibrato is outrageous. Give the solo to Back in Black a really good listen and his vibrato is unreal.
I am absolutely amazed that the great Ace Frehley is a thumb-over-the-front-of-the-fingerboard guy. One would expect his technique to be . . . . well he must be self-taught, but for you beginners, try to keep your left thumb at the center of the back of the neck. It's a pain in the ass early on, but later it will come in handy for more complicated hammer-ons, and your wrists won't get hurt. Also, when you progress to the point of "shredder" with incorrect technique, it's impossible to unlearn.
This is one of those lessons where the teacher gets up close & personal. Ace lays out the $1 bills of guitar playing here, and the observer, or "student", is challenged to add up the total and/ or count out correct change (I like that!). Sure, it's just a snippet of a lesson. Effective, though- I know players who either DON'T use vibrato, or just do it sloppily. This is rather insightful. Good stuff, Ace.
I am not certain who the quote was from, but it was in the book KISSTORY where someone was quoted as saying of the four original members of KISS, Ace was the best musician. I believe it may've been Bill Aucoin...
@csrogers87 Its true, even as old as that man is, he is still an angel with a guitar...only man I've ever heard make that mother sing like he was born to it...I saw him in concert and I was bawling by the third song...
Nobody could ever copy Ace when it comes to playing like he does. The dude is an absolute master at string bends and vibrato. Ace has proven that technique, flash and perfection cannot touch feeling and attitude, and that is what gives Ace an edge over many players.
Ace gets emotion from his guitar! It weeps,wails and destroys with passion! People can play notes but not get that feeling. He inspired more people to pick up a guitar then anyone! His Sound is unique and a trademark.especially when young he was poetry in motion on stage!
i bought a new les paul cause of ace frehley. i just started playing a month ago and i know a bit of shock me and love gun etc. basic parts. but so fun. ace your the guitar king of rock
@damienbaits The effects started to come into play, because he would keep going forever. His old tech said they started to ad the effects from the mixing board because it would get his attention & he'd look up & they'd let him know to end it. It later developed into part of the show.
I read an interview with J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr who said nobody has vibrato like Ace. he was studying Ace's technique, personally I'm a bassist, but I'll go ahead and assume J. knows wtf he's talking about considering his chops.
I Guess Just In Case The People who Enjoy Shitty "New Shit" or that music that sounds like a Banging Hammer with a Nail Into The Wall Type Of Sound (Dubstep). I Hate Black Veil Brides, all those Poser new acts
i got a link from ace's facebook fan page. he said its gonna be out soon its not out yet. i forget when its supposed to be out check his site. it should be on there now
Well I was being personal, I wasn't talking about whatever technique Ace Frehley is good at. Not that I know shit about that too much, I'm a bassist just like you. And if it's about inspring thousands of people, every second musician might as well pack it in. There's too much else about it than just that. I just consider Ace Frehley to be a prick because of his way of putting things and his overall behavior, end of story.
@ 1:14 "I JUST KINDA LIKE, DO IT " My favorite KISS song: "Watching You" Unbelievable live version, "Winterland Ballroom 1975-black and white footage" it will change your life it changed mine for sure. I remember when I was in 3rd grade (grew up in Detroit in the late 70s and 80s) people used to literally laugh outloud at me and my brother cause we loved Kiss. Ace was my favorite. Then "I was made for lovin U" came out and my love affair with Kiss was over.
Ace had emotion and balls. He didn't have the clean licks of Rhoads or VanHalen. But he had raw energy and emotion that moved you. He inspired so many guitarist it's not funny. So don't let yourself be confused by how technical he was or wasn't. Many other players are cleaner, but some over do it. A thousand notes a second is impressive for about 2 seconds. Vinnie comes to mind, great player, but just couldn't understand music is about emotion not simply speed and clarity.
worst lead player in rock history next to cc deville. really not very good. never was never will be. made a living on flash instead of substance. one good thing is that he is a better guitar player than gene simmons is a bass player. Its sort of like comparing hitler to musilini as the worst dictator.... oh yeah, there is not such thing as wang bar, its a whammy bar....
worst lead player in rock history next to cc deville. really not very good. never was never will be. made a living on flash instead of substance. one good thing is that he is a better guitar player than gene simmons is a bass player. Its sort of like comparing hitler to musilini as the worst dictator....
I like Ace's solo style his solo's were like little songs in themselves and he was a big part of Kiss's sound, however i didnt care for his live solo's with to many effects going off at once. He made up for it with the smoking pick-up. He stayed stuck in his style in the 80's and didnt(couldnt?) shred which i do respect.
It's a stage-name, like "Ace". He got it when playing with Manson, And the guy has played with k.d. lang, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, David Lee Roth among others. He has also written songs for Garbage, Meat Loaf and Avril Lavigne and he recorded a couple of guitar albums in the early 90's. In other words, he may not be that famous, but he sure knows his craft!
@csrogers87 yeah I love ace! i was just saying BB makes a vibrato look so effortless and easy the way he does it compared to anyone, including ace. Its kinda like his signature maneuver on the guitar. search for it sometime if you haven't seen it. He uses one finger when he does it and shakes his hand haha.
@RokDAWG1 I didnt know that thank you...he always seemed to be telling the sound board guys to turn me up with his hand signaling up. I saw Ace on that metal show last night and that nerd billy sheehan was also on and got all the attention, who cares about mr big? I wanted more focus on Ace.
Thats how he does that. He stretches his 1st and 2nd fingers across four frets. Yeah, its sure does make it easier than using a ring or pinky finger.. he is using his stonger fingers. If you arent used to playing vibrato this way, it can be a bit painful.
I made up an exercise where I just kept bending, then doing as many vibrados as I could until the string slipped from my finger. Just keep doing and doing it - it works. Good vibrado is the key to good blues, which is the key to good rock tone!
I'm an ace fan , I can't say he's my number 1 like buckethead but deffinately on my main menu. it was good to watch this video of his on vibrato , he did cover lots of information , I bet many would have liked to have seen it more close up.
Some of the comments on string gauge. 10 is the norm for electric. Practice on an acoustic or buy a cheap guitar and put 11's on it with a fairly high action. Then when you go to your main guitar. It'll be like butter.
I don't like his vibrato and why does he say you can't bend up with your index finger? That's just as possible as bending down. At least on the b and e string. check out Tom Hess, his vibrato is pretty perfect i'd say.
BB has it. Ace does as well. But for my money, nobody ever had the command that Stevie Ray Vaughan did. Especially when he got into that zone and tuned out everything. Man, the guy was something else...
Ahmm... I'm just a noob at guitar and it's hard for me to bend a string with my index finger in a downward motion, I'm used to doing it upwards. Is that wrong? How do I do it downwards? Thanks in advance
@StockOfWood1969 I wasnt talking music...i was talking specifically vibrato. and you can compare anyone's vibrato from any genre in any time. because good vibrato is good vibrato.
Nobody in my opinion does vibrato better than the late great Paul Kossof, check out or RU-vid Free's 'Walk in my Shadow' - any live version - to see just what I mean.
@AnnaAnnaYes Sorry I meant I'm gonna change my string gauge to a lighter one. I'm using light string gauge, and I'm thinking of switching to extra light.
