“Like no one else”: Ace Frehley on classic rock’s three most distinctive guitarists
In 2021, roughly 3.34 million guitars were sold in the US alone. That’s an awful lot of potential rock ‘n’ roll stars. The instrument remains the most popular in the world by quite some distance. So, it’s one hell of a feat when someone can make themselves stand out and endear. Pedals, amps, and production trickery might come into it, but even if he was strumming an acoustic in the room next door, there’s a good chance you might be able to pick out the distinct tones of Ace Frehley.
There has never been a fellow in history called Ace sporting otherworldly make-up and an outfit that looks like it was straight from a Star Trek bondage spin-off that wasn’t aware of the power of standing out. The Kiss guitarist is a proud symbol of individuality. With ‘New York Groove’, he captured a simple stomping riff that somehow embodied the singularity of the Big Apple and its funky denizens in a way that now marks the tune as somewhat of an unofficial anthem.
But where did his inspiration come from on this front? Who were the tastemakers who moulded his yearning for a sound that could render the same tried and tested four chords somehow unique? Well, while giving a rock ‘n’ roll lecture back in 2019, the fiery fretmaster, put it down the three fellows: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townshend.
“I’ve learned from a lot of guys who sound like no one else,” he commented. “When you hear Eric Clapton play, you know it’s Clapton. Jimi Hendrix had his own style as well, and it was very distinctive; Townshend is the same way. He’s the master of chord work. Townshend could play the same chord in a dozen different positions.”
While Townshend might not be renowned as being as technically gifted as the two former guitar heroes, his distinctness and greater simplicity inspired Frehley the most. “I learned a lot from studying Pete Townshend,” he said.
But this wasn’t just tied to the way his strumming hand can bend chords in a manner of different ways. That technique is merely a signifier of how Townshend views the role of the guitar in making music in general. There are riffs, and then there are arrangements and textures—few guitarists actually realise this fact when they’re orchestrating their songs. However, The Who were the absolute masters.
As Frehley explains: “A lot of people don’t know that he buried an acoustic guitar under the electric guitar to create a fuller sound. I use that now on some songs. You don’t really hear it that much, but if you pull it out, you miss it because it helps support the song. And he’s the one that really inspired me to mess around with the toggle switch.”
Alongside Hendrix’s inherent flashiness and soul, Clapton’s choppy signatures and blistering sustains, and Townshend’s filagreed textures, every classic rock guitarist has a trio of lessons to take heed from. Frehley certainly has, and he’s got well over 100 million record sales to thank them for.
