GUITAR WORLD SPENT SOME QUALITY TIME AT ACE FREHLEY’S PAD TO SHOOT THE BREEZE, CHECK OUT HIS STUFF AND DISSECT HIS GROOVIN’ NEW ALBUM, 10,000 VOLTS STORY (AND HOME-VISIT PHOTOS) BY JON WIEDERHORN

IN AN AFFLUENT New Jersey suburb about an hour’s drive from Manhattan, a maze of treelined side streets creates a grid that keeps out the heavy traffic, leaving a peaceful, bucolic neighborhood lined with spacious homes and lush, manicured lawns undisturbed by the noise. At the end of a short block that resembles most of the other streets is a Colonial-style home that’s a bit larger than the surrounding residences.

The biggest clue that there’s something different here is the long, curved driveway that runs past rows of privacy trees and seems to disappear. At the end of the driveway there’s a parking area big enough for a dozen cars; on the other side is the front of the stately yet inviting home of Ace Frehley.

PHOTO BY JAYME THORNTON

The guitar hero and co-founder of Kiss warmly greets Guitar World at the door and invites us into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and a brief chat about world events before leading us on a guided tour of the home and basement studio, where he wrote and recorded much of his new album, 10,000 Volts. When asked why he’s living in upper-class suburbia instead of a major rock mecca, Frehley shrugs.

“We got this place for a great price, and I really like it out here,” he says, adjusting his large, rounded sunglasses with his blue nail-polished fingers. “People around here are all successful, and they’re not really into the whole world of rock ’n’ roll. I can go out to dinner and eat in peace without being bothered.”

Chez Frehley may not be located in a rock haven, but the inside is designed to appeal to the rock star aesthetic Frehley has followed ever since his dad gave him his first guitar at age 13; Frehley’s early obsession with rock ’n’ roll —and his fascination with science fiction —led to his entry into Kiss in 1973, and his band character, Space Ace. To wit, old science-fiction movie posters line the walls of his home, and every creature (feature) comfort is present: an antique pool table, a spaceship portal painted on a wall behind a velvety blue couch, even a fan-crafted poster of Ace replacing Jack Nicholson in the famous final scene black-and-white wall photo in The Shining.

“IN KISS, WHEN WE PULLED INTO A NEW CITY, INSTEAD OF CHECKING INTO THE HOTEL, ME AND MY GUITAR TECH WOULD DRIVE AROUND TO THE PAWN SHOPS. WE GOT SOME GREAT STUFF THAT WAY”

There’s also the more cozy, homey stuff, including a giant-screen TV with high-end speakers, a living room with comfy modern furniture and framed pictures of family and friends. Of course, there’s no shortage of Kiss and Ace memorabilia, and in a room behind the kitchen is a display of unique guitars Ace loves but doesn’t play, including a goldtop Gibson ES-335, a glittery flame-colored Strat and an oddity that Frehley can’t identify. It’s a brown Telecaster-shaped “NDEA Magnetic” with two P90 pickups and four tone knobs inlaid with marble bluegreen stones.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Ace says, “So I had to have it. Maybe one of your readers can tell me what it is.”

A little more shop talk follows before Ace heads over to the picture windows overlooking his backyard and points to the spacious jacuzzi, where he relaxes in the spring and summer. Not only is it meditative, but the warm water and pressurized jets help soothe his back and neck, which he injured in multiple car accidents in the Seventies and Eighties. But that was a lifetime ago, when he seemed to be living on borrowed time and was partying so hard he could no longer function in the band he helped form.