Osaka, Japan March 2X, 1977
Photo by Koh Hasebe
Osaka, Japan March 2X, 1977
Unknown photographer
As mentioned in the Paul section there is no real information regarding what kind of relationship the band and its management had with Greco that ended up with Ace and Paul playing Greco guitars for some songs during the 1977 and '78 visits to Japan. Chances are that the entire deal was in fact something that the promotor Mr. Udo had wrangled in order to make the tour a reality. Far less likely is the story in the 1977 Music Life Special that the band had heard about Greco and actively sought out the guitars.
Just like Paul, Ace played at least one song using a Greco, his an MR1000R (the R designating the sunburst finish). It seems as if most of the pics of these guitars are taken from one or more of the Osaka shows and the fact that Ace and Paul used them for the same song might indicate that their use was limited to a certain number of songs. Based on the available pics and what we know of the setlists from that part of the tour I will flatly state that they were at least used for "Detroit Rock City". The sunburst of the MR1000R looks slightly different depending on the lighting conditions, but Paul is visible in most of the photos showing Ace with his MR1000 so I feel fairly confident saying it was just one guitar.
The MR1000R had specs that appealed to both Ace and Paul: mahogany body with a maple top, and a three-piece maple neck with an ebony fretboard. Looking at ads and catalog listings of the day, the MR1000 had Greco's own U-3000 pickups with chrome covers. But Ace's MR1000 shows a bare-coil bridge pickup (while the chrome cover is still on the neck pickup) leading me to believe that the pickup was replaced with one of his beloved DiMarzios.
Since this was an obvious sponsorship thing, neither Ace nor Paul showed up with a Greco MR1000 after this.
Once KISS returned to Japan in 1978 Paul was well into his collaboration with Ibanez so there was really no incentive for him to play a Greco as he had in 1977. But Ace got stuck with another Greco, this time a Flying V. Historically this guitar has been identified as a Greco AK-1400 but that was a case of putting the cart before the horse. This was actually a prototype Greco Go Flying V. Apart from the "Freedom" inlays, you can see the very distinct Go tailpiece, and the fret markers are circular from the 15th fret and up. On the AK-1400 they were oval all the way. (The 12th fret inlay on the prototype read "Key Special".) The neck was a 7-piece laminated neck-through that was usually referred to as the "Speedway" neck. The wings were Jacaranda.
Much like in 1977 there were reports that Ace had picked this guitar out himself when he visited a Key store and then ordered an AK-1400. As you can imagine, I remain highly skeptical of stories like that. (Especially since it was repeated in several Key ads.) Unfortunately, there are precious few photos of this guitar but based on the pin of himself that Ace had on his costume, I would assume that, much like in 1977, Ace only used it for one song so that he could fulfill the requirements of whatever deal there was with Greco. Unfortunately all of the photos available to me are pretty crappy but you get the idea.
The AK-1400 is interesting though. It was actually conceived after KISS had been in Japan in 1978, and although I'm fairly positive that the tales of Ace's involvement in the design are not only exaggerated but actually false, the AK-1400 was modeled on the prototype Go Flying V. It was produced exclusively for the music store Key and only 30 were built at the time. And most of the ads that Key ran featured photos like these of Ace.
It will surprise no one that, once the 1978 tour of Japan was over, Ace had no further involvement with Greco and was never again pictured with an AK-1400.
