A mid-80s Kahler 2300
For the rhythm parts on “Tears Are Falling” the guitars hold power chords and slightly depress the tremolo in a rhythmic pattern. In the studio that could be done by any guitar equipped with a decent tremolo, but for the live shows Paul probably felt that he needed something that was image-compliant. He had had his B.C. Rich Eagles re-finished in pastels to match the over-the-top looks that Fleur Thiemeyer had designed for them, and he had his cracked mirror Warlock and the holographic Hamer Scarab ready to go. So, to round out that murderer’s row he got a translucent red B.C. Rich Ironbird—the pointiest of all pointy guitars.
Paul’s Ironbird was custom built for Paul by Bernardo “Bernie” Rico Sr. and featured a maple neck and quilted maple sides. The fretboard was probably rosewood as it was “standard” on Ironbirds and the inlays were large triangular ones, the same he had on his most recent B.C. Rich Eagle. The control layout was the same as on the Eagles, and the pickups were EMG. The bridge, which was the entire reason for bringing a fifth (!) guitar on the road, was a Kahler 2300.
The 2300 was Kahler’s flat-mount tremolo which didn’t require any major routing. Unlike a regular Strat tremolo or a Floyd Rose where you have a bridge block going through the body which connects to the body with springs, the Kahler flatmount had an internal ball bearing cam that rotated when you pulled or pressed the tremolo arm. An internal part of the bridge moved rather than the entire bridge acting on a fulcrum. But I don’t think that mattered to Paul, he left the choice to B.C. Rich. (Looking through the 1985 B.C. Rich catalog, every single tremolo-equipped guitar has a Kahler. They must have liked them.)
The Ironbird first showed up in the David Mallet-directed video for “Tears Are Falling” which was filmed at Jacob Street Studio in London, England in September 1985. I don't have to tell you how awesome this video is. (The volcano backdrop really should have been the Asylum Tour stage.) At that time the Ironbird was as Bernie Rico had built it and a photo from the video shoot was used for one of the B.C. Rich ads featuring Paul.
But when it was brought out for "Tears Are Falling" on every night during the tour, a palm rest had been added. So far I have been unable to figure out what this palm rest was. Kahler had one, but it had a very different look. It is actually a little odd that Paul would choose to add a palm rest. Granted, he wasn't used to playing guitars with a tremolo—he was a set bridge kind of guy—but the Kahler 2300 wasn't as delicate as, say, a Floyd Rose. Resting your picking hand on a Floyd Rose, or playing some palm muting, always runs the risk of pushing notes ever so slightly sharp. But the Kahler 2300's rotating cam could really only be manipulated by using the tremolo arm. You couldn't accidentally rotate the cam. But, I digress.
Unfortunately we have relatively few photos of this guitar and that’s because the guidelines for professional photographers were restrictive, video was limited to the first song and still photography to the first two songs. Since “Tears Are Falling” appeared in the second half of the set we mainly have fan shot photos of the Ironbird. (There seems to have been a few exceptions—Neil Zlozower and Layne Murdoch both seem to have captured more than two songs—but overall the professionally shot photos are limited.)
Since I don't know what make and model palm rest this was, it's hard to say whether or not it was supposed to be movable or not. (I have only seen two that were set versions, but I would not be surprised if some palm rests were constructed so that you could "release" them and they swung away from the bridge.) But, as we can see in the Columbus photo below, Paul's palm rest moved. That was solved in standard KISS fashion by taping it down as seen in the William Hames shot.
When the Asylum Tour ended, that was it for the Ironbird. When the band returned to the stage in 1987 Paul had mainly moved to B.C. Rich ST guitars, all of which had Floyd Rose tremolos, and one of them took over. It was not part of the Butterfields auction, but was up for auction in 2023. (It was not sold at that time.) Following the wonderfully weird KISS tradition of modifying guitars after they have been retired from active duty, the guitar that showed up for auction had a different, much wider, palm rest.
