Monday, October 27, 2025

The Holy Grail of Martin Guitars - Gene Autry's D-45 - The First Ever D-45

 

Saturday Morning Cowboy Shows
As a kid my Saturday mornings were filled with eating cereal while watching TV shows. The cartoons were great, but my favorites were the Western serials that came on later in the morning. These included Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and Hopalong Cassidy. 

Both Gene and Roy sang and played guitar. Perhaps this was my first exposure to my fascination with the six-stringed instrument. 

The Gene Autry Show
Gene Autry was the first singing cowboy. By 1929 Autry had already recorded songs and were working on WLS radio as The Oklahoma Yodeling Cowboy on the popular radio show the National Barn Dance. Autry’s record sales flourished during these days. 

His first big hit record was That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine. He then topped the charts with his version of a Ray Whitley song called Back in the Saddle Again. He also scored hit records with Here Come's Santa Claus, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snow Man, and Here Comes Peter Cottontail. 

Gene and Smiley

Gene began his film career in 1934 with his partner and sidekick, Smiley Burnette (Burnette was one of the engineers on Petticoat Junction). 

During WWII Gene Autry enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. His studio, Republic Pictures, were promoting Roy Rogers as King of The Cowboys, but to keep Autry’s name in the public they reissued old Autry Westerns. 

Gene Autry's D-45 the original 
During Gene Autry’s earlier years as a recording artist, he needed a “flashy” special guitar. Gene owned and played a few different top of the line instruments. He asked C.F. Martin Guitars for a special instrument. In 1933 they obliged by creating the first Martin D-45. 

The C.F. Martin company made a  limited number of these 12 fret D-45 guitars, but Gene Autry's was the very first one and it was built in 1933. In 1934 one more was created. Then two were built in 1936. There were only 91 D-45’s made by Martin prior to WWII. Production ceased in 1942 as factories geared up for war production.  

Gene's 1933 D-45
The D-45's were the fanciest instruments that Martin produced. Gene’s guitar certainly had plenty of “bling” with it’s slope-shouldered extended dreadnought body that helped define the voice of American acoustic music. 

The back and sides were constructed from the finest Brazilian Rosewood. The sound board featured tight-grained Sitka Spruce top. The 12-fret neck was crafted from solid mahogany and carved into a comfortable C profile, topped with an ebony fingerboard that boasts custom “Gene Autry” mother-of-pearl inlays and side dots for performance-ready orientation. 

The neck joined the body at the 12th fret, contributing to a warmer and more resonant tone, with a long 25.4″ scale length ensuring powerful string tension and sustain. The nut width was a comfortable 1.875″ and string spacing of 2.313″. 

The instruments top is richly adorned with hand-inlaid abalone pearl trim and rosette, echoing the ornate detailing of Martin’s legendary pre-war style 45s. The ivoroid binding on the body, fingerboard, and headstock enhances the elegant visual framing of the instrument. 


The headstock, featured a Brazilian Rosewood overlay, was finished with a traditional Torch inlay and fitted with precise Waverly tuners in nickel finish for both vintage aesthetics and reliable performance. His D-45 was finished with a thin coating of nitrocellulose lacquer. 

Martin D-45
Gene Autry
A tortoise-style pickguard provided classic styling while protecting the top. Measuring 21 inches in body length, with an upper bout of 11.625 inches and a lower bout of 15.625 inches, this guitar also offers a dynamic presence that feels substantial and comfortable in the hands. 

Depths at the heel and tail measure 4 inches and 5 inches, respectively. This instrument remains as one of Martin's finest and most iconic guitars to this day. Although the modern instrument is no longer slope shouldered and it now has a body joining the neck at the 14th fret.

While the ornate Style 45 appointments weren’t new as they had been appearing on smaller-bodied Martins since shortly after the turn of the century the first D-45's were the first time they were applied to a Dreadnought. The result was a striking fusion of Martin’s most powerful body shape with its most elegant aesthetic details. 


Autry had owned other Martins before that, but with popular record sales he was making more money and was aware of Style 45's. And he wanted as much pearl and flash as he could get, It has Gene's name inlaid on the fretboard. 

In 2011, a Vintage Guitar ranking of valuable guitars saw the D-45 (models made between 1936 and 1942) in first place, worth between $250,000 and $400,000. Gene Autry's original guitar is priceless.

That one-of-a-kind order set the tone for what the model would become: a guitar of exceptional quality and exclusivity, often made one at a time for individual buyers. For the first few years, production was sporadic. The early D-45s were built gradually with custom specs. Martin's system of guitar sizes is based on letters going from size O, the smallest to size D the largest. 

Size D is indicative of "Dreadnought". This was the name derived from a battleship called The HMS Dreadnought, which was launched in 1906 and saw use ten years later during The Big War.  The HMS Dreadnought was the British Navy's biggest and most aggressive battleship. Her design included a massive array of huge artillery and it's well built hull was designed to ram and take out the German Submarines known as U-Boats.


In an interview Chris Martin IV stated that his grandfather was an amateur historian. During the middle of WWI the elder Martin named the biggest guitar his company produced in honor of this ship, as he compared the sound and projection of this guitar to that of a cannon.

1924 Ditson Model 111
The first Martin models to be produced in the "dreadnought" size was the largest of several guitar models manufactured by Martin for the Oliver Ditson Company. 

The earliest models, from 1916, were perhaps set up for Steel strings, indicated they were possibly Hawaiian style guitars. At the time they were fan braced. 

The Oliver Ditson Company was a large music retailer with stores in New York and Boston (and earlier in Philadelphia), and was one of Martin's largest customers, selling guitars and other instruments, including many mandolins. Besides the "Ditson Model" Martins, a large number of regular Martin models, stamped with the C. F. Martin name only, were sold by Ditson. 

A number of the regular Martin models were also sold by Ditson with the Ditson stamp on the back of the headstock and/or on the inside center strip. 


By 1931 Martin began producing dreadnought guitars (sometimes also spelled "dreadnaught") under its own name, the first two models named the D-1 and D-2, with bodies made of mahogany and rosewood respectively; later that year, these 2 styles were renamed the D-18 and D-28 with "D" indicating body size, and the numbers the timbers used and degree of ornamentation as per other Martin models of the time. 





In 1933 Gene Autry paid $210 for his D-45, which was a custom order that included an extra $10 for the pearl head and bridge inlay. The current factory price for a Martin D-45, with block inlays is $9800. The hard-shell case is an additional $300. 






If you had a suitcase full of cash back in 1994, you could have purchased one of the limited edition Martin Gene Autry guitars for around $25,000. Only 66 of these  guitars were made. On the 2025 market they are selling for $52,000 to $69,000 USD.





Gene Autry was very wise in managing his career.  In 1947, Autry left Republic for Columbia Pictures, when they offered him his own production unit. 




He chose a new sidekick, Pat Buttram (Later he became Mr. Haney from Green Acres) who also recently returned from his World War II service. Buttram would co-star with Gene Autry as his side-kick in more than 40 films and in more than 100 episodes of Autry's television show. 




Flying A Pictures INC
In 1951, Autry formed his own production company  called Flying A Productions to make westerns under his own control, and Columbia continued to distribute them through 1953. He purchased a large tract of land in California for the purpose of filming Western movies.  


He also invested in live stock for rodeos. Autry lent his name to toys and comic books for a percentage of the royalties.


 


Gene Autry LA Angels
When major league baseball announced it wanted an expansion league in Los Angeles Autry jumped at the chance to own the league. The team eventually was known as the  Los Angeles Angels. Autry owned hotels, radio and TV stations.


Autry died on October 2, 1998, at his home in Studio City, California.


©UniqueGuitar Publications (text only) 2025
Click on the links below the pictures for sources.
Please click on advertisements to help support this page. Thank you.








Thursday, October 23, 2025

Ace Frehley - Kiss Guitarist Passed Away October 16th , 2025

 

Ace Frehley
Former KISS lead guitarist and vocalist Ace Frehley passed on at age 74 after sustaining a severe brain injury. He was in his home recording studio and fell down a flight of stairs. According to those present, this was the second time in two days that he had fallen down the same staircase. Frehley hit his head and was unresponsive. 

He was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in Morristown, New Jersey and placed on a ventilator. After being on life support and showing no improvement the effort was discontinued. Frehley was pronounced dead on October 16th of this year. 

Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley was born on April 27th, 1951. He was the original lead guitarist with KISS from 1973 until his departure from the group in 1982. He rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a reunion tour. 


Frehley's second tenure with Kiss lasted until 2002, when he left at the conclusion of what was originally purported to be the band's 2001 fairwell tour. 

Ace Frehley Teen Years
Growing up Frehley had a troubled childhood and was expelled from multiple high schools before eventually dropping out altogether. During that time he also gained the nickname "Ace", due to friends believing he was "a real ace" with his ability to get dates with girls. 

He received an electric guitar as a Christmas present in 1964, Paul immersed himself in learning the instrument.

 "I never went to music school; I never took a guitar lesson, but everybody in my family plays an instrument. My mother and father both played piano, his father was the church organist, and my brother and sister both played piano and acoustic guitar." 


Like many 13-year-old kids from that era after learning to play guitar he immediately wanted to join a band. He was impressed by seeing groups such as The Who and Cream play in concert.  




Ad For Guitarist 
In December of 1972 Frehley responded to an advertisement in The Village Voice asking for additions for lead guitarists. He was hired by Gene Simmons and Peter Criss three weeks later. Kiss released their debut album, Kiss, in February 1974. KISS was unique in the use of make-up and anonymity. 

The members each chose a persona. Ace was The Spaceman or Space-Ace, Paul Stanley was The Star Child, Gene Simmons was The Demon, and Peter Criss was Catman.

Frehley was credited for writing two songs, "Love Theme from KISS" (the only song co-written by the four original members) and a fan classic, "Cold Gin". 

Shock Me
Due to Frehley's lack of confidence in his own singing voice Gene Simmons performed the vocals. Frehley wrote or co-wrote several of the band's songs over the next few years but did not record vocals on a song until "Shock Me" (inspired by his near-electrocution during a concert in Lakeland, Florida), which appeared on 1977's Love Gun. Frehley released an eponymous solo album in 1978. 

His songwriting presence within the group increased in 1979. He contributed three songs for 1979's Dynasty and three for 1980's Unmasked. While this was not the most commercially successful time for Kiss in the United States, the band was beginning to take off in other countries.

Solo Career
By 1982, Frehley decided he wanted to leave the group. It was in 1984 that Frehley began his post-Kiss solo career by assembling a band which which released their first album, Frehley's Comet, on July 7, 1987. 

In 1996, Frehley rejoined Kiss for a successful reunion tour, on which all four original members of the band performed live for the first time since original drummer Peter Criss' departure in 1980. 

After the tour, they announced that the original lineup would return to the studio to record a new album. The resulting record called Psycho Circus.

2018 KISS Kruise
In October 2018, Frehley and Bruce Kulick reunited with Kiss on the Kiss Kruise. The six musicians performed "2,000 Man", "New York Groove", "Nothin' to Lose", and "Rock and Roll All Nite". This was the first time Frehley and the band had performed together since 2002. 

In the June 2022 interview Simmons also discussed Frehley and Criss' health and a Kiss fan convention in May 2022, Nashville, Tennessee, called the "Creatures Fest". 

Frehley died in Morristown, New Jersey on October 16th, at the age of 74 several hours after life support was stopped. He is survived by his daughter, his wife, brother and sister. 



Sadly Frehley left a mountain of debt due to foreclosure, unpaid IRS tax, and unresolved bankruptcy. 



Monique and Ace
His daughter, Monique Frehley, expected to inherit her father's rock legacy — and $1 million in assets. But what she’s facing now is a financial storm even KISS fans didn’t see coming. 

Rumors and probate filings hint at hundreds of thousands in unpaid taxes, bankruptcy residue, and a foreclosure from 2013 that never quite disappeared. Add in legal fees, tour cancellations, and lingering debts tied to licensing disputes — and Monique may be left with far less than she anticipated.  

Ace was well-known for his preference of Gibson Les Paul guitars.  The Ace Frehley Gibson signature model 300 (released in 1997 and re-released in 2012). 



This guitar has three double-white DiMarzio humbucking pickups, a cherry sunburst finish (AAAA), a color image of Frehley's face in his Kiss make-up on the headstock, mother-of-pearl lightning bolt inlays, and Frehley's simulated signature on the 12th fret. A Custom Shop run of only 300 guitars were built with DiMarzio PAF, Super Distortion, and Dual Sound pickups. 


Budokan Les Paul

The production run model was only built with DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups. This was one of Gibson's best selling artist runs. The more recent 2012 "Budokan" model, intended to pay tribute to the guitar used during the Kiss' first trip to Japan in 1977, features mother-of-pearl block inlays (no signature at the 12th fret), Grover machine heads with pearloid banjo buttons, and a grade A maple top. 

Young Ace With Zim-Gar Guitar

His first guitar, which he received as a Christmas present, was probably a weird looking Zim-Gar. This was an imported brand made by Kawai of Japan that was imported by a Brooklyn broker named Larry Zimmerman. 



For the first KISS album, much of Frehley's guitar work was performed on an Ovation Breadwinner. 



Ace also played an Explorer. Many thought it to be a Gibson Explorer, however it was an Ibanez 2459 that he had modified with Gibson parts. 




Frehley also played a Roland G-707 synth guitar and a WashburnAF40V with the lightening bolt design. 







Washburn AF-40V

However the guitar Ace Frehley will always be linked to is his Gibson custom model aka The 300.

Ace Frehley Guitar Collection










©UniqueGuitar Publications (text only) 2025
Click on the links below the pictures for sources.
Be sure to click on the advertisements to help support this page.











Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Is It A Guitar Or Is It Instant Gratification?

 

Aeroband Guitar

Casio DG-1

In the 1980’s Casio introduced a series of guitar shaped products labeled as DG, digital guitars. These started with the DG-1 and progressed to the DG-20. These plastic instruments had an elongated body, and a thin neck. 


When the user pressed the appropriate “string” on the fretboard position a note would sound. The six strings consisted of nylon lines. each of the similar size that gave the allusion of guitar strings. 

The sounds emitted were similar to those on the Casio keyboards that proliferated stores in the 1980’s. This also had a built-in drum machine with 12 patterns. The Casio DG was unique for its time, but it could hardly be called a guitar. It was more of a toy. 

Lately I have been seeing advertisements for some guitar-like instruments. Are they guitars, or are they toys? What is the purpose? The advertisements promise, "No musical background needed..." and "Pain free playing".



The Aeroband guitar is quite unique. It sells online for $429. For an additional $40 you can get a package with a soft case. The neck is detachable. There are 6 steel strings on the body, but they just give the feel of strumming or picking. These seldom break, but Aeroband sells new sets. 




The instrument's neck has soft silicone “strings” that are permanently fixed to the neck. These give a feel of guitar strings. All of the sounds are built into the program. And it offers 9 built in tones. 


These include a variety of electric guitars, acoustic guitar, classical guitar, bass guitar, banjo, piano, clavinet. Drum loops are included. This instrument is always in tune. 

Aeroband APP
With the Bluetooth App there is a feature that allows a variety of guitar tunings, like Dropped D, DADGAD, open tuning etc. 

The neck has a built-in capo feature that allows the user to change the pitch of the strings up or down. This feature is found on the buttons on the instruments headstock. 

The Aeroband guitar is fully MIDI compatible and works with major DAW’s on Window and macOS via a USB connector. 

The user plays actual guitar chords and can also play individual notes. Though you cannot bend strings, it does allow pull-offs, and hammer-ons. So the user must have some basic knowledge of playing guitar.

It does not allow for string vibrato, and cannot achieve harmonics. The sounds are sampled, but the acoustic and classical guitar sounds are quite realistic. 

The APP feature is amazing. The guitar has two built-in speakers, but it can be plugged into an amplifier. 

Aeroband Microphone
The Aeroband works on a USB charger and fully charged you can expect 7 to 8 hours of playing time. For an additional $30 you can purchase a microphone that attaches to the guitar body. 

All effects are done via the software, so you cannot use pedals. 

I believe this product would be useful for a novice player that has some experience or a person with a disability where actual guitar strings might be painful. Though a well set up guitar should not create pain.

Is it a toy? Not really, but it is not a guitar. This is a well thought-out and designed product. It is doubtful that anyone would use it in a professional capacity but prove me wrong. It is designed for fun. It is not a replacement for a real guitar, nor is it a teaching tool.


Lava Genie

Lava guitars have come up with some very interesting carbon fiber guitars. Some have built-in effects and amplification. Their product that is like the Aeroband is The Lava Genie, which is a Smart sampler instrument designed for someone that wants to play guitar but has little or no training and no desire to learn to play an actual guitar.


The instrument is reminiscent of the guitar controllers for Play Station’s Guitar Hero game. 





Lava Genie Controls
The front of the body features a “shelf” that containers controller buttons on both sides that allow you to select the desired tone, the rhythm pattern of the backing drum track, and the pattern to be strummed. The user simply strums their fingers on the front of the instrument. 



There is also a section near the base of the neck arpeggios. The neck features soft touch sensing pads that function as chord selectors. 




Lava Genie LED Neck
There are 7 sections/frets on the neck, each represents a chord, C, Dm, EM, F, G, Am, B dim. This feature can be extended to 21 sections/frets if the user needs more chords. 

To trigger a chord, press the desired section on the neck and press the tap pad on the guitar’s body with the right hand. This triggers the auto chording feature. 

Tapping on the bottom section of the neck starts the instruments rhythm section. This same section also has a tap-tempo feature to change the speed of the drum patterns. 

This instrument has two speakers so there is no need for an amplifier, though there is a port to connect a cable to an external amplifier. 

Side of Lava Genie Neck
The side of the neck has guiding lights that allow the user to know what fret/section they are on. The Lava Genie app has thousands of licensed songs. ( I believe there is a minimal subscription fee to access the songs.) 

The app also contains hundreds of preset tone combinations. Five presets at a time can be loaded into the instrument. The Lava Genie comes with a creative mode that turns off the backing and preset strumming so the user can have it function like a basic guitar. 

The instrument is foldable, the neck detachable, and it comes with a travel case. The price is $399 direct from the manufacturer. 

On the positive side, it is simple to play. The user presses buttons. There are no strings. Knowledge of basic theory is required, but the user does not play chord patterns, they simply press the corresponding fret/section. Talent is unnecessary.

There is no need to understand chord shapes.

Lava Genie
If your intent is to sing and play guitar you may enjoy the Lava Genie. The negative aspect is, although it sounds like a guitar (and other instruments) it is not. Sounds are samples. The user cannot play individual notes. 

The Lava Genie looks fun, but I would rather spend $400 on a real guitar. If you are someone that wants to pretend they are playing a musical instrument, here you go.

LiberLive C1 Stringless Guitar Sampler

The Liberlive C1 is another stringless guitar sampler has similar features to the Lava Genie, i.e.. The touch sensitive neck pad section, the strum bars, and the free apps. 

Instead of the "shelf" with buttons that come on the Lava Genie, the LiberLive has two "levers" that control the strumming and functions.

LiberLive C1
The headstock has a dial to change the instrument’s pitch. The user can preset up to 72 chords. Pressing on the neck starts the rhythm and allows for touch-tempo changes. The app features a song library with chord sheets. 


If a song is downloaded from the app the appropriate chord is displayed by a light on the side of the neck. 



LiberLive C1 with bag

The neck is foldable as is the body. The instrument comes with a small gig bag and retails for $419. Much like the Lava Genie, this instrument is a sampler that allows the user to accompany singing, so no individual notes, or runs. It may be a fun instrument for some folks, but it is definitely not a guitar. It is an expensive toy.  

One word of caution. All of these instrument manufacturers are funded by Kickstarter campaigns. All are guitar samplers. They are designed for the user to have fun making music without the bother of actually learning to play guitar. These are not guitars. These are clever items designed for those with a short attention span that seek instant gratification.

Real Talent
Takes Practice
When I started to play guitar I learned basic chords, I learned patterns, scales, modes, and how they related to music. I applied my knowledge of reading written music to guitar. Perhaps in these current times instant knowledge is preferable to years of learning. Talent takes time.

In my opinion get a real guitar. You can get a nice instrument for less than $400. Then learn to play guitar, and share your music with others.

©UniqueGuitar Publications (text only) 2025
Click on the links below the pictures for sources.
Please click on the advertisements to help support this page. Thank you!