1978+ Ibanez Paul Stanley Signature "Iceman"
With a bigger-than-life stage show and a setlist of legendary rock anthems, KISS clawed their way to the top of the charts during the 70’s to become one of the biggest acts in the history of Rock n’ Roll.
Paul Stanley was the band's frontman, and one of his most famous guitars was his Ibanez "Iceman".
History & Significance
In 1976, the band’s frontman, Paul Stanley, was approached by Ibanez to collaborate on a signature guitar that would become the iconic instrument he would forever be associated with.
In 1977, when Paul and Ibanez sat down to create his signature guitar, it was to be a totally unique design, but while perusing through the Ibanez catalog, one guitar in particular caught the frontman’s eye: The Artist 2663. Later to be known as the “Iceman”, the Artist wasn’t exactly a popular model at the time, but Stanley was intrigued by its asymmetrical shape and unusual body style and decided this would be the template for his signature instrument.
Unlike many artists, Paul Stanley was heavily involved in the development and design of his signature Ibanez. He called upon his design talent to contribute to just about every choice regarding this new guitar, from its fret inlays to the binding. The resulting guitar, the Ibanez PS10, has Paul Stanley in every inch of its DNA.
The PS10 made its first appearance in late 1977, on KISS’ American tour. He had three prototypes, which featured split block inlays of pearl and abalone, chrome Grover tuners, and chrome pickup covers. They had Ibanez humbucking pickups. The pickguards were either black or chrome, as was the distinctive Ibanez Quik-Change tailpiece. The control knobs on these guitars (two-volume, one tone) look like black Lucite speed knobs, a hangover from the old Midnight Special. These models featured a mahogany body, maple neck, and luxurious ebony fingerboard. These guitars had elaborate seven-layer binding on the body, with an abalone center. One of the prototypes featured Paul’s name inlaid at the twelfth fret, just in case anybody watching the band forgot who exactly was jumping around in the Starchild’s costume.
When KISS returned with a new album and tour in 1979, Paul, influenced by disco, wanted a mirror-ball guitar, so that when a spotlight hit the instrument, it would spill beams of light in all directions. The spiritual successor to his rhinestone V, he assigned Ibanez USA rep Jeff Hasselberger the task of creating this effect on his signature guitar.
After a few ill-fated attempts at literally shattering a mirror, he resorted to carving pieces of mirrored glass by hand and arranging them on a PS10-shaped piece of maple. He placed the individual pieces of this Rock and Roll jigsaw at varying angles between 5 and 15 degrees in order to spill light according to Paul’s specifications. The edges of these pieces of glass were sanded smooth to avoid carving Paul’s hand like a Christmas turkey, and the resulting instrument made its debut later that year. You can see it in all its glory in the video for KISS’ smash hit “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”.
In 2014, Paul Stanley returned to the Ibanez fold, brandishing his Ibanez guitar once more. It’s the signature guitar he plays on the current End of the Road tour, and it’s the guitar he’ll play at KISS’ final ever show when it eventually happens. The modern Ibanez PS1, as played by Paul himself, is almost identical to the original 70s model, except with Seymour Duncan pickups rather than Ibanez’s own.
Paul Stanley Guitars
Since 1977, Paul Stanley has collaborated with Ibanez to release 17 models in the Paul Stanley series. Below are a few of the notable models:
2015-22 Ibanez PS10 Paul Stanley Signature "Iceman" MSRP $3799 (Image #2)
- Body Poplar
- Neck Maple
- Fretboard Bound Ebony fretboard / White Block inlay
- Frets 22 Medium frets
- Bridge Gibraltar Performer bridge
- Tailpiece Quik Change III tailpiece
- Neck pickup Infinity R (H) neck pickupPassive/Ceramic
- Bridge pickup Infinity R (H) bridge pickupPassive/Ceramic
- Hardware Chrome
1978-81 Ibanez PS10 Paul Stanley Signature "Iceman" 1978 MSRP $1585 (Image #3)
- The original Paul Stanley signature model and the most sought after model by collectors
- The PS10 made its first appearance in late 1977, on KISS’ American tour where he used three prototypes
- Mahogany body with Maple top
- 7 layer binding on the body, with an abalone center
- Maple Neck with deluxe binding extended to headstock
- Ebony Fingerboard
- Split block pearl & abalone fretboard inlays
- One of the protos featured Paul’s name inlaid at the 12th fret
- Gibraltar bridge with sustain block
- Ibanez Quik-Change tailpiece - chrome
- Pickguard - chrome
- Chrome Grover tuners, and chrome pickup covers
- Ibanez V-2 humbucking pickups
- Black Lucite speed knobs (two-volume, one tone)
"Pre" Paul Stanley Signature Models
- 1978-82 Ibanez Iceman IC100 (Image #4)
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Made in Japan by FujiGen, the IC100 featured a mahogany body with contrasting binding bolted to a 3-ply rock maple neck with a 22-fret ebonized rosewood fingerboard with binding and pearloid dot position markers. Components include a Gibraltar fixed bridge, a Quik Change tailpiece, a pair Ibanez Super 80 "Flying Fingers" humbucking pickups with individual volume and tone controls, Sure Grip knobs, and Velve-Tune II machine heads. The output jack is mounted on the face of the guitar. For 1979 the pickups were changed to uncovered V2 humbuckers and the fretboard inlays were changed to parallelograms.
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- 1975-77 Ibanez Artist 2663 “Pre-Iceman” (Image #5)
SPECIAL EDITIONS
2015+ Ibanez PS1CM Paul Stanley Signature Cracked Mirror MSRP $6999 (Image #6)
- Featuring a cracked acrylic mirror top which mimics an earlier Paul Stanley custom model, this was the first model since Stanley's most recent return to Ibanez in 2015 to belong to the upscale Prestige line.
- It features the iconic Ibanez Iceman body style, a maple top with abalone purfling and cream binding on a mahogany body mated to a set-in neck with a smooth heel and a 22-fret ebony fingerboard with cream binding and acrylic and abalone split block position markers.
- Components include a Gibraltar fixed bridge with a sustain block embedded in the body and a Quik Change tailpiece, a pair of Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups with individual volume controls, a bone & brass nut, Sure Grip II knobs and Gotoh tuning machines
- For 2018 the body material was specified as African mahogany
- For 2020, the Gibraltar bridge was replaced with a Gotoh GE103B-T and the Quik Change tailpiece was replaced with a Gotoh GE101Z-T
- 2014 Ibanez Paul Stanley PS1-CM Signature Series "Cracked Mirror" – Prototype – The Jim Irsay Collection (Image #7)
2018 Ibanez PS1-DM Paul Stanley Signature"Rhinestone" (Image #9)
- Limited edition with only 49 made
- Bejeweled top made up of over 1400 rhinestones
- 1979 Paul Stanley Stage Used Ibanez PS10 Custom Rhinestone Guitar sold for $18,997 (Image #8)
Paul Stanley Guitars - History With An Attitude - Smashed stage played guitars for sale!
Other notable KISS guitars include:
- Ace Frehley's Heritage Cherry Triple Pickup 1974 Gibson "Live at Budakan" Les Paul Custom (Image #14 and see separate page titled "1954+ Les Paul Custom" for more detail on this guitar)
- Gene Simmon's Custom "Axe" bass (Image #15)
Mach Five Guitar
The Mach Five guitar is a 40th Anniversary 2018 Ibanez PS60BK Paul Stanley Signature "Iceman" SN GS220706335 (Image #1)
- Body Material: Poplar with White Binding
- Neck Material: 1pc Maple
- Neck Profile: Paul Stanley
- Neck Thickness 0.787” 20mm at 1F / 0.866” 22mm at 12F
- Fretboard Material: Purpleheart with White Binding
- Fretboard Radius: 12" (305mm)
- Scale Length: 24.75" (628mm)
- No. of Frets: 22 Medium Frets
- Fretboard Inlays: White Acrylic Block Inlays
- Pickups: Ibanez Infinity R Passive/Ceramic Humbuckers x2
- Bridge: Ibanez Gibraltar Performer
- Tailpiece: Ibanez Quik Change III
- Tuners: Ibanez die cast
- Hardware & Pickguard Finish: Chrome
- Truss rod cover - reproduction of Stanley's autograph
Image Descriptions
- The Mach Five Guitar
- 2015-22 Ibanez PS10 Paul Stanley Signature "Iceman"
- 1978-81 Ibanez PS10 Paul Stanley Signature "Iceman"
- 1978-82 Ibanez Iceman IC100
- 1975-77 Ibanez Artist 2663 “Pre-Iceman”
- 2015+ Ibanez PS1-CM Paul Stanley Signature "Cracked Mirror"
- 2014 Ibanez Paul Stanley PS1-CM Signature Series "Cracked Mirror" – Prototype – The Jim Irsay Collection
- KISS Paul Stanley Stage Used 1979 Ibanez PS10 Custom "Rhinestone"
- 2018 Ibanez PS1-DM Paul Stanley Signature "Rhinestone"
- Paul Stanley
- 1978 PS10 Ad
- 1978 IC1000 Ad
- 2013 Ibanez IC500 Review
- Ace Frehley's Heritage Cherry Triple Pickup 1974 Gibson "Live at Budakan" Les Paul Custom
- Gene Simmons "Axe" bass
Associated Music