I love Gibson guitars. I really do. I’m fortunate enough to own a couple. I also enjoy window shopping cyber style by going to their website and looking at all the different models, more than a few of which I’d dearly love to include in my collection.

That all said, some of the special limited editions they come out with are a bit, shall we say, peculiar. Case in point, with text taken straight from their website plus a few comments by yours truly:

Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom

See? I'm not joking.

When KISS hit the stage at Nippon Budokan in Japan in 1977 with guitarist Ace Frehley behind a Cherry Sunburst, three-pickup Les Paul Custom, the entire package—band, guitarist, guitar—embodied the height of glam-rock excess and success for the ’70s. This was the ultimate marriage of pop and heavy rock, driven to meteoric heights by the record industry marketing machine, and ultimately attaining that otherworldly presence that great stadium rock should achieve: unbridled fantasy and party-hard reality rolled into one glorious explosion.

And I thought I had a problem with run-on sentences.

In celebration of Ace Frehley’s unquestionable status as a rock icon, and the epitome of glam-rock stardom that KISS represented at this crystalline moment in time in 1977,

“Crystalline” moment? Really? Is this anything like Crystal Bowersox?

Gibson Custom proudly announces the release of the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom, produced in a strictly Limited Edition of 50 hand-aged guitars signed by the artist, with a further 100 hand-aged guitars, and 150 guitars treated in Gibson Custom’s VOS process.

And when you see the price, you’ll know why they’re so limited.

Offering everything you’ve come to expect from Gibson Custom’s artist replica guitars, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is a painstaking recreation of Frehley’s modified Les Paul Custom, based on intimate examination of the instrument’s current condition.

Which somehow I doubt is pristine. Or even Christine Sixteen.

The Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom has been created with close cooperation between Gibson Custom, Ace Frehley and the guitar’s current owner, Matt Swanson. Digital scanning technology was used to capture every minute detail of the actual guitar.

Let’s see… strings, check; frets, check; razor blade scrapes on the back from when it was used as a table for snorting cocaine because there wasn’t a mirror handy, check…

In the image of the original Les Paul Custom, the guitar has a four-piece maple top glued to a mid-’70s “sandwich” body made from a middle and back section of solid mahogany joined by a thin maple veneer, with no chambering.

The technical term for this is “plywood.” Very, very heavy plywood, as anyone who’s ever picked up a ’70s Les Paul can attest.

The top is hand-sprayed in nitrocellulose to give it the same Heritage Cherry Sunburst finish as the original, with 150 hand-aged to match the wear of the existing guitar.

Because who wants a guitar that doesn’t look like it’s been the victim of being too close to Gene Simmons during his spitting fire routine?

The three-piece mahogany neck has been made made to match the original’s thin profile.

How nice how nice it’s been made made… or is that just talk talk… oops, wrong band.

Decorative elements include mother-of-pearl block fingerboard inlays, multi-ply body and headstock binding, mother-of-pearl Gibson headstock logo and split-diamond inlay, and a cream pickguard.

But Eric Clapton played a SG when he was in Cream!

To match Ace’s original guitar, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is loaded

Just like Ace!

with three period-correct double-cream DiMarzio humbucking pickups—two PAF models in the neck and middle positions, and a Super Distortion in the bridge.

Translation: It has three pickups…

And just like on Ace’s guitar, the traditional 3-way toggle switch has been modified to only allow the use of the bridge pickup,

… only one of which works. The other two are there for high-priced decoration.

allowing you to be able to accomplish one of Ace’s most noted effects.

What, not being able to figure out how to use a toggle switch to select more than one pickup? Or the ol’ stick a smoke bomb underneath one of the pickups trick for which Ace was famous and is currently being used in worship bands across the land?

The DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup offers searing lead tones and fat, chunky rhythm for the ultimate hard-rock performance.

It’d better; it’s the only pickup that works.

Hardware includes the classic pairing of chrome ABR-1 bridge and stopbar tailpiece, with Ace’s choice of Grover tuners with pearloid “banjo” buttons and Dunlop straplocks to keep the guitar securely strapped on through the wildest on-stage antics.

At his age, getting on stage without a walker is as wild an antic as Ace can muster.

In short, the Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom is the ultimate embodiment of mid-’70s arena-rock balls and bluster, and it’s available in strictly limited numbers. Check it out today at your authorized Gibson Custom dealer.

Please.

All guitars include a Gibson Custom hardshell case silkscreened with Ace’s signature. Aged/signed guitars (limited to 50 worldwide) are all played by the artist during final approval, and include a leather-bound Certificate of Authenticity; aged guitars (100) include a leather-bound CoA, and VOS guitars (150) include a standard CoA.

Oh, well, that makes it all better then. A genuine Certificate of Authenticity!

And how much is this timeless brand new relic?

If you want the beat-up… er, aged one, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price is… drumroll, please…

$12,235.

The not beat-up one is a steal at $7,529.

Somehow I’m not seeing one of these ending up in my possession.

Photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

Sorry about the lengthy silence last week. My little site was off-line due to some server issues. However, I’m back (actually, the site was back up Saturday morning after having been down since Wednesday afternoon). You lucky yous.

Anyway, first topic to cover, albeit belatedly — not my fault, okay? — is the move by Greg Zipadelli from JGR to SHR. There are multiple angles to examine.

First is how this move relates to Joey Logano. It’s no secret that earlier this year Home Depot was desperate to replace Logano with Carl Edwards when Flipper was a potential free agent starting in 2012. The number of Home Depot ads not starring Logano, because there were no ads at all, being run on television during races this year was another telling sign of the big orange box’s disenchantment with their overwhelmingly major source of air time during the year being whenever Logano painted the SAFER barrier orange – the hard way. Apparently, during the ten year stretch when Tony Stewart flew their colors they had gotten used to the idea of sponsoring a driver who actually won once in a while.

However, it is still a tad too early to dismiss Logano as a quality driver. There is the possibility that the mix of him and Zipadelli simply didn’t work. It’s not that uncommon to have a driver and crew chief, both of whom are capable, be unable to work together for whatever reason. The most notable example of this came when Larry McReynolds, who had enjoyed tremendous success with Davey Allison, and Dale Earnhardt couldn’t get it together. It has been argued that Allison was a superior driver to Earnhardt; the Intimidator himself stated that had Allison’s life not been tragically cut short, he (Earnhardt) wouldn’t have won seven championships. Still, it wasn’t like Earnhardt lacked talent. Neither did McReynolds. Yet, save for the 1999 Daytona 500, the two never clicked well enough for Earnhardt to find victory lane.

I’m not comparing Logano to Earnhardt or Allison. He reminds me more of a character in another sport, namely Alex Smith whose status as the number one pick in the draft became a running joke under a series of head coaches and offensive coordinators, yet has proved to be a serviceable quarterback under the tutelage of Jim Harbaugh. Perhaps Logano will flouish underneath his new crew chief Jason Ratcliff, or will at the least prove serviceable.

That said, even as Alex Smith will always live underneath the shadow of Aaron Rodgers, who was passed over by the 49ers in the draft in favor of Smith, Logano’s career will always be judged by being measured against the driver he replaced. He’s got a lot of catching up to do. Also, his career is being measured against those being currently enjoyed by his teammates. Kyle Busch, winning races and contending for championships. Denny Hamlin, winning races and contending for championships. Logano, not so much. If he doesn’t step it up, and soon, Logano is in grave danger of becoming this generation’s Casey Atwood.

Turning from Logano to Zipadelli, while being the team competition director is hardly a 9 to 5 spent skipping along Easy Street the most interesting development is his agreeing to be the crew chief for Danica Patrick’s Cup races in 2012. Zipadelli is paying appropriate lip service to the “oh, I’m just filling in” meme, but it’s quite obvious from his comments that he relishes the opportunity.

Given that it is Stewart’s name on the checks, he wouldn’t have hired Patrick if he didn’t believe she had potential above selling a lot of merchandise. Paring her with a known, proven commodity like Zipadelli reinforces the notion neither he nor Patrick are playing around. And, although it remains unsaid, there’s no doubt a certain amount of neener neener neenering being hoped for should Patrick and Zipadelli prove to be a succesful combo.

I don’t expect Patrick to win any Cup races next year. What I am looking for is her finishing the season with quality seat time. One or more lead lap finishes would be a strong success, a top ten even more so. Not betting on it, but not betting against it earlier. The ultimate would be for Patrick, pushed by Stewart and/or Ryan Newman, to win a restrictor plate race in 2012. Imagine if you will the media meltdown if she won the Daytona 500. Stranger things have happened in racing.

Stay tuned. The Danica Patrick in NASCAR story is getting more interesting.

P.S. Sorry, couldn’t resist:

Kurt Busch? In THIS car?

Miss me-e-e-e-e? Okay, don’t answer that…

Anyway, let’s see what’s been happening since I last bothered to update this here site. As not altogether unexpected, Darian Grubb has taken the crew chief slot for Denny Hamlin left vacant when Mike Ford was asked to not let the door hit him on the way out of JGR. A couple of points. First, Grubb put in a resignation note well in advance of the fact by commenting he planned on climbing down from the pit box in four or five seasons so he doesn’t miss much of his son’s growing years. Admirable, but announcing the day you get a new job when you’re planning on quitting? A trifle odd. The other item of note is that Grubb will no doubt swiftly learn his former boss is an altogether better driver than Hamlin. At least their penchant for moodiness and railing against their team when things go sour is the same.

The other item of note is the report floating about that King Richard XLIII is seriously contemplating giving AJ Allmendinger the boot in favor of putting Kurt Busch in the #43, this in an effort to keep Best Buy on board as the primary sponsor. Apparently the Geek Squad gang would like to, oh, win a race every now and then.

Certainly Busch the elder has demonstrated he is a far superior driver than Allmendinger. This duly noted, is his accompanying baggage worth the trouble? Granted, people change; perhaps recent events in Busch’s life have moved him in a positive direction. Still, it’d be an awful big chance by RPM, and it’ll take quite the sales job to convince longtime NASCAR fans that Busch is worthy of occupying the seat that shall forever be known as belonging to The King.

We now resume our regularly scheduled non-existent off-season.

Ford says it’s his belief that a hangover from last year’s championship near-miss, where a fuel miscalculation at Phoenix followed by an early wreck at Homestead handed the title, which was well within Hamlin’s grasp, to Jimmie Johnson, combined with a “no compromise” attitude with this rubbing a few of the fine folk at JGR the wrong way led to his dismissal. Perhaps. But why let him go now instead of immediately after the season ended? The timing is odd.

Odder still is that Ford is talking about all this. As mentioned a few days ago, the NASCAR rule of thumb is thou shalt speak no ill of a former employer as they may well be your future employer. Ford hasn’t burned his bridges, but his “I didn’t get along with certain people” statement has definitely singed them a bit.

The two questions that now pose themselves are where does Ford go from here and who will be sitting atop the #11 pit box come next February at Daytona. There aren’t that many slots available for crew chiefs, and while Darian Grubb is still on the market, once you get past him there are some retreads but no proven winning commodity. Ford’s next turn might not be until after the 2012 season starts and a team is desperately looking for a change. As to Hamlin, given his past history of trash talking his team, how will he and a new crew chief (note that Ford is the only Sprint Cup crew chief Hamlin has known) mesh, especially the moment something goes wrong?

Ah, the tangled thicket of twisting tales that is the NASCAR off-season.

Pending approval by the players, starting next year the National Hockey League will re-align itself once again. This was brought on by the Atlanta Thrashers taking flight after last season and landing in Winnipeg, where they souped up and became Jets. By the way, did you know this is the second time a NHL team has moved from Atlanta to a Canadian city? I’m thinking there most likely won’t be a third as Atlanta will doubtless never see another franchise. But I digress.

The teams will be aligned as follows:

* New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington and Carolina

* Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay

* Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg

* Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado

According to the statement about this on the Sharks website, here’s how the schedule will work:

Under the format, every team would play every other team outside its conference twice — once home, once away.

In the seven-team Conferences, teams would play six times — three home, three away. In the eight-team Conferences, teams would play either five or six times in a season on a rotating basis; three teams would play each other six times and four teams would play each other five times. This process would reverse each season: An eight-team Conference member that plays an opponent six times in one season would play it five times the following season.

The top four teams in each Conference qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The first-place team would play the fourth-place team; the second-place team would play the third-place team. The four respective Conference champions would meet in the third round of the Playoffs, with the survivors playing for the Stanley Cup.

Got all that?

A few thoughts from the perspective of a Los Tiburones de San José fan:

• It’ll be good to see every team at least once at home.
• The thought of seeing Calgary or Edmonton two or three times thrills me not.
• I’m really not looking forward to seeing Vancouver two or three times a year.
• For that matter, seeing any team three times a year is a tad monotonous.

More general observations:

• Winnipeg will see the other Canadian teams only once. Sucks for them.
• Any coincidence that the five coldest teams in terms of winter weather severity (Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Buffalo) have Florida and Tampa Bay in their conference? No, I didn’t think so either.
• NBC will still show only East Coast teams on national broadcasts.
• I’ll watch anyway.

And finally, this for the rest of the NHL…

• CHOMP!!!

Judging by the statement made by Roger Penske, which heavily indicates that Shell/Pennzoil was very heavily involved in the decision, it’s obvious that Shell/Pennzoil is far more interested in maintaining a corporate image by having a nice guy spokesperson than it is in actually winning races. This becomes even more evidence if it’s true the preferred replacement for Busch is David Ragan, he of the whopping one win in 182 Sprint Cup starts. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss his career highlight (singular). And a restrictor plate win at that. Somebody call the NASCAR Hall of Fame and tell them to build an extra wing.

This treatment of Kurt Busch is even more peculiar when compared to how M&Ms/Mars dealt with Kyle Busch’s little Atlanta on-track lapse of decorum, which in essence amounted to two weeks of being sent to his room without any supper but no genuine consequences. Either Busch the elder really ticked off a whole lot of people, or perhaps there is some authentic truth behind the notion of him being of the opinion that maybe, just maybe, he needs to step back and reassess not only his career, but his entire life. Therapy can do that for you.

Back to the racing and sponsorship angle. Setting aside the assorted contractual obligations, it’s peculiar in a world where a proven commodity such as Matt Kenseth can’t get a full-time, or even a couple of decent part-time, sponsors that Penske would choose Ragan to be the flag bearer for a high roller sugar speed daddy. Granted, he is highly unlikely to do anything that will embarrass Shell/Pennzoil off the track in terms of temper tantrums. However, unless he swiftly develops a higher level of skill that has been previously exhibited he is equally unlikely to do much in terms of bringing Shell/Pennzoil glory on the track, or for that matter a whole lot of airtime except for when his car is being towed off after bringing out the yellow. Yes, the current talent pool in terms of drivers who are available to jump into the #22 seat is rather limited. This duly noted, if you’re going to try to convince me that David Ragan gives you a better chance of winning a race or two than, say, David Reuitmann, best you clear your calendar for the remainder of the afternoon. You’re going to be here a spell. But to a degree, I digress.

The hope is that Kurt Busch can somehow manage to get his act, and his life, together. Regardless of your opinion of the man, it must be noted that he has had a rough go of it as of late. His marriage has fallen apart, for reasons about which assorted and sordid salacious gossip circulates. And now he’s lost his one best chance at repeating as champion, as the possibility of his getting another top-flight ride is extremely small. However, people can, and do change; often for the better. It would be foolish from both a personal and professional aspect to write off Busch’s career as destined to follow a self-destructive path. Although losing his Penske ride is no doubt a bitter blow, perhaps this is the wake up call he needed in order to finally set himself on a path that will allow him to both utilize his considerable driving talent and tackle whatever personal demons beset him. Personally, I hope he does. When he is at his best, Busch is one of the more intelligent, loquacious drivers on the circuit. It would be unfortunate to see him either stuck in a hooptie or, worse yet, sitting on the sidelines with no ride at all.

Perhaps Busch has indeed been shown the door for reasons that can only be guessed at, as no team is going to say why such a termination is taking place unless it’s performance-related and even then only in the vaguest of terms. Fact is, right now we don’t know. And until we know, no need to speculate, ruminate or even contemplate.

But do stay tuned.

It’s not impossible to imagine that sometime in the not-too distant future one of Sprint’s competitors, namely AT&T or Verizon, will swoop in to buy Sprint if it starts floundering even worse than is already the case. The question then becomes would the purchaser do what Sprint did when it bought Nextel, namely assume its NASCAR sponsorship. Foretelling what any corporation will do in these troubled economic times is a shot in the dark at best, but one suspects that buried somewhere within the contract between Sprint and NASCAR is a clause that if someone buys Sprint the Sprint Cup and sponsorship is required to be part of the deal.

Of course, should Sprint right the ship this is all a moot point. Time will tell.

A box holding a diecast car.

Despite my well-earned nickname, I seldom buy diecast these days. It’s not so much a lack of interest, but rather lack of room and funds that have curtailed my buying. However, this particular car was one I had to have. I’d figure out how to afford it and where to put it somehow.

It was Dan Wheldon’s car from this year’s Indianapolis 500.

I prefer to remember him for that day in late May, not the one in mid-October in Las Vegas.

And I wouldn’t have been in the mood for the banquet.

It’s become quite popular in many circles to rag on Junior as the symbol of all that is wrong with NASCAR. The thinking is that were he to start winning, which admittedly he has not done in quite a while, the fan base would become far more energized and we would stop seeing so many people coming dressed as empty seats at tracks across the land. It also amazes, confounds, and astounds more than a few people how Dale Jr. has managed to maintain his screamingly high popularity in the face of his lack of performance on the track the past few years. Apparently these individuals have never heard of the concept of not abandoning the home team just because they haven’t won in a while.

Setting aside the over the top dewey-eyed  dreamers who look in the mirror and see the future Mrs. Earnhardt, the Junior Nation remains steadfast in its support of a driver that they have adopted not only for his performance on the track over the years, but for his demeanor and manner off of it. Image is everything, so we are told, yet the most endearing aspect of Dale Jr.’s image is that he doesn’t really have one. There are no pretenses, no putting on airs of being a smooth corporate spokesman with Dale Jr., even though he is quite often featured as a corporate spokesman for his various  sponsors. Instead, what we have is something of a ramshackle country boy, somebody who obviously would be far more comfortable not only not being in front of the camera but simply left alone to be behind the wheel doing what he loves doing.

More so than any other individual in any other sport, Dale Jr. is faced daily with the burden of not only being the face of his sport, but in the eyes of many the sole reason for its popularity. Many drivers are known by the fans of NASCAR, and many are supported by them. Outside the sport, however, it is still Junior along with Jeff Gordon who are the most prominent faces, the ones that the casual fans recognize and about whom even those who profess to detest NASCAR are constantly aware. Trevor Bayne winning the 2011 Daytona 500 was a wonderful moment for NASCAR and its fans. Imagine how much more wonderful a win by Dale Junior of the 2012 Daytona 500 would be for NASCAR as a whole.

The question remains whether or not Dale Jr. is still capable of winning races. The answer, of course, is yes. There were some tantalizingly close moments in this past season when victory was genuinely within Dale Jr.’s grasp, yet circumstances beyond his control – like running out of gas – thwarted his efforts to revisit Victory Lane. As a side note, it’s a never ending source of amusement how so many people claim NASCAR is fixed. If it was actually fixed, don’t you think Junior would’ve won a few championships by now?

2012 is definitely a very important year in the career of Dale Earnhardt Jr. While it is not entirely imperative that he win a race or two (or more), and be a factor in the championship, it certainly would be advisable. 2011 can easily be seen as a year where the bleeding was stopped. Now, it remains to be seen whether Dale Jr. and Steve Letarte can take the next step.

There are some organizational issues, outside of Junior’s control, which need to be addressed within Hendrick  Motorsports. Far too often, especially in the latter part of the season, the cars simply weren’t there for any of them Hendrick drivers. There is no doubt that Rick Hendrick is addressing these issues, and it is entirely logical to believe that come 2012 the performance issues will be a thing of the past. At that point, it’s up to the drivers to step up.

While it’s nice to see Dale Jr. pick up the most popular driver award on Thursday, the ultimate goal is to see him next year pick up a different award on Friday. Like, say, a Sprint Cup championship trophy?