KISS Guitarist TOMMY THAYER's Rig Rundown (Video)

Premier Guitar caught up with current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer, along with Francis and Michael Berger, to dig into all the axes, effects, and amps that the band brought out on their 2014 tour with DEF LEPPARD. Check out the footage below.

Thayer is a longtime Les Paul man and brings several on the road with him. A Custom Shop '59 Standard with Seymour Duncan JB pickups sees most of the action. Gibson had just delivered a new white Les Paul Custom that could see some considerable onstage time. Thayer's black Les Paul Classic houses the classic KISS pyro behind the headstock. When he needs some midrange honk, he reaches for a Custom Shop Gibson Explorer decked out in silver sparkle.

Asked if he had any discomfort about wearing Ace Frehley's makeup, Thayer told Rolling Stone magazine: "No, first of all, I didn't have any input on that. That was a decision that those guys made. There was not even a conversation about it, because I think it was so obvious, that they weren't going to introduce new characters 30 years into the band. I never thought that there should be some new designs or something. I thought that would have been ridiculous. And the only thing is, you've got a lot of push-back from some of the diehards. And that's understandable. Hey, you know, if you lived in the Seventies and KISS was your favorite band, and that's what you grew up with, and suddenly there's another guy wearing that makeup, I can understand how some people, it might not have appealed to them as much. But as time as gone by, a lot of people have changed their mind."