The basses are often signed or played on stage depending on what price point the buyer wants to reach for. Greg Kennelty. Note the original single coil pickup and the snug fit of the pickguard around the pickup in the picture on the right. Gene Simmons's new haircut. (The number of replicas that have turned up over the years is a clear indication of the bass' truly iconic status.) All in all, this first offering from G2 delivers on virtually every front, from the dazzling black diamond aesthetic through to playability and versatility. It has a 30" scale which matches that of the LoBue. Pictures showing the back of the LoBue are very few but over the course of 1976 there were a few. The jury is out on that one. Larry Harris had set up an endorsement deal which apparently specified that the band use Gibsons exclusively on stage in exchange for free instruments (see. Gene was walking backward when he took the fall, and it wasnt long before someone rushed in to help the star back to his feet. FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bruno-Masquio/219366238103439INSTAGRAM - @brunomasquioiTUNES - https://itunes.apple.com/br/artist/bruno-masquio/id55. It seems thats always been the case for Nick as the star has been working on his own band, Peroux, for the last few years. [***]. They werent the only ones who had something to say, as Nikki Sixx from Mtley Cre has been open about his battles with depression. That is probably going to be a very big item. His. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. It has the same basic hardware as the #1 but a slightly different body shape and a mirror-like pickguard with a jagged lower edge. The instrument is clearly a Triumph rather than the earlier Les Paul bass (the control scratchplate is a dead giveaway) but Gibson only offered it in natural and white finishes which leads me to believe that the instrument in Gene's hands was refinished. I didnt know anything else about it the wood, the relationship of the bridge to the neck, I didnt think about any of that. In Atlanta 76.08.29 it's still mk VI but for the start of the Winter Tour in Savannah 76.11.24 the new bridge is in place. On first glance, this debut in the seriesnot in the form of a Grabber or Ripper, but a Thunderbird, interestingly is certainly impressive. Although it was supposed to be a simple shopping spree, its said the couple ended up falling head over heels in love with one another, destroying Chers relationship with Gene and her friendship with Diana. This is not a traditional signature model arrangement. With so little video evidence from this part of the tour it's hard to say whether these are two different pickups or just the trick of light and angles but considering the next (and later) developments I'm going to put my money on the light/angles hypothesis. Sadly, that all changed in 2017 when the rockstar made a bit too much of a lasting impression at the new network after a meeting gone wrong. Gear 2021: Ending a big week for Gibson that began with the acquisition of Mesa/Boogie, the company has now announced a new partnership with Kiss icon Gene Simmons. The imposing imagery the Axe inspires would lead many to believe that it is purely a stage instrument, but it was used extensively in the studio through the years as the tonal properties were always a priority. Unlike the EMG PJ set typically found in Simmons Punisher and Axe, however, these high-output humbuckers arent active, so theres no need to worry about battery power. Believe it or not, but Gene is quite the entrepreneur when hes not working with the band. This is one of first Gene Simmons (KISS) signed Axe Basses made available to the public. [*] The shape of the bass was indeed completely original in that it was custom shaped but it wasn't an original design. Theres a good chance that you might have to be prepared for things to go a little wrong. . We get an excellent close-up of it in the instrument line-up pic from Knoxville but live shots seem to be lacking. Thankfully, some things have gone in her favor, as Sophie has done some modeling and worked as a reality TV star in a handful of shows, including Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Thats all when Sophie doesnt work as a body positivity advocate. Princes cause of passing was ultimately ruled as an accidental overdose. Again it's the bridge that gets a change with a very odd combination. This mk I version shows the "standard" SB-1 controls with one volume and one tone knob (both in silver) and a front output jack (missing is the mini-switch which was standard on the SB-1). In the words of Mr. Simmons himself: "Stu Spector made me another bass at the same time, very similar, but the horn on the top was slightly warped and longer than the bottom one" (Guitars that Rule the World, Metal Edge presents KISS Alive 1996). For Gene Simmons, playing with Kiss is more than being in a rock and roll band; its about being part of a rock and roll brand. Perhaps its no wonder that Gene has taken his idea of branding the band to the top and cultivated quite the brand over the years? So I started out with the visuals, because when somebody walks in, that the first thing that hits them. It seems thats what some people think, especially when looking at old footage of The Demon of Kiss. Fans of the band get to enjoy an entire performance thats been carefully choreographed to be an experience like none other in the world. It looked as though he was all set to reach the big time as it wasnt long before his work gained plenty of fans worldwide. Get the latest news, reviews and features to your inbox. I sell out every night., Just as different paintbrushes might inspire us to paint differently, the Axe is a very different instrument and commands a different vibe when it is played. The Kramer Axe was fine for playback but for one of very few live TV performances (the first one since 1974?) It appears as if the Fender-style bridge that was previously under the bridge cover is moved back, sans the saddles, and a different bridge used in its stead. I still have 50 or so that are from the 70s but theyre available for sale. To those who might call Simmons a sellout, Simmons has a message, Damn right, bitch. On the other hand it was listed in the Butterfields auction without the name of the luthier and it was suggested that it dated from the 1983 Creatures tour (which there is no evidence for, the Axe used on that tour was a Kramer). Love it or hate it, some performers have been accused of lip-syncing their songs over the years. An erstwhile acquaintance of LoBue's who handled the bass in its mkVI incarnation in New Jersey 76.07.10 has suggested that almost all the modifications were done by Charlie or the Guitar Lab rather than Gene's tech. So I ended that relationship and continued to make them on my own.. In order to cover the screw holes from the original (and replacement) stringmount below the then-current bridge cover, Gene's tech simply added a piece of what appear to be electrical tape. The one in the middle does feature the pointy headstock that was a feature of all of the guitars Carr built for KISS (see Ace's mini-Explorer and Paul's Star guitar for instance). The two volume controls allow for a blend of either orboth pickups, with the rhythm unit alone bringing a wonderfully articulate sound that has enough brightness to retain definition andclarity. There's very nice video of it from both Houston and Anaheim in August that show the mk VI in action. His wife, Canadian actress and 1982 Playboy Playmate of the Year Shannon Tweed, just shelled out $5.8 million for a Malibu . Everybody knows that Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has a long tongue. The result? Nady 950 wireless. Open menu Close menu . The offstage shot shows Gene with the bass and the action on that thing could make a grown man cry. What we can say for sure is that it is black with a new pickguard by 75.11.07 and then emerges backstage in Toledo on 75.11.12 sporting a P-bass pickup. In the pic from 76.03.12 it's hard to tell whether the back of the body is just worn or if there is a protective cover, but by the time the band hits European soil for the first time, as shown here from Mannheim 76.05.18, there is a distinct reddish overlay screwed onto the back. However, there might be a reason that Nick isnt always by his dads side: he wants to try and break out of Genes shadow. It seems its something Genes kept up ever since. The Return of KISS!! What is a guitar but a collection of wood, magnets and metals? All of the basses are built at a shop in South Korea [although there are some specialty one-off builds done in the USA by master builder, Jim Cara]. Apparently, Gene thinks the best thing that people with less money can do is Try being nice to rich people. Thats certainly one way. The musician was behind some of the most legendary tunes of our time and left a huge mark on the world when he passed in 2016. Thanks to abusername for pointing that out. Of course, it could also be so simple that the band and management felt that the new, more serious concept album KISS weren't properly represented by an instrument that looked like an Axe. The LoBue worked tirelessly night in and night out and didn't go through any changes except the wear and tear of heavy use. . From there it goes out to an Empress Compressor and one of two Tech 21 VT-Bass 1969 amps. (My guess is that the P-bass pickup was added when it was painted black.) Thankfully, everyone walked away from the incident without any injuries. But out of costume, the Kiss co-frontman is an equally commanding presence. The rockstar replied Ice Cube should get in touch when Jimi Hendrix gets into the hip hop hall of fame.. The SB-1 had a mini switch, something that none of Gene's Spectors have and it would be easy to assume that his instruments were simply built without one. 2023 Guitar.com is part of NME Networks. Strings - Lutes - Guitars. There was suppose to be 1,000 . LoBue custom LP Triumph Gibson EB-0. There is only one man that gave us the licks that inspired us to "Rock and Roll All Nite," - Gene Simmons, the legendary rock icon and bassist from KISS. Watch on. Earliest known appearance of this version is 75.05.06 in Milwaukee, WI. The one pic I've seen from San Antonio 77.11.22 is inconclusive as far as what knobs are on the bass. The very obvious absence of an Axe during 1990-95, with the possible . This bass is authorized by Gene Simmons, and each Axe is adorned with Gene's signature on the headstock. During the time they were selling in Spencer's, various companies manufactured the . Spector #1 LoBue custom Thunderbird Dan Armstrong. Just walking through the hotel lobby and hallways chatting with Gene was an unbelievable experience. The inception of the Axe Bass came from the adage of referring to a guitar as an axe. As a subscriber enjoy big savings off the shop price! Sadly, in 2014, Gene upset quite a few people during an interview with HuffPost Live. Two or three years ago, Gibson and I connected and decided to do a joint venture - the G2: Gene and Gibson, or Gibson and Gene. Gene Simmons went through the folder compiled for him, containing approximately 100 pages. It's been suggested that the incredible disappearing binding was masking tape that Gene himself applied during the hours of tedium on the tour bus. Plenty of articles can tell you what the Axe is, the wood and the metal the specs, but to get the real insight on what this legendary instrument meansyou have to go to the source, the man whos been playing it all these years, Mr Gene Simmons himself. Instead, he decided to keep himself as healthy as possible as Gene told CNN that hes never even tried an adult beverage or taken any illegal substances. 1 bass for Gene and the exceedingly brief appearance of the Fender Precision is only in the role of backup. Over the group's 42 . GS Backstage M&G Vampire Bass Pkg = $7495. Gene simply replied, Nobody. The legendary rocker Gene Simmons has gone through various hairstyles over the previous decade. The original single-coil pickup seems to be gone and in its stead is what looks almost like the Filtertron pickups that Gretsch made. But, during the Convention Tour of 1995 this bass was part of the museum and was labeled as a prototype Gene Simmons Axe (see pic and video below). He called her tongue the girls version. Apparently, Gene thinks it shows girls cant play with the guys because it will, in his words, never be as good. The offstage shot also gives us the first look at the tape coverup of the original bridge holes as discussed below, thus beginning Gene's long use of tape coverups. It turns out that Gene Simmons worked in a whole host of careers before he made his way to the world of rock and roll. Not only did Terry tell the rockstar that she thought it was a really obnoxious thing to say, but Gene initially refused to let the interview hit the air. [**] In a 2013 interview at G-Club in Tokyo Gene threw another wrinkle to the story of the LoBue's demise, this time suggesting that he used the bass on stage in 1982 when he fell off the front of the stage, cracked the neck and promptly gave the pieces to a member of the audience. [*] The reddish Grabber was re-finished since Gibson never offered the Grabber in any kind of metal flake finish. It has a 24 frets and the deep cut away which allows me to easily reach the 23rd and 24th frets - a real bonus. The thunder starts with a Shure U4D-UHF into a Radial JD-7 Injector. Gene has claimed that he had it painted black before the start of the Alive! That was until the wires got stuck and what was supposed to be a graceful rise into the air turned into something almost pretty dangerous. Several fans have spoken about how both were taken from us too soon and the tragedies that have been linked to their passing. Below are a couple of pics from rehearsals and the early part of the tour. An interesting aside is that the Grabber was the least expensive instrument in the Gibson 1975 catalogue, even cheaper than the Marauder that Paul smashed on a nightly basis. The Serial Number for this Gene Simmons KISS: PUNISHER Bass Guitar is: #00896. I have yet to figure out what this bridge was. PURCHASE & PAYMENT PLANS. Celebrating 50 years in rock (1966-2016) Gene Simmons, multi-hyphenate entrepreneur, co-founder and front man of KISS, America's number one gold record award-winning group of all time in all categories (RIAA), and one of the most recognized performers in the world, recently announced the . The Les Paul Triumph bass, actually designed by Les Paul himself, had been introduced in 1971 as a successor to the Les Paul bass. The line-up shot from Knoxville with the slim lower horn has led me to believe that this is a re-finish rather than the re-appearance of the all-black from the Alive II tour. Studio legend Carol Kaye gave KISS bassist Gene Simmons an impromptu bass lesson at Sunset Sound studios in Hollywood, and luckily cameras were rolling to catch it. Biography reports that Gene actually worked a host of jobs as he tried to raise money to start his own band. Page 108 of KISS Alive Forever has a nice shot of Spector #1 at the Palladium show. This version of the bass was Gene's #1 bass more or less from 1973 until the summer of 1975 when he started altering it. Being a well-known name in the world of music means that Gene Simmons has plenty of opinions when it comes to other musicians and genres. As well as the pearloid reverse split diamond inlays, its also nice to see the Gibson logo on the front of the headstock, with the G2 logo on the back side near the nut a reassuring consideration given this instruments price. While his larger-than-life, demonic imagery . Every manufacturer will tell you that they try to ensure their guitars feel playable, but greater care needs to be taken with larger-bodied instruments like this Thunderbird, or they can end up feeling bulky and demanding. The string of prototypes that Carr eluded to were probably the ones shown below. According to the Spector web site "Gene Simmons of mega-group KISS commissioned several Brooklyn Era SB-1 basses from Stuart in the late 1970's. It has a 30" scale which matches that of the LoBue. [*] Its first appearance is the photo shoot that was set up the day of the Return of KISS dressrehearsal, 79.06.14. Introduced in 1973, the Grabber was Gibson's first bolt-on neck bass and featured a sliding pickup (you "grabbed" it to change the pickup position, hence the name). It has been suggested that it was a series/parallell switch which is feasible. The problems with the bridge above promted another change. Although the world learned that things werent always smooth on their ride to the altar, the pair have been married ever since. There will be a guitar version and left-handed versions. Stage Played Pkg n/a. A backstage pic from Atlanta 74.07.18 also seem to suggest some shaping of the back. I beat DC in using The Demon they tried to stop me, but I was able to prove that my Demon was far more famous than their Demon character!, By trademarking the name and shape of the Axe, Simmons was able to control who builds the instrument for him, and sure enough hes switched builders many times over the years. Jan 11, 2009. so I read an article years ago where it talked about gene simmons' live rig, but i couldn't find any info anywhere and the magazine is long gone, so I spoke with his tech Spike and he said basically this is it: 1 SVT-2 Pro. Gene Simmons is a true rock god, even though he plays "The Demon" in KISS, the band he co-founded in the early 1970s that still rocks out to sold-out crowds. Considering the rather complicated control layout, 3 knobs and 4 switches, it was probably not a Gene favorite. The bridge is a thornier issue. So I kept moving the pickups around and adding a boost on the back, just to make sure that the bass had the sound I wanted., Simmons notes a distinction between bass designs that work well in the studio compared to on stage, Sometimes in the studio, because of the different acoustics and dynamics, I would use basses that I have never used on stage, because live, they dont sound good. The Kiss aesthetic wont appeal tonon-fans. Exactly what happens to the LoBue is matter of some confusion. Although he's spent the last 50 years There is something else that Nick Simmons has been working on over the years, and it comes in the form of his graphic novel. It looks as though Gene Simmons has plenty of opinions that he wants to share with the world, but not all of them have landed. It's incredible to look at these pics and see the extent of the damage that year-round touring and Gene's costumes (most of it probably from his ever-. Here we get to see it with a studded cover of some sort, probably leather. It looked as though he needed it as Genes outfit weighs quite a lot thanks to all those theatrical additions. Search child forums as well Miley Cyrus is one of the many on the list as the musician wanted to break away from her Disney Channel persona in the most memorable way possible. Sadly, Gene Simmons wasnt impressed with the look. Gene Simmons: "Everything Vinnie Vincent did sounded like Yngwie Malmsteen on crack". We're sorry-this item is unavailable. It turns out that none of the record labels Sophie contacted actually wanted to work with the star, meaning her plan worked and worked against her. There's a high-gloss, mirror-like finish on the body and headstock, added rivules on the body near the pickup, and, true to form, a hole where there should be (or had been) a tone knob. That was until the scandal that rocked Nicks world in 2010. All in all, this first offering from G2 delivers on virtually every front, from the dazzling black diamond aesthetic through to playability and versatility. It wasnt long before people were outraged by the comments, and Gene was forced to apologize. The Spector web site is clear on the matter: "The bass in the photo above [on the Spector web site, not featured here] is still in Gene's possession as far as we know. The clip is an outtake from the 2012 documentary Sample This. The bass touts a mahogany body with a bolt on C shaped maple neck and rosewood fretboard with a 15 radius. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The bassist will bring back the Gene Simmons' Axe MasterClass for fans . [*] 1996 Guitars that Rule the World, Metal Edge presents KISS Alive! As Simmons explains, because I owned the name and the design, it qualifies as an invention in the library of congress. At the end of our show [I] walk offstage and I throw the guitar off the stage, and everyone gasps. None of the pre-1974 pics I've found suggest that the body was more than a slab-style with some rounding for the upper horns. My theory is that this is the third Spector mentioned on the Spector web site (I will more or less ignore the all-black curiosity above for now). Not once in the Gene Simmons/Bass Player interview (July 1996) does Simmons ever claim . However, being so popular means there have been plenty of conspiracy theories about Genes tongue. To highlight a detail that entered the story a little earlier when the Fender bridge was installed I've chosen these particular pics. The body and hardware can be shaped in any number of ways. To make sure no one thought that she was using her dad, Sophie would write her own music and send songs to record labels all off her own back. First the finish is re-done to be an all-black and Steve Carr makes a headstock inlay of Gene's makeup face. Gene Simmons of KISS will be hosting a MasterClass event in Las Vegas next month, where he will teach bass and songwriting. Let's talk about your Axe basses. It usually means the artists miss out on the profits and can have some pretty huge effects. I originally thought that the natural satin finish, introduced in 1975 and seen in this well-known footage from San Fransisco 75.01.31, was Gene's first which was later re-finished but he actually had two Grabbers on the road with him and he used both during the Winterland show. He's interviewed everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. "[The Grabber] was a well built instrument that weighed a ton, [] the body was too big and I couldn't move as easily with the thing.
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