{"id":3010,"date":"2013-02-01T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/?p=3010"},"modified":"2013-08-06T17:18:57","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T22:18:57","slug":"friday-work-whistle-gene-simmons-love-or-hate-him-the-man-knows-how-to-put-on-a-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/article\/friday-work-whistle-gene-simmons-love-or-hate-him-the-man-knows-how-to-put-on-a-show.html","title":{"rendered":"[Friday Work Whistle] Gene Simmons: Love Or Hate Him, The Man Knows How To Put On A Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1976songbookDestroyer1\"In the bass community you have one of three opinions for Gene Simmons (real name: Chaim Weitz). You either: a) love him, b) hate him or c) hate him but respect him as an entertainer.<\/p>\n

For most players, the answer is C. They hate the man, but respect the entertainer.<\/p>\n

Note that I said entertainer<\/em> and not musician<\/em>. Gene, as most KISS fans are aware, is about the show first and being a musician second. And there’s nothing wrong with that.<\/p>\n

This isn’t to say that Gene can’t play, as he certainly can do that. While he may not be the most technically adept player, the fact he can play a whole show in sky-high platform shoes, almost never<\/em> look at the fingerboard when he’s playing, sing, parade around in a heavy costume and<\/em> carry all that in a ridiculously loud stage environment while performing stage tricks all at the same time is no easy feat. And he still does it in his 60s (he’s 63!)<\/p>\n

In other words, as a player it’s easy to say “GENE SUCKS!” But you can’t say that about his entertainer skills, because the man, said honestly, consistently delivers a top-drawer show, and well, there’s no denying that.<\/p>\n

But enough about the man, let’s talk about his gear and his sound.<\/p>\n

Gene has gone through quite a few different basses over the years. <\/p>\n

In the early-early years of KISS, he favored a Charlie LoBue bass (photos<\/a>); this was a custom bass guitar made by Charlie. Before that he had an old rickety Epiphone which was stolen, bought a Fender P for $150, sold that P for $300, took that cash and had Charlie build his custom which he used all the way to the Love Gun<\/em> album. It was modified many, many times and in its final form had metal studs on the body.<\/p>\n

After that, Gene went all over the place with his instruments. He had the “axe bass” which was literally shaped like an axe, a Gibson Ripper as seen in the above photo. And no, it is not<\/em> a G-3 as that bass has three single-coils in it while the Ripper has two Bill Lawrence “super-humbucking” pickups. Although yes, Gene has played Gibson Grabber basses as well.<\/p>\n

From there, Gene has gone through many different bass guitars. Here’s a partial<\/em> list:<\/p>\n

\"gene1\"
Gene with Pedula bass<\/p>\n

\"gene2\"
Gene with Kramer Axe bass<\/p>\n

\"gene3\"
Gene with Jackson bass<\/p>\n

\"gene4\"
Gene with Spector bass<\/p>\n

\"gene5\"
Gene with Punisher bass<\/p>\n

Has Gene’s tone ever been good<\/em>?<\/h3>\n

The general rule of thumb when it comes to talking about Gene’s tone is this:<\/p>\n

In the studio, it’s either great or it sucks, depending on album.<\/p>\n

In a live performance, it’s amazing. The God of Thunder truly does have a thundering bass sound live. And remember, there’s a difference between loud, and loud and good<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The album which best shows off what Gene’s live tone truly sounds like is from KISS’s 2012 album Monster<\/em>; you can really hear Gene’s bass on those tracks in all its gritty glory:<\/p>\n