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Gene simmons’ BassesGene Simmons was exposed to rock ‘n’ roll as a young teenager, mesmerised as many were by The Beatles’ performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964. Inspired to write songs of his own, Gene started out on a secondhand Kent guitar which his mother bought him for $15. After joining his first band (Lynx, later renamed The Missing Links) in 1967, he switched to bass since the group had no bassist. He also became the lead singer. His first bass guitar was a $50 Segova, which he bought because it resembled his hero Paul McCartney’s violin shaped Höfner bass.

By the time he was playing with Wicked Lester (a band he formed with Steve Coronel, Brooke Ostrander, Tony Zarrella and Paul Stanley, and which was the forerunner to KISS), he was playing a Gibson Epiphone bass. This bass, along with the rest of the bands equipment, was stolen from their rehearsal loft at Mott Street and Canal Street in New York. As a replacement he purchased a Fender Precision bass that had been modified to include a Gibson Humbucker pickup, lending it a rather unique tone. This bass was sold in the early seventies, and Gene used the money to have a bass custom built for him by luthier Chalie LoBue. The LoBue bass was the first of Gene’s basses to feature symmetrical horns, a feature that Gene carried forward to several other bass designs including his current bass, The Punisher. The LoBue also had a fully exposed 24 fret neck, a stained natural wood finish and a black pickguard. This was the bass that Gene used both live, and to record the first three KISS albums. Somewhere along the way a Gibson EB-0 pickup and chrome bridge cover were added to the bass, and the scratchplate appears to have been removed. Just before the Alive! tour Gene had it painted black, with white binding as can be seen below:

In the mid-seventies Gibson became sponsors of KISS and Gene consequently began using a pair of Gibson Grabber basses - in fact, Gene’s Grabber basses were the first two that were produced. One was a dark red stained, the other black, and both featured a 20 fret neck and a moveable pickup which could slide into bridge or neck positions depending on which tone was needed. The Gibson Grabber can be seen with Gene on the front cover of the Alive! album.

The modified Charlie LoBue Bass

Gibson Grabber Bass

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Gibson also gave Gene a Ripper bass which he used live occasionally. The Ripper was black, and similar to the Grabber bass except that it had two fixed humbucking pickups. However, the Gibson basses were far from being Gene’s perfect instruments. They were heavy - not good for a performer with a costume as elaborate and heavy as Gene’s - and they did not have symmetrical horns. Consequently, the LoBue bass saw yet more live action during the mid-seventies. In 1976 it was used on the Rock & Roll Over tour, and the top half was covered with studs. Conflicting stories regarding the fate of the LoBue exist. Gene said in 1978 in an interview with Guitar Player that it was damaged after being thrown to a guitar tech. However, he later said that it was lost after being leant to Micki Free from the band Smokehouse, who opened for KISS in 1977. It is not known which story is true.

During sessions for the Destoyer album Gene was approached by luthier Stuart Spector with an offer to build him a custom bass. Gene’s Spector bass guitar was based on his own design and featured symmetrical horns, a fully exposed 24 fret fingerboard and DiMarzio pickups. (Incidentally, Gene went to school with renowned pickup builder Larry DiMarzio.) It also had Gene’s face set in mother of pearl on the headstock by Steve Carr. A second Spector was also built, identical to the first, but with the traditional Spector logo on the headstock. These basses were used on the Love Gun and Alive II albums.

In 1978 Gene had the idea for an axe shaped bass. The first version of the now legendary axe bass was built by Steve Carr and was used for several live shows before being retired because of its excessive weight (the Axe bass can also be seen in the videos for ‘I Was Made For Loving You’ and ‘Sure Know Something’). A more lightweight design was conceived (featuring an aluminium neck) and a limited edition was put out by Kramer Guitars - the first 1000 were advertised as being hand signed by Gene. However, according to Kramer, only about 175 Axe basses were built, making them collectors items. Gene later licensed the axe brand to Jackson who manufactured them during the eighties - Gene can be seen with a Jackson Axe bass on the KISS Animalize concert. The Jackson Axe basses were similar to the Kramers, but feature four-in-a-row tuners rather than the two-a-side tuners found on the Kramers.

Gene also had two new Spector basses built for him in 1979. One of these was covered in studs (as the LoBue was) and sold at auction in 2006 for a staggering $21,850.

The Spector Bass

The Kramer Axe Bass

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In 1984 Gene began using Pedulla MVP basses, which he then used for several years. He had several different models made for him: a plain black model, a plain white model (visible on the inlay for Crazy Nights), one with a dragon face on it (visible in the photograph) and one with his own face, in full KISS make-up. During the Crazy Nights tour Gene also used a Stacatto bass, a magnesium-alloy instrument designed by Chris Jagger and Pat Townsend. Only 30 Stacatto basses were built, making them something of a rarity.

In 1992 Gene made a short-lived deal with B.C. Rich to produce and market a new bass design called The Punisher. Although the company made several prototypes - notable for their moneybag inlays - the instrument was not released commercially. Gene went into business himself in 1996 and began producing Punisher basses for the princely sum of $3000 a piece. Each bass sold is numbered and personally signed by Gene.

The Punisher is a hybrid of everything that Gene likes in a bass: symmetrical horns, a 24 fret rosewood neck, white binding, a brass nut, and a chrome bridge cover. While Gene prefers the simplicity of just one pickup (as used on his LoBue and Spector basses), the Punisher is marketed with a pair of EMG pickups in the popular P/J configuration. This was done for commercial reasons. Gene continues to use both his Punisher bass, and a new version of his Axe design, both of which he markets himself.

The Punisher Bass