Gene Simmons bass info site

[gearHed289]

That Goin' Blind version goes to show how melodic (and cutely old-fashioned) Gene can play. Anything he plays immediately tells me that he learned to play bass in the (early) sixties. He plays faultlessly, but he never sounds nimble (even he says so and that the other guys sometimes ask him to play guitar parts in the studio because he makes them sound so beefy and archaic).

Yup!

[gearHed289]

http://lobueguitars.com/index.asp

WOW! Lots of familiar names there!

[JazzBassTbird]

Very nice site. Regarding Grabbers, there's a bit of misinformation, though. It says Gibson never offered a sparkle finish on them, but I distinctly remember seeing a brand new Grabber in a store (Rondo Music in Union, NJ) in 1975 with that same burgundy finish with big sparkles. I remember it well probably because at the time I though it was the ungliest thing I'd ever seen! Have also seen L6-S Midnight Specials with the same sparkle finish and also black sparkle.

I've never seen the pics of Gene with the Triumph bass, very cool. Site says it was probably refinished, but I think its more likely Gibson did it special for Gene.

Agree that Gene's playing is very melodic on Goin' Blind...I think he's said he was influenced by McCartney, it shows here. I always liked that song, and you can hear the bass line so clearly on that Unplugged clip.

[godofthunder]

 I was working at the House Of Guitars during this time and I also remember the red sparkle Grabbers! Goin'n Blind is one of my all time favorite KISS tunes and I love to pull it out when guys say Gene can't play. Very tasty McCartney-esque lines. I always not only appreciated his playing but his sound/tone. He knew what he was going for and constantly worked at it. As a kid listening to those early records the bass was heavy and gritty........................I loved every note.

[JazzBassTbird]

I was working at the House Of Guitars during this time and I also remember the red sparkle Grabbers! Goin'n Blind is one of my all time favorite KISS tunes and I love to pull it out when guys say Gene can't play. Very tasty McCartney-esque lines. I always not only appreciated his playing but his sound/tone. He knew what he was going for and constantly worked at it. As a kid listening to those early records the bass was heavy and gritty........................I loved every note.

Absolutely.

[OldManC]

A lot of Gene's poor reputation in various areas may be well deserved, but I dare say there are a number of us at the Outpost today due, in great part, to him and his instrument of choice. He was a huge reason I was drawn to playing bass. Besides the image that appealed to young teenage taste, he was a melodic, interesting bassist in his time. As a Beatle fan before discovering KISS I also heard the McCartney influence, even if others didn't.

[uwe]

I always found him comparatively busy on the seventies Kiss stuff (he played more than he needed to and more than many other hard rock bassists around then), he only dumbed down his bass playing in the eighties, circa Lick it Up, but root note bass playing in eights became en vogue around that time as the drums grew louder. I always heard a bit of fifties rock'n'roll in his playing and even his groove (he's slightly behind the beat, almost like a double bass player), that had its charm. Kiss never really sounded heavy in the rhythm section department (because Peter Criss wasn't a heavy metal basher either), but then Simmons has always been adamant that they never were and never intended to be a heavy metal band.

The bass playing on Rock'n'Roll All Nnight here is plain old-fashioned, even for a mid-seventies recording, but it's not dumb.

[JazzBassTbird]

There's an art to being a "busy" bassist. No One Likes A Busy Bass Player is the mantra, and there's a lot of truth to that. However, when I saw Entwistle (completely different style to Gene, of course) he was the very definition of "busy bassist" yet he never seemed to be overplaying.

Gene's just very melodic, I guess it is busy, but  it never struck me as overplaying. And yes,some of the early Kiss stuff is very Stones based rock 'n' roll.

I think the reason Kiss in general and Gene in particular got dissed in the '70s was that they were an easy target at that time because of their stage show and makeup. The prevailing mindset that I remember from back then was that bands were supposed to GROW and PROGRESS musically. If your first album sounded like Kiss your third should sound like Blow By Blow. Or, if you were a Canyon Rock type band like The eagles or firefall, that was permissible too. Not that there's anything wrong with those styles/bands, but that predjudice is what I remember from back then.

When I look at YouTube clips of early live Kiss, I'm struck by how tight they were, even if without taking into consideration that they were putting on a show too.

Re steady 1/8th notes being trendy in the '80s, yeah, that's true. I think it started with Cliff Williams, nobody plays straight 1/8th notes like that guy! I do feel that rock bass playing in general has become very basic and tame since the '80s.

[Hörnisse]

One of my favorites off of Hotter Than Hell.  The sparkle Grabber too!

[OldManC]

I knew there was a reason I liked this place...

[JazzBassTbird]

Oh yeah, another couple of things regarding Rippers on that site: It says that "The first known sighting of this bass is on 75.08.09 and it doesn't seem to survive 1975." I saw Kiss at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ on June 25th, 1975 and definitely remember Gene playing the black Ripper. It made such an impression on me that I started saving my pennies and bought one brand new about 6 months later. Possibly no photographic evidence of this, though.

Regarding the last part of the quote, about Gene's use of Rippers not surviving 1975, I saw a pic not too long ago of Gene in the studio playing a natural finish maple 'board Ripper while recording or rehearsing for the "Monster" sessions. I can't find that pic online any more, but there is a clip where you can see it (for a split second) on a wooden multiple guitar stand/rack.

[uwe]

I saw that pic too, it was in Classic Rock, the Brit magazine.

[TobaccoRipper]

A few years ago I saw a video where Gene was using a Dark Tobaccoburst Ripper in Studio. He used it to record Sonic Boom.

[TobaccoRipper]

Found it! 

Look at (2:05)

!

[Denis]

Nice avatar you have there.