Vinnie Vincent famous again...

[Basvarken]

They should've said we fired him because his solos were awful crap!

But the whole story about him selling a guitar (he never really used) to a fan for more than what it cost in a store...
Isn't that exactly what Gene does with his signature basses? 


And about him never signing the contract; maybe that was a wise decision. Or else he would have been in Gene's stranglehold for life 

[Dave W]

I may not like all their music, but as for me I now agree too much with what Gene Simmons says to still consider myself a KISS army draft dodger.   

Uwe was talking about my indifference toward KISS and their music. Nothing against Gene Simmons as a band leader or businessman.

...But the whole story about him selling a guitar (he never really used) to a fan for more than what it cost in a store...
Isn't that exactly what Gene does with his signature basses? 

Good point. It's different when you're the one in charge.

[Chaser001]

Uwe was talking about my indifference toward KISS and their music. Nothing against Gene Simmons as a band leader or businessman.

Good point. It's different when you're the one in charge.

I understand.  To make a long story short, a few things have happened which have made me look at Gene Simmons in a much more favorable light.  It began when I accidentally caught a few moments of his TV show.  He displayed quite a lot of unexpected compassion.  Other things happened after that.  The point is it is making me more open to KISS's music.  Maybe what they say about him being a business genius is true.  I'm about to shell out some money for KISS's music and I'm not even completely sure why. 

[lowend1]

The mis-perception of Kiss has always been rooted in jealousy and fear - in many ways it seemed almost political, and still does to this day. To a man Kiss never considered themselves to be anything but a loud rock n roll band with a spectacular show. Period. Even Ritchie Blackmore (a musician's musician if there ever was one) "got it". Others, however, felt that Kiss' visuals and bombast cheapened the "art" of rock, or maybe its integrity - truly a head-scratcher there. To draw a sports analogy, it was like Larry Bird or Michael Jordan saying that the Harlem Globetrotters sucked because entertained while they played basketball. I remember vividly the onslaught of hate mail that was printed in Guitar Player following the Kiss cover story in 1978(?). They actually gave it a separate section! Gene has always been about the merchandising, and good for him. He had the perfect vehicle for it, and no one can deny that he worked his butt off to make it happen.

[Dave W]

Some people are entertained by a big show. Others just want to hear a band play their music. I'm one of the latter, but whatever floats yer boat is okay with me. Has nothing to do with art or integrity. At least with KISS the music was an important part of the show. If what I see on TV is any indication, most of today's pop stars are all about the spectacle. A lot of the time, the music is just an afterthought.

Gene listened to Yogurt. Or maybe it was the other way around.

[lowend1]

Some people are entertained by a big show. Others just want to hear a band play their music. I'm one of the latter, but whatever floats yer boat is okay with me. Has nothing to do with art or integrity. At least with KISS the music was an important part of the show. If what I see on TV is any indication, most of today's pop stars are all about the spectacle. A lot of the time, the music is just an afterthought.

Gene listened to Yogurt. Or maybe it was the other way around.

And may "Da Schwartz" be wit-cha!

[uwe]

The Punisher comparison is flawed. Gene plays that bass all the time and saw to it that his (probably Fernandes-built) series was the same he played. He never claimed though that the Punishers sold by him had been pre-played or stage-used by him. And they didn't cost a king's ransom either.

As for his Axe basses, he never minced words that these sacrifice sound for looks which is why they are relegated to encores mostly.

And Stanley has always seen to it that his signature stuff is affordable, even low budget.

Simmons makes a buck where he can, but he's no cheat.

[Basvarken]

The Punisher comparison is flawed. Gene plays that bass all the time and saw to it that his (probably Fernandes-built) series was the same he played. He never claimed though that the Punishers sold by him had been pre-played or stage-used by him. And they didn't cost a king's ransom either.

Wrong.
http://www.gsaxe.com/

The Axe and Punisher bass you could buy in stores for about 500 dollar was being sold for 5000 (!)dollar. Fans get (got?) a chance to meet Gene after a show and buy the bass he took off stage. Sweat and fake blood included.

[OldManC]

Wrong.
http://www.gsaxe.com/

The Axe and Punisher bass you could buy in stores for about 500 dollar was being sold for 5000 (!)dollar.

While I have no quibble with the idea that his pricing is ridiculous, I do want to point out the the $500 Axe is not the one Gene was selling on tour with the meet and greets. Whether the neck thru is worth $4500 more than the $500 bolt neck model is, of course, debatable. You can see the difference in cosmetics (small as they are) in Scott's post here:

http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=4414.0

I'm unaware of a similarly low priced Punisher. The ones he was selling in the mid to late 90's (Uwe has one, I believe) were being blown out by Spencer's Gifts (a questionable choice in retailers, IMO) at the end of their run, but they were priced in somewhat reasonable proximity to their quality.

[Chaser001]

8th Street Music is selling these for $559. 


http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=63177&Category=Basses

[Basvarken]

Point taken George.
But them fulminating about VV selling guitars he hardly ever used for too much money, to me still sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.

[lowend1]

Point taken George.
But them fulminating about VV selling guitars he hardly ever used for too much money, to me still sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.

I think Bruce Kulick was also overreacting to VV's saying that "we all worked on that one" in reference to "Unholy". Vinnie has co-writing credit, Kulick does not - who cares who played the solo?

[lowend1]

http://www.sleazeroxx.com/news/00424.shtml