GENE SIMMONS’ AXE BASS

THE AXE

Well, for starters, this one has the distinct idiosyncrasy of actually being an axe. It’s also the only bass guitar on this list – we know, it’s technically cheating, but… Uh… Have you seen this thing!? Obviously the KISS icon didn’t have this polarisingly peculiar bass made from a real axe (though you just know he would’ve mulled it over) – it’s a mahogany body with maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, Mighty Mite MMJB-R and MMPB-4 pickups and chrome hardware. Various models produced throughout the decades feature slight variations in tech and build; one thing that remains the same, of course, is that they all look (and sound) absolutely insane.

THE STORY

The year is 1978, and KISS are the undisputed kings of garish, largerthan-life rock ’n’ roll. Soaking up the spotlight was Gene Simmons (and his monstrously long tongue), dolled up in kitschy makeup and making parents around the world fear for the lives of their children, who were surely on the path to Satanism with KISS’ volatile tunes and vulgar image. Simmons needed something that would either stand out or blend in with his onstage costume, and would represent the way he felt a bass should be treated in the hands of its player – “like a weapon”. So he reached out to esteemed luthier Steve Carr, and before too long, the axe bass was born. 42 years later, it lives on as one of the most important pieces of KISS iconography.

THE REPLICA

KISS and licensed merchandise go together like butter on toast, so of course there’s been a stack of official axe basses to hit shelves.

Most of them come from a run Cort did in collaboration with Simmons, replicating his stage model in a faithful, yet consumer-friendly form that doesn’t skimp on any of the technical highlights, and looks downright magnificent – certainly one intended for display cases over stages, but with all of the authentic Simmonsesque tonal brutality at its disposal. In 2012, Simmons commissioned a separate run of axes from luthier Jim Cara, who he tasked with developing a unique chrome and gold plating process for them. The chrome models would be made available for purchase by diehard KISS collectors, and remain some of the rarest signature model guitars ever crafted.