The Gibson Les Paul Triumph was introduced in 1971 as the successor to the Les Paul Bass. Rather than being a dedicated studio bass—the Les Paul Bass had low impedance pickups and output—the Triumph could be used in various settings since it offered the choice between high and low impedance. Not that Gene would have cared. He was probably just presented with a short-scale bass (30½") with mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fretboard. The Triumph was only available in natural (mahogany) and white so the bass that showed up backstage for KISS had obviously been re-finished.
This is one of the most elusive basses in Gene's arsenal, the photos presented here are really the only ones we have. (There are other photos from these dates but they are the only times it was caught on camera.) The first time it shows its quite recognizable body shape and fretboard inlays is in Detroit in late January. This is a brilliant photo that shows that Gene traveled with (at least) three basses at this time: the Triumph, the LoBue and—being soldered—the Grabber.
The reason the Triumph was so elusive was partially due to the relative durability of the custom LoBue and partially due to the outrageously complicated controls of the Triumph. As I've previously noted, the Ripper seemed an odd choice after Gene had spent the spring of 1975 simplifying the controls of his Grabber, and compared to the Triumph the Ripper was almost rudimentary. As far as we know this bass never made it on stage and it was supplanted by the Gibson EB-0 at the end of the Destroyer Tour.
