Kramer neck construction as shown in the 1979 Kramer catalog.
Since Steve Carr hadn't managed to build the Axe that Gene envisioned, Gene took a "next man up" mentality and next in line turned out to be Kramer. The Kramer story begins in the early 70's when Gary Kramer and Travis Bean had a partnership—Kramer was basically the financier and handled administrative duties, simply because he saw potential in aluminum neck guitars, while Travis handled the guitar side. (www.garykramerguitar.com) Kramer soured on the relationship because Travis secured the patent for his aluminum neck under his own name and not registered to the company. Kramer is refreshingly upfront about the fact that he just took what Travis had created and tweaked it: instead of a solid aluminum neck he chose a T-profile with inlayed wood sections which also served to combat what Kramer felt was a relatively heavy neck on the Travis Bean. According to the 1979 Kramer catalog the design idea was to "combine the strength of forged aluminum with the warmth of wood for playing ease and comfort". Lest anyone confuse the two aluminum beasts Kramer also opted for a forked (or split) headstock.
By 1980 Kramer had slowly moved from more or less traditional dual-cutaway shapes into more bold designs, the XL and XK series had some angular and "modern" body shapes so the Axe shape was probably not perceived as particularly odd. Of course, that doesn't begin to explain why Gene should choose to work with Kramer and decide to try the aluminum neck concept—as far as I can tell Gene himself has never mentioned it and there are actually relatively few facts available about the Kramer Axe. The only possible connection I've been able to find is a mention by Paul in an interview: "Then Kramer just made me a guitar I haven't had the chance to use yet, which looks like a stick." (Sounds 1980) Kramer had just one "stick" guitar, the Duke, which happens to be the last of Kramer's aluminum neck guitars. It wasn't revealed to the public until 1981 but prototypes were surely available for the right person to try. It is a weak and incidental connection but it is the only one I've found.
Considering the history of Gene's basses up to this point—the myriad of modifications of the LoBue and the many, albeit minor, tweaks to the Grabber and Spector—one could be forgiven for thinking that something similar happened with the Kramer Axe: Gene got a bass and then tried a few different things out until he was (more or less) satisfied. I for one was sure that's how the story played out but alas, the truth is more complex than that. I won't go into how the Axes Gene played differed from the production model in any real detail, suffice to say that there are elements to both that were hand-carved which means that each individual bass can usually be identified and, as photos from the production facility attest, there were more Axes made specifically for Gene than he has been pictured with.
Gene shows up with his first Kramer Axe on May 22, 1980 for a Waring Abbott photo shoot (as seen below). This particular Axe has 20 frets, a nut with a zero fret, a black P-bass style pickup, and Gene's favored Leo Quan Badass bridge. Note the circled "cracks" in the blade which is a detail that was carved by hand on each individual instrument and allows us to identify them. As we'll see the number of these cracks differed as did their shape. A different photo from this particular shoot was used in the advertisement for the Axe in 1980 where it is described as "Designed by Gene Simmons, hand-crafted exclusively by Kramer." Photos from this session were also used in Bravo magazine which had a giveaway of one Axe guitar and one Axe bass.
And then, as usual, we get to our first problem. I've yet to see any still photos from the Shandi video shoot (which happened some time mid-June) and the video has only some fleeting images of the Axe used. I've looked closely at the video clip and to my eyes there are two (or possibly three) "cracks" in the upper part of the blade and these aren't in quite the same spots as on the Axe from Waring Abbott's studio. (This obviously makes sense as it appears that the bass Gene posed with in May actually was the same bass that was the prize in the Bravo giveaway.) Based on that I consider the Kramer used in the Shandi video to be number two. This also lends some creedence to the anecdote shared by Peter in his autobiography. On p. 199 he mentions the emotions when he realized that this video shoot actually was his swan song with the band and asked Gene if he could have his bass (which Gene graciously let him have).
As far as I can tell there was no Axe used during the show at the Palladium on July 25, 1980, so the next time we got to see one was at a Lynn Goldsmith photo shoot from August. It's easy to just glance at the photos and think that this was either of the previous Kramer Axes but with changed pickup covers, but the handcarved "cracks" on the blade are markedly different, at least compared to the first Axe. Apart from this the Axe used here had the same specs: 20 fret neck, zero fret and the Badass bridge. Interestingly the color of the blade on this third Axe seems more like a light grey than the almost silvery finish that the first two showed at certain angles.
After this it gets slightly harder to say something for sure. Once the European tour starts in late August Gene seems to have traveled with two Axes. The first, which made it the fourth one so far, showed up backstage in Rome, Italy on August 29, 1980. The photos I've seen aren't exactly stellar in quality—the one printed in Melody Maker is the best thus far—but to my eyes this bass isn't any of the previous ones. It lacks the second "upper crack" of the first and has a much less pronounced "lower crack" compared to the third (both these areas are circled in the photo on the left). Other than that it seems to have similar specs to the first one, 20-fret neck and a long scale. It also had a pair of silvery, almost chrome-like witch hat-style knobs, the likes of which I haven't seen before. One curious thing is that no Axe ever seemed to see the stage. So far I've seen no shots of an Axe bass actually being used live during the European tour. Any evidence to the contrary will be accepted gladly.
The fact that the Axes apparently never got on stage in Europe makes it even more strange that he brought two of them with him. The fifth Kramer Axe was used for the Rock Pop taping on September 1, 1980, and this one is completely different than the previous ones: it's got a 24 fret neck, two humbuckers (possibly DiMarzio Model G), and a shorter scale (the bridge is closer to the neck). It also has an added detail in the paint job as there's a slight shadow added at the top of the blade. (This is something that shows up in several photos under various lighting conditions so it's not just a play of the light.) This particular bass also has a slightly different shape to the small "horn" closest to the neck and classic black speed knobs.
The Axe doesn't actually get to see the stage until the band travels to Australia in November and now, true to form, the modifictations begin. The bass that Gene uses live during this part of the tour was the fifth Kramer Axe—the one used for the Rock Pop taping—but by November it only had one humbucker, most likely a DiMarzio Model One. (This mod is actually one of the more professional ones that Gene had done to any of his basses as we'll see later.) The first time it showed up was in the Countdown footage shot in Perth on November 8, 1980. This bass had 24 frets (count them!) and a distinctive pair of cracks which matches the ones on the bass used for the Pop Rock performance. The cavity for the second humbucker was carefully filled and there was a new finish applied over the "fix". This bass has also replaced the zero fret with a new, very thick, brass nut.
This same Axe was then used for the performances during the rest of the tour, most obviously the footage Sydney on November 22, 1980. The photos by Bob King below show that the Axe had now been fitted with Gene's customary bridge cover. If one consults the footage from Sydney the Kramer Axe was used for two songs: Firehouse and Talk to me. But of course, in the wild and wacky world of KISS instruments things are never this simple.
When KISS traveled to Australia Bill Aucoin hired a photographer to document the trip. He shot all kinds of photos of the band traveling, couped up in their hotel rooms, and getting ready backstage. (It's a really good look into the world of the various things a band of KISS's stature could get up to over the course of a tour.) This collection contained the photo below which shows part of the instrument lineup the band brought with them. And that is a Kramer Axe on the far right. It has a 20-fret neck, a longer scale than the one used on stage in Sydney (the bridge is farther back), and a different set of control knobs. However, this was not a new instrument but rather the fourth Kramer Axe (which you will remember from the backstage photos from Rome). At present there are no indications that it was used on stage in 1980.
In what might be considered a rather strange move Gene decided that the new-look, high-concept KISS of (Music From) The Elder, a project designed to woo the critics, would be best served by an Axe bass. Although not technically part of the promotion for The Elder, Gene brought this 20-fret, long scale sixth Kramer Axe to Mexico for the Applausos taping. Sadly the photos I have available to me from the Mexican jaunt leave a lot to desired as far as quality goes but thankfully the sixth Kramer Axe was used for several other photo and video shoots over the coming months. Curiously, it never got the bridge cover during this time. It did, however, get the same massive brass nut.
The short-scale 24-fret Kramer Axe also got in on the action, albeit in a more limited way. As seen below it was brought out for the Solid Gold appearance.
In 1982 Gene found EMG active pickups and had them installed in a few of his basses. As far as I've been able to find out gthe short-scale 20-fret Kramer Axe disappeared around this time; it wasn't used for any of the photo shoots in 1982 and all live shots of a Kramer Axe during the 10th Anniversary Tour turn out to be the long-scale 20-fret Axe. This latter instrument got the EMG treatment some time between late August and late October. The photo shoot with Bernard Vidal which produced the photo below seems to have taken place some time in August 1982, and it shows the Kramer Axe with a large humbucker and lacking a bridge cover. It also still had the silvery witch hat-style knobs.
When the band stepped on the Zoetrope Studios sound stage on October 28 for a photo shoot (and to record the video for I Love it loud) the long-scale 20-fret Axe had gotten a bridge cover. The old DiMarzio Model One humbucker was gone and had been replaced by an EMG humbucker that was located a lot closer to the bridge. Now, the moving of the pickup is a little odd. Gene had modifications done to Spector #1 as well and there he chose to add a pickguard-like frame to the pickup rather than to relocate it which would require new routing. (Moving the EMG humbucker this far back would also have resulted in losing some bass frequencies but that might have been a minor concern.) The only reason for moving the pickup that I can think of is that the active electronics of the EMG—which includes a battery compartment—would require routing out the body anyway so trying a new position for the pickup may have been an easy decision to make.
True to form, Gene evidently took a "good enough" approach to this modification. Rather than trying for something more elaborate that may or may not have looked better, it appears that whoever performed this latest modification for Gene just applied a wide strip of black tape over the routing left from the previous pickup. It is hard to fault this choice though as it is exceedingly hard to spot this piece of tape, in most photos it's impossible, and it certainly passed the "five rows out" test that KISS has applied throughout their career. I've tampered a bit with the second Sam Emerson photo above to bring it out and it's still barely visible. Look closely above the right edge of the EMG pickup and you'll see a faint outline of a square.
It takes a very keen eye—and quite frankly you almost have to know what to look for—to be able to spot it even in promotional photos from the day. I've chosen three photos from the European promotional tour where the coverup tape is actually visible although just barely. In most other photos it's no use even trying to spot it. (One of the better looks from a later photo shoot is this photo by Geoffrey Thomas.)
Finally, two minor but noticeable differences. First, the knobs were changed. That first set of strikingly original chrome/silver knobs which, oddly enough had no knurling, were replaced. The lack of knurling was probably the main reason why they were changed to more regular, "domed" knobs with knurling once the bass actually got proper use on stage. Secondly, the output jack was changed. When the long-scale 20-fret Axe first appeared it had the same type of output jack as the production model Kramer Axe. The first photo below pretty much fails to show this since the cable obscures the output effectively, but the May session with Waring Abbott caught a decent closeup. In contrast, photos from November 1982 and onward reveal a prominent square jack plate as seen in the Neil Zlozower photo below.
The long-scale 20-fret Axe didn't get a ton of stage time during the 10th Anniversary Tour but it seems to have been the preferred choice for Gene's blood-drooling solo spot. More often than not we see it covered in blood, but it was also frequently used during the tank finale. Following below is a selection of photos from throughout the tour which show the Axe. Since you now know what to look for you'll no doubt notice the tape covering the old pickup cavity.
The long-scale 20-fret Axe traveled to South America for the last shows in makeup and was then summarily retired in favor of the Jackson Axe. This move was a little odd unless it was mostly a business decision. Both Kramer Axes had played a fair number of shows by 1983 and any nagging doubts about the aluminum neck or the placement of the pickup would surely have come to light earlier. As both the 1979 US tour and the 1980 European tour showed, Gene apparently felt no need to use any of the Axe basses unless they fit his taste; had he felt uncomfortable with the long-scale 20-fret Kramer Axe during the 10th Anniversary Tour it would surely have been left on the side of the stage. The deal Gene had with Kramer was short-lived and produced a very limited number of commercially available Axes and since Gene held the patent for the Axe bass there might have been a wish from Gene's side to actually get a proper commercial venture going.
The long-scale 20-fret Kramer Axe was summarily retired after the 10th Anniversary Tour and in its stead there appeared the Jackson Axe. In the late 80's it seems to have been part of "Fat" Vinny Gonzales collection before that collection was broken up and sold. The photo below isn't the bets quality but it clearly shows a Kramer Axe with a brass nut, a 20 fret neck, and an EMG humbucker. We can even spot the tell-tale hand-carved crack on the blade. Vinny befriended the band and got a lot of stuff from KISS throughout the years so it seems plausible that the bass was given to him after Gene got the Jackson. After that this bass showed up at the KISS Expo in 1993. There is a video available on YouTube courtsey of Bill Baker and although it is lacking in detail it shows a long-scale Kramer Axe with 20 frets. After that we have no clue. It ha not been auctioned as far as I know so chances are that it's still in collector's hands somewhere in the World.
As previously mentioned the short-scale 24-fret Kramer Axe was last seen at the Solid Gold taping and it too seems to fallen into collector's hands. In July 1990 it was part of the Rock n Roll Expo in New Jersey where it was purchased by its present owner Jay Bianco of the tribute band Alive n' KISSin' for the handsome sum of $2,000. The photos below (used by kind permission from Jay) shows the instrument as it appears today. I've added a photo from the Rock Pop taping to show that it is the same bass, the handcarved "cracks" on the blade identify it. For some reason, this instrument received much more attention when it was altered than did most of Gene's other basses. Recall the strip of tape covering the holes on the LoBue, the open hole in Spector #1 that was variously taped or (poorly) painted over, and the really amateurish piece of tape covering the old pickup route on the long-scale 20-fret Axe. When the short-scale 24-fret Axe lost it's neck pickup the cavity was very carefully filled in and a new finished applied over it which can be seen in the close-up below. Jay has now retired this bass from active duty and has it safely in storage.
