Gene Simmons LoBue Tribute Build

[Blazer]

Let's be honest THE classic Kiss album must be...

And I'm pretty sure that album is all LoBue and one can't say that Gene had a bad sound going.

I guess one can say that "Destroyer" the first of a triad of must-have kiss albums which are similar in them putting Kiss firmly on the map (again) and intention, Kiss had something to prove and they did so by releasing a kick ass album.

As for the other two albums which belong in the triad with "Destroyer"...

and...

Another thing that links "Destroyer" with "Creatures of the night" and "Revenge" is that all of them have a classic Gene song.

On "Destroyer" that is of course "God of thunder" which was written by Paul.

On "Creatures" the classic Gene track is "War machine" which has since resurfaced in the band's setlist.

And on "Revenge" the classic Gene track is "Unholy"

 

[bassguitarthund]

Let's be honest THE classic Kiss album must be...

And I'm pretty sure that album is all LoBue and one can't say that Gene had a bad sound going.

I guess one can say that "Destroyer" the first of a triad of must-have kiss albums which are similar in them putting Kiss firmly on the map (again) and intention, Kiss had something to prove and they did so by releasing a kick ass album.

As for the other two albums which belong in the triad with "Destroyer"...

and...

Another thing that links "Destroyer" with "Creatures of the night" and "Revenge" is that all of them have a classic Gene song.

On "Destroyer" that is of course "God of thunder" which was written by Paul.

On "Creatures" the classic Gene track is "War machine" which has since resurfaced in the band's setlist.

And on "Revenge" the classic Gene track is "Unholy"

three of my fav albums and songs!!!

 

[THand]

Wouldn't be a surprise to me if he did use something of the type. But What BG is doing, is pretty true to the 76 era lobue bass. Which is, imo, the best looking one. I always loved the lobue that when i was starting out on bass, i had a squier precision and one day, walked into a store, and it had an ibanez GaxB which looked like the lobue shape (+it was short scale) So i got my dad to trade the pbass for it. It's a great little bass to practice on. Good tone too. But the switch is kinda meh cause tones are cool, but lack something unique of the pickup.

But anyway, without further derailing, onto the show!!

LOL...in the early 80's I traded a new Peavey T-40 for a Lotus just like this (except for the J pup)...

It's been so long ago, I don't know what happened to it...I doubt I sold it because it sounded, played, and felt great...like Gene, I probably loaned it to someone...it was about the same time my dad bought me a strat, and I got obsessed with the strat for a while so I wouldn't have been too anal about it not coming back on time if someone was using it, so IDK..
ok getting back on track, sorry for the derail BG!

 

[bassgod76]

I'm back from vacation. I appreciate all the kind words and pointers. My buddy in FB had Jim Cara build him a LoBue copy. It's cool, but somewhat inaccurate. Gene played it in South Carolina last week. I will post images later

 

[THand]

I'm back from vacation. I appreciate all the kind words and pointers. My buddy in FB had Jim Cara build him a LoBue copy. It's cool, but pretty inaccurate. Gene played it in South Carolina last week. I will post images later

awesome!

 

[THand]

Let's be honest THE classic Kiss album must be...

And I'm pretty sure that album is all LoBue and one can't say that Gene had a bad sound going.

I guess one can say that "Destroyer" the first of a triad of must-have kiss albums which are similar in them putting Kiss firmly on the map (again) and intention, Kiss had something to prove and they did so by releasing a kick ass album.

As for the other two albums which belong in the triad with "Destroyer"...

and...

Another thing that links "Destroyer" with "Creatures of the night" and "Revenge" is that all of them have a classic Gene song.

On "Destroyer" that is of course "God of thunder" which was written by Paul.

On "Creatures" the classic Gene track is "War machine" which has since resurfaced in the band's setlist.

And on "Revenge" the classic Gene track is "Unholy"

I thought everyone knew that THE classic Kiss album was KISS ALIVE.

 

[bassgod76]

Pretty cool

 

[Blazer]

Is that a repro or has the real deal finally resurfaced?

 

[bassgod76]

Is that a repro or has the real deal finally resurfaced?

No, it's a repro. Jimmy Cara, the guy who took an old Spector SB-1, and made it into Gene's Spector did this bass.

 

[THand]

No, it's a repro. Jimmy Cara, the guy who took an old Spector SB-1, and made it into Gene's Spector did this bass.

I like the stud treatment. The bass is pretty cool, no doubt, but has more of an "Inspired by" look to it. It looks like a Gene bass, but not LeBoe "replica". To my eyes anyway.

Also, it looks like you may have a real shot of getting him to sign it! Apparently he's cool with people doing this.

 

[bassgod76]

I agree. Oh really cool build. He even had Gene play it on stage. He did the blood solo with it which is definitely awesome.

 

[bassgod76]

Today I deepened my neck pocket 1/16".

All hardware comes off... again

Just a hair to be sliced off!

Neck and other parts go back on. As you can see, the slight pocket deepening really makes a difference in the string height on the fretboard.

OLD NECK/BODY PROFILE

AFTER

After making the saddles a more normal height, the action looks a little more humane.

Now the saddles ride comfortably about 1/16" above the surface of the bridge plate. It's a tad lower than what I had planned, but it looks to be okay, this far.

Even the pickup cover appears at a more normal distance in relation to the strings.

OLD PICKUP/STRING DISTANCE

NEW DISTANCE

Just to get a better idea of where everything would (or should) fall, I did a quasi-set-up with the E & G string. I adjusted intonation as best I could. This is where the E string now lies.
Bridge saddles

Pickup height

The top of the E string is just below 3/16" from the top of the fretboard at the 22nd fret.

This is how deep the pocket now is; 9/16" deep.

Since I haven't tested the depth of the pickup cavity after shaving the pickup cover, I decided to place the actual pickup in the cavity to make sure it still fits properly.

Good to go!

 

[Blazer]

I like the stud treatment. The bass is pretty cool, no doubt, but has more of an "Inspired by" look to it. It looks like a Gene bass, but not LeBoe "replica". To my eyes anyway.

Also, it looks like you may have a real shot of getting him to sign it! Apparently he's cool with people doing this.

That's one thing that people overlook about Gene: the guy is actually very humble towards fans. After all, without the fans Kiss never would have gotten as big as they became.

Gene also was always supportive of Kiss Tribute bands, happy to see the passion those bands had to keep the old shows going. Several members of one such tribute band would later be granted some incredible privileges.

Kiss and Cold Gin: Spiro Papadatos (Cold Gin's "Gene") became Kiss' stage manager, while Cold Gin's "Ace" is a certain Tommy Thayer...

 

[bassgod76]

To end today's bass fun, I tied up the rest of the fabrication stage, less bonding the neck together.

The neck towards the heel, needed to be rounded a bit more.

The line across is basically the area I was rounding before it squares up in the pocket area.

Next, I checked my trus rod access, and the neck depth increase has made it impossible to adjust the trus rod.

After some Dremel love, and using a more normal wrench, it fits great!

Ladies and Gentlemen, my LoBue is ready for finishing!

After a round of 80, 120, and 220 sanding, she really smooths out nicely.

The neck has been sanded too.

Next, I have to get this grain filler Iron Fingers told me about. Once the body and neck are filled and looking good, they will be forever joined.

Paint would be the next LOGICAL step, but knowing my impatient a$$, I will most likely string it up to see how it plays.

 

[Blazer]

Paint would be the next LOGICAL step, but knowing my impatient a$$, I will most likely string it up to see how it plays.

I know where you're coming from, I would even go as far as wiring it up and plugging it in too.

 

[ampegfuzz]

That's one thing that people overlook about Gene: the guy is actually very humble towards fans. After all, without the fans Kiss never would have gotten as big as they became.

Gene also was always supportive of Kiss Tribute bands, happy to see the passion those bands had to keep the old shows going. Several members of one such tribute band would later be granted some incredible privileges.

Kiss and Cold Gin: Spiro Papadatos (Cold Gin's "Gene") became Kiss' stage manager, while Cold Gin's "Ace" is a certain Tommy Thayer...

That's crazy

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Paint would be the next LOGICAL step, but knowing my impatient a$$, I will most likely string it up to see how it plays.

I've done it a number of times.

 

[bassgod76]

I think these will work as my strap pins.

 

[Soonerbldr]

I think these will work as my strap pins.

Sorry I was distracted by the "Federal LUST" and didn't even notice them at first!

So you decided against Strap Locks? It seems with as much banging around as you are likely to do they would be a must have item.

 

[bassgod76]

I have a question for you guys. Do you think I should glue the body and the neck before I do grain filling or after?