Customer Reviews

Cort Gene Simmons Axe Bass

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's an unbelievable bass for the money. Axes used to only be available if you were willing to spend 3 grand or more. So to see that Gene Simmons and Cort teamed up to offer one for under $500 was great news. The finish on this bass is perfect. Not that too many people are going to play it, but it plays well and sounds good. It is a much brighter sounding bass than I expected and is nothing like the Thunderbirds that I play out with. It is extremely neck heavy, but that is expected. That's probably the reason Gene Simmons only plays a few songs a night with his Axe and uses his better balanced Punisher Basses the rest of the time. But it looks great displayed on the wall and for under $5oo, you can't beat it. It is definitely the most unique bass ever made (and I own some unique shaped ones) and a must have for the Kiss fan or collector.

Since I was a kid, I always thought this was the coolest looking bass, but it was never affordable. When I saw the Cort price at 10% of the original, I thought I'd take a chance. Amazon had it in stock, at the cheapest price around, and has a great return policy. Well, it's here, and it looks great, sounds great, the build quality is really nice, and it plays great. I was worried when I ordered, because of the sole bad review on here, but I can't find anything wrong with mine, and I have 25+ years of experience playing, and have many guitars in every price range. I have an decent cheap Cort(ez?) 12-string I bought in the early 80's, and that was my only experience with the brand, but this bass is a winner (the blade can dig into your leg when seated, though). Thanks Gene for finally bringing the price down to earth, but keeping the quality up. I'm looking forward to bringing the whole family (kids free) to see Kiss play live in 3 weeks... can't wait to see this bass up on stage. Thanks again, Amazon and Kiss!

I am Definately a closet ( or maybe not so closet ) Kiss fan.
I Bought the bass because I wanted something cool to play onstage periodically. We play several shows across the country every year (Classic Rock Cover Band).

I Was Dissapointed a bit when the bass arrived because the neck was buzzy. I Had it Setup with a set of 45 -105 strings and tuned a whole step down. after a small nut and truss rod adjustent. It all fell into place!

I Expected to have to put a few hundred dollars worth of pickups in it, I was actually pleasently suprised by the sound produced in stock form. The Bass Sounds great, out of the box. So good infact, that I just recorded with it. It sounds as good as my 1977 stingray! Very Impressive..

The Bass is Neck Heavy. so its role in my collection is limited a little bit.

Overall:

Expect to set it up!
The Pickups Sound Great!
Must be played Standing up! (Not feasable to sit down with )

A Great Fun Bass! Very Happy!

Its not a neck-thru, dosen't need batteries, it looks just like the 5000$ axe eccept for the way the pick-ups look. Nice if there was a case opption, and it sounds good not 5000$ good but pretty good. Comes inside a gig bag.

I've always wanted this bass and now I own it! The bass looks great, feels good in your hands (little neck heavy) but sounds amazing! You won't be disappointed.

My Husband is a bass player. He wanted this bass for christmas. Was a bit concerned to order this over the internet. Read some bad reviews about this Bass but when Hubby opened it on Christmas Day and played it and checked it out he was thrilled with it! Hubby Loves it! It was shipped quickly.. (I got it in 3 days!)and came packaged well. He would recommend this bass.

I recently landed a gig in a KISS tribute band. Unlike any other band I've been in, this gig required a costume and a certain instrument. It's a lot of financial dedication, but everyone I've spoken to who has done this has said it is worth the cost of admission. To my relief, I found out that Cort released budget versions of Mr. Simmon's famous basses. I've
always favored the look of the Punisher more, but i found a SICK deal on an Axe bass.

PROS:
- The price was right.

- The soft gig bag is pretty padded for its price range.

- The padded blade cover is a nice touch.

- Once set up properly, the bass plays pretty well.

- After I relocated the front strap button, it had a lot less neck dive.

- The bass's weight isn't that bad.

- The bass is nice and bright sounding, but can be made to sound more Gene Simmons with a flick of the pickup selector switch.

- The neck pocket was pretty tight, and the finish seemed good for this bass.

- The finished neck didn't get sticky on me after playing it a while.

- The bridge cover looks cool, but is very functional. The way the body is cut, your palm is forced to rest on it. Once you figure out this bass's right hand placement, its joy to play.

- This bass just looks cool. While not as comfortable to play as my Fenders, it more than makes up for it with traffic-stopping looks. You will be noticed!

CONS:
- It's shaped like an axe. Sitting down to play is not an option. However, that's the nature of this bass.

- The zippers on the gig bag feel cheap

- The giant Gene graphic on the gig bag is so embarrassing to walk around with. I'm sorry, but in my opinion, I like a subtle instrument case. However, that is Gene for you. It doesn't matter, because I will probably get a hard case down the road.

- The bass came with so much relief in the neck, that my luthier gave the trus rod nut 6 turns before it was remotely playable. However, I hear this is common for these basses.

- The front strap button is in a horrible place. It's mounted on the side of the body. I use Schaller strap locks and could just see it jabbing me. I repositioned it under the bass's "horn", and it works great.

- The tuning keys were misaligned when fastened to the headstock. I had the mounting screws re-drilled so the tuners were aligned properly.

- Trying to reach the D string tuning key is a stretch.

- The bass is almost too bright and the sound was thin. I had to use my Sansamp Bass Driver to beef up its tone. Lowering the bridge pickup height may help.

- The tone knob is a joke. There is no gradual roll off/on. It's basically all or nothing.

- My biggest gripe is the electronics. For some reason, this bass makes all my amps randomly distort. I'm not sure if it's a wiring issue or pickup defect. It doesn't matter, because I was planning to replace them with EMG's anyways. A little sooner than I planned, but oh well. I would've returned the bass, but I already had it set up, and I had new $ strings installed. Since installing the new pickups, this thing now sounds and looks killer.

Besides all the bass's small issues, it can be great with some TLC and new pickups. I would never play this bass in any other type of band, but for the KISS fan out there, this is a great bass for the money. Look no further to fill your God of Thunder fantasy.

Being a demented KISS fan since 1977, needless to say, I was very happy to see my AXE when it arrived. It looks amazing, and even though I bought it for collectable reasons, I allowed a person who actually can play bass a go, and he was quite impressed ! Great sound !! This guitar turns as many heads as a Ferrari ! Don't believe me.... try it !

I thought I'd get one of these as sort of an investment. Wrong! Strike one, the bass was not neck through construction as described online. Strike two, the volume pot was not properly tightened
to the body. I didn't want to try and pull the knob off to tighten it I think the knobs are just plastic! Strike three, the volume control doesn't work right. Can't turn the volume off. Strike four,
intonation/set-up wasn't worth a crap! Other than that, it still would have looked cool hanging on the wall. The finish looked great. Sorry Gene, it should have been a Carvin!

Upon receiving the guitar, which was to be a gift, I had it checked out. There were problems with the pick ups. When switching pick ups, the sound would cut off and you had to wiggle the volume knob for the sound to come in. Also, a stand up playing bass only. The axe truly feels like one resting on your leg. An incomplete at best. The guitar was returned for a full refund.