Customer Reviews

Gene Simmons Axe Guitar

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'm using this with Rockband 2 and it's so close to being great. The guitar is small-ish, about the same size a the official Rockband guitar.

Here's a quick summary:

PRO's:
* No setup: Just plug in the USB receiver, turn on the guitar and they automatically link.
* The USB receiver in in the shape of the axe blade. How cool is that?
* The buttons (all of them!) are responsive and have a nice feel. They look good too.
* Overall build is solid. Very well made for the price. The guitar screams QUALITY! None of its parts, down to the USB receiver, look or feel cheap.
* I actually play better and have more fun.

CON's:
* The neck is too small for adult's hand, smaller than Rockand 2 guitar's neck. I don't have big hands and the guitar's neck still feels tiny.
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I also own RB 1, RB2 and Nyko guitars. The Gene Simmons Axe is hands down THE COOLEST and is the one I'm most comfortable playing with right now. My wish is they would make a full size version for adult's hand. I would definitely pay extra to get it!

One important note: the strap comes off easily unless you really work it into the button's groove when you first put it on. Just make sure you use your fingernail or something flat to press the strap's "button hole" into the silver button's groove located on top of the axe blade.

The Good:
The guitar really looks cool.
Button response is superior to all other guitar controllers I've used.

The Bad:
The guitar feels thin and cheap, especially the neck.
The neck is too long and feels akward.
On other guitar controllers the buttons start on the first fret. On the axe the buttons start on the second fret. You may not think this is such a big deal until you actually start to play it. When I play the green button my hand automatically goes to the first fret which makes sense but there is no button on the first fret so now I'm off by one fret which causes me to miss a bunch of the following notes until I can realign my finger to the proper button.
The strap button closest to the neck will not hold the strap for very long. I've had the strap come off many times while playing which is very frustrating.

The Gene Simmons Axe is a cool idea but it seemed to be poorly designed.
I will keep mine and used it when playing the bass tracks on Guitar Hero and Rock band but it will not be my main 'axe' for guitar tracks and solos.

the guitar is well built. it has some weight to it so it doesnt feel flimsy. I think the buttons are the best i have tried(rockband and ace flying v as comparisons) the buttons are curved and the part of the button closest to the edge of the fingerboard are tapered so it takes very little effort to press. the strum lever is not noisey like some other clickers if have seen and more importantly heard.
Minuses- i dont care for the position of the whammy bar and i prefer a toggle effects switch in place of the slide switch-and it isnt very useful in the place they put it
aside from that? This is a quality instrument that is priced a tad high but made up for in its quality.
for the person who said its a lefty- it isnt- you go by the strum hand so this is a righty guitar

I've had this guitar for 3 months exactly as of today...today it died for good. The wammy bar broke on it a week ago (imagine all the points I lost cause of that). And today it just stopped working. To be honest, it never worked that good with Guitar Hero Metallica to begin with. Seemed fine with Aerosmith though...maybe it was just already dying when I started playing GH:Metallica...who knows. It's a pile of junk. Guess I should have just stuck with the cheapo GH one.

Quality built guitar with great response time for the ps3. Did I mention the size. WoW! It looks like a full size guitar when my 8 year old holds it. For GH and Kiss fans , this is a must.

This is by far the coolest looking controller. One thing should be mentioned it is a lefty instrument. But you can flip it upside down still play comfortably. The thing has a great response time so you should not have any bad key notes. Feels like a quality controller and if you are a KISS fan like me it makes a great display piece too. You get your moneys worth here. I tried it with both my PS3 and PS2 with no problems to report. Also tried it with Rock Band and GH3 and still no problems. You can't go wrong with this one.

Rock on!

I liked the axe overall initally however a number of issues will cause me to not buy again.
1. The keys required a small amount of lubricant to not stick.
2. My strumm bar broke 3 times. First two times on warrantee. Last time off warrantee.
Unfortunately for the money it is not worth it. It is not made robust enough for even gentle play.

I just got the gene simmons axe and it's the best guitar i've played the les paul controler can't hold a candel to this it handes great looks great and shipping was fast!!

I'm not a KISS fan, but this thing just looks cool, which is why I bought it.
Unfortuantely it stopped working within 2 weeks and Amazon took it back and refunded my money so I could purchase a standard Guitar Hero guitar that still works.

Worked fine for a few months, then after the buttons started to get stucked. Too much money for a product like this.