Gene Simmons is known for having a huge stash of memorabilia, and now he’s giving fans a chance to own a piece of it. The KISS rocker has just added his personal ’80s Rockman II B belt amp to his personal auction page, GeneSimmonsAuctions.com.
“What you see here is my effects box. It was actually invented by a guy named Tom Scholz who was a guitar player and main songwriter in Boston,” Simmons shares in a video describing the piece. “So as soon as he invented this gizmo, you didn’t need a big amp to get a distorted guitar sound.”
Simmons explains that he used the effects box to record demos at home, which helped him get “good guitar sounds.” He says by using the amp he was able to sound like he was “playing out of a 100 watt Marshall amp.”
Gene says he used the belt amp on about 100 songs, including demos that appeared on his box set The Vault Experience 1966-2016.
Bidding on the autographed item is open now, with the highest bid as of Wednesday, August 23, being $450. The highest bidder will also get a video of Gene describing the item’s background, along with a background that notes it was “GS owned.”
Meanwhile, after a show at Crandon International Speedway on September 1, KISS will launch a fall leg of their End of The Road in North America tour on October 19 in Cincinnati, Ohio. A complete list of dates can be found at Kissonline.com.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.