Rig Rundown - Kiss' Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Tommy Thayer

Not many bands can claim as much influence on today’s hard rock and metal scene as the makeup-wearing, blood-spitting, pyro-shooting foursome. PG caught up with current guitarist Tommy Thayer, along with Francis and Michael Berger, to dig into all the axes (in some cases, literally), effects, and amps that the band brought out on their 2014 tour with Def Leppard.

Tommy Thayer is a longtime Les Paul man and brings several on the road with him. A Custom Shop ’59 Standard with Seymour Duncan JB pickups sees most of the action. Gibson had just delivered a new white Les Paul Custom that could see some considerable onstage time. Thayer’s black Les Paul Classic houses the classic Kiss pyro behind the headstock. When he needs some midrange honk, he reaches for a Custom Shop Gibson Explorer decked out in silver sparkle.

[modergav]

Tommy does not deserve the hatred he gets. He is a very nice guy and a great guitar player

[jmtgrk]

Despite what hardcore KISS fans may think of Tommy, donating his royalties to childrens' charities is pretty awesome. 

[kschott]

This video made me respect Tommy Thayer so much more as a musician and person!

[ifturnedouttobe]

As much as I love Ace, I have to say Tommy is a class act dude.

[Barb_Wire]

I like how Tommy is the only one who speaks to them lol

[egggene]

Tommy super nice gave me and my father free tickets one year and even came over to us during shandi to give us guitar picks and say hello.
Supper nice and down to earth

[crispingoolsby]

One thing I really like about Tommy: He's clean and sober, it seems likely that he's ALWAYS been that dedication and this reminds me of watching an interview of Ted Williams where he only talks about his choice of bats and his approach to hitting.

[MushroomVortex]

Tommy Thayer is such a nice guy. I'm a massive KISS fan, and I can't stand how everyone trashes on him.

[taterlysaladman]

First time I saw KISS with Tommy, I didn't know that Ace was not with them. The guitar immediately blew me away. It was about 10x better than they had sounded before. Talented guitarist!

[EvieK]

Kiss fans need to respect Tommy. He does so much not just playing guitar. He’s a back bone that shows so much dedication. Gene did hire him.

[utubeutube]

Class act Mr. Thayer 👍🏻👍🏻 took my 6 year old son to see the End of the Road Tour in Detroit Rock City & u guys did not disappoint! Thank u 🙏

[popebryanii]

Tommy is such a nice dude. He has a literal heart of gold.

[nicolasrage]

Tommy is awesome. He respects the fans, badass guitarist and I dig his vocals. Seen Kiss 4 times with him and he was fantastic.

[ryanmcfarlane]

Who finds Tommy thayer is the nicest out of the bunch 

[martimdesouzajunior]

R.I.P. guitar tech Francis Stueber, who tested positive for COVID and was quarantining in a Detroit hotel room when he died of the virus on Oct. 17, 2021 at the age of 52

[Dogmaticrock]

I always like it was PG talks to the artists themselves, and not the techs. It's nice to see that the artists actually know the stuff they use

[valoxiii]

Genes tech didnt leave for future endeavours. Gene sold him too.

[SheepHairOG]

According to Internet law, if there's ever any mention of Tommy Thayer then there has to be a flame war about his guitar skills and if he's an Ace ripoff or not. Why can't some people just enjoy the music?

[myway]

A true gentleman. Great to hear how humble he is.

[joemartucci]

I was fortunate enough to open for Kiss 2010 with a band I was in from Buffalo. Kiss everyone from the techs crew band members & manager Doc MaGee were phenomenal. I was a little concerned about it figuring we’d be getting changed in our truck etc but no....we were givin our own dressing room next to Gene & Paul. They fed us took care of our gear gave us sound check band came over talked to us before they went on. Francis introduced us before we went on also front row tickets to watch them plus we hung out backstage. Crossed off bucket list lol.