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Who is Gene Simmons?
Steve Morse in conversation with Larry DiMarzio:
What does it take to revolutionize guitar tone? In this unscripted conversation, legendary guitarist Steve Morse sits down with Larry DiMarzio to discuss the birth of aftermarket pickups and the evolution of the modern electric guitar. Larry shares the story behind inventing DiMarzio pickups, how his creative process shaped iconic tone, and how he uses his passion for photography to discover and promote incredible guitar talent.
Thanks to StevMorse.net for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Many thanks for the Steve Morse with Larry DiMarzio interview. A name often heard, even by us innocent drummers. Purely from electric guitarists mainly, back in the 1980’s in particular. Swapping, changing, removing and adding different pickups etc. If it wasn’t that brand it was Seymour Duncan. Have to enjoy the banter at the beginning regarding lead singers dismissing guitarists, he he he. I suppose it can depend on the word ‘dismissing’ or ‘firing’ can’t it? It does happen occasionally, or does it? A drummer would NEVER do such a dastardly thing. Cheers.
September 18th, 2026 at 05:38A very friendly and pleasant interview between our great Steve and the legend Larry.
Steve is very much at ease with one of his favorite topics!
September 18th, 2026 at 23:39Larry was a visionary and an innovator.
I never knew about the photography talent.
Herr MacGregor is right, in the 80s DiMarzio pups were all the rage, it became a bit too much after a while with the pup-exchangeritis of especially guitarists, DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, EMG, Bill Lawrence, P.J. Marx, Suhr and what not. There was this unshakable belief all of the sudden that you cannot get a proper sound out of an off-the-rack sensible quality guitar without messing with the pups which was of course nonsense.
I found that supercharged DiMarzio sound an acquired taste, it could be abrasive. Strangely, his first bass pup, the Model 1 went the other way, castrating the natural (if not at all flexible) might of the original Gibson bass “mudbucker” beyond recognition. Horses for courses.
More on Larry
https://d2emr0qhzqfj88.cloudfront.net/s3fs-public/inline-images/image9.jpg
(picture of the young pup winder in fashionable boots)
and the obscure bassist/diehard Beatles fan from Queens
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTKZakEACnV0nOJ4coR4WkL20HoLEwGhCLj4UjI90udX-GmqUbiRiNKEjBG&s=10
(not sticking out his tongue nor spitting blood, but photogenically picking his nose)
I had been working on and off with several bands in Queens, but the work was never steady. My goal was to make a living playing music, but my current band “Gas, Food and Lodging” never worked enough. The backup plan was to get a job as a music teacher, like my friend Brooke Ostrander (soon to be Wicked Lester), who was the keyboard player in my band. He managed to play clubs with me and teach at a grammar school in New Jersey. I helped with a lot of his classes and encouraged the idea that grade school music programs should extend beyond the traditional music program of orchestra and John Philip Sousa. I wanted to teach popular music.
I had become friends with Gene Simmons the previous year (soon to form KISS) and he came to a bunch of our shows. Our classes ended at about the same time, so we rode the subway back to Queens together regularly. He was bright and funny, and we talked about music, guitars and women. He lent me his 100 watt Marshall bass amp for a few of our gigs and we made some recordings in my family’s basement. There was a plan to put a band together at one point, and he introduced me to Stan Eisen (soon to be Paul Stanley of KISS). We played together once but they wanted to do originals and I wanted a working top 40 band. Gene told me that he was going to be a rock star and there was always something special about him and I believed him … and he did.
https://www.dimarzio.com/stories/birth-super-distortion
September 19th, 2026 at 22:35Yo,
Herr Uwe stated qt.” There was this unshakable belief all of the sudden that you cannot get a proper sound out of an off-the-rack sensible quality guitar without messing with the pups, which was of course nonsense”.
Amen ! And some of these replacement pick-ups are super expensive too…
For the people out there wanting to spend-up-big-bux for little-if-any-gain on pick-ups….
1. Fit a new set of strings on your guitar, & / or try a new string gauge if you think you know what you want.
2. Adjust the pick-up height to factory specs, & if not happy, adjust from there…Raising increases loudness, lowering decreases loudness.
3. Your amp has plenty of dials, play with them 🙂 !
4. Anyone that has spent the big-bux to purchase new pick-ups, is likely to not say anything but good things, or he / she will look silly for the poor choice of investment.
5. On the basis that your guitar is of lesser quality, & sounds less-than-good, it’s likely better to grab a quality guitar that sounds great, than uprate your existing axe with pick-ups that cost more than the guitars value.
I like Gene Simmons…He’s a surprisingly competent song-writer, bassist, & has a sense-of-humour that’s quite down-to-earth.
Ciao !
September 20th, 2026 at 00:24Thanks for the DiMarzio story link Uwe, that is one massive article and will be worth reading by the look of it. Yes back in the day, my younger brother was driving himself crazy looking for the ‘perfect’ guitar or sound or setup and also amps and everything else, on and on he went. Did he ever find the ‘holy grail’, I don’t think so. There were other guitarists too, some even trying to build their own guitars. Did it drive me to playing the drums. yes in some aspects it did, ha ha ha. All good fun though, plenty of jamming and I cannot believe that era is approaching the half century mark, in another five years or so. Cheers.
September 20th, 2026 at 07:12Herr Uwe @3,
Feel free to orate on the Lindy Fralin pickups on my Strat boasting a gorgeous tone. I am not a tech head, but was tipped off by a professional banjo playing friend who saw it in a banjo wizard’s basement enclave. The owner of this beauty put it on consignment due to an impending divorce. Oh, some of those wicked women. I typed facetiously. ;>
I still have a sense of guilt for a stranger’s loss regardless of my gain….
Peace,
September 20th, 2026 at 10:00Ted
It’s very interesting to see Steve changing the role and be the interviewer – he is always on the point when talking about the things he loves to do.
September 20th, 2026 at 13:34Yes, Larry is a great photographer.Look at his homepage for the photos of the endorsing artists – incredible! He knows how to show the typical marks of the artists.
And as I had supposed, the best photos of Steve were taken by Larry.I remember being surprised and enthusiastic when I once saw the photo of Steve on the red sofa – of course with a guitar on his lap! I did not know that Larry was the photographer, but it was clear that the photographer had talent!
Gene Simmons can be witty and perceptive, if gloatingly undiplomatic, I’d love to have him as a dinner guest with his wife. That would be one unboring evening! 😂
As hard rock bassists go, he’s actually a good one. Very underrated. I know he doesn’t really care about his bass playing, but he does it well.
That’s apparently a bassists’ predicament to consider yourself less good/relevant than you are, Roger Glover and Duff MacKagan are culprits too.
Ted the liebe Pup-Electrician, Lindy Fralin pups are fine. I’m not saying that all replacement pups are sonic voodoo, they offer different colors that can be relevant in studio work or in the comfort of a living or rehearsal room – whether they make a noticeable difference to the majority of concert goes in a live setting where the guitar is just one signal among many blaring out of the PA is more doubtful IMHO. I know this is anathema to what most guitarists fervently like to believe, but they are all a very particular people with their gear to put it diplomatically.
September 20th, 2026 at 16:57(As I am always prone to do and have a reputation here to live up to! 😈)
Yo,
Perhaps I should mention here, that the only real significant development in pick-up design (at least as regards to passive pick-ups, that don’t need batteries to work) over the years, was with Mr.Don Lace, who after negotiations with Fender, designed his “Lace Sensors” as OEM fitment on their then top-tier guitars, such as the “Strat Plus” & as a replacement option.
I have a Strat Plus, & it’s been my No.1 for the last 35-years, & sounds great. It’s fitted with 3 x Gold Lace Sensors. It equals & betters the sound of the original Fender design by virtue of features in one-of-the-tone-dials, that expands the frequency spectrum of its output. Put simply, when the dial is in position 5, it sounds like a regular Stratocaster, beyond this notched position 5, an expanded sound spectrum is available. ( It’s subtle to say the least lol, but it’s certainly not snake-oil yo ).
The main advantage here is that there’s nearly no magnetic pull on the strings, so a little more natural string vibration adds to sustain, as the string vibrates longer without any magnetic interference. And you can raise these pick-ups height as desired, with no adverse warble to be experienced, but ultimately, your pick will get in the way when raised too high.
***(Raise the pick-ups too high on a regular pick-up, & a “warble” is introduced to your sound, as the magnetic-pull affects the strings natural vibration. This is tested with your amp over-driven, & the 12th-fret-harmonic played. Optimum pick-up height is simply just below where this warble appears. Trial & error is needed ).
The negative side is zero with Lace Sensors, except that the pick-ups have no pole-pieces, & some people dislike the plane-Jane-look…
There are countless sound options with these, as they come in many variant designs, where-by the pick-up is designated with a small embossed coloured stamp, eg Gold, Silver, Blue, Red etc, etc. (Gold = Standard 1950’s Stratocaster sound).
Ritchie Blackmore also used Lace Sensors in the latter days of his electric guitar performances in the 1990’s.
All regular pick-ups in their simplest expression are induction coils arranged in rows that are wired together that simply point up at the strings. When the string vibrates, a voltage is produced that gets turned into sound via your amp & speakers. Different construction materials & the number of wire-winding-turns can affect sound qualities, & this is generally what the aftermarket designs offer, different pole-piece formulas, along with the number of windings used. AlNiCo = Aluminium, Nickel & Cobalt. These are the pole-piece ingredients that have different ratios / combination amounts across differing designs.
https://lacemusic.com/collections/7
Ciao !
September 21st, 2026 at 00:15I have Lace pups on one of my basses – they look strange, but sound great.
September 22nd, 2026 at 00:21Topics related to Steve are often leading in short threads.
Guess why. Yawn.
September 22nd, 2026 at 18:51Yo,
@ 10…
Agreed ! …I only suggest using these babies on the basis that they at least offer the best-bang-for-buck via their sound & versatility for those wanting the upgrade. DiMarzio work fine too however.
@11…
Perhaps someone like Steve is far better at letting his fingers to the talking on his guitar.
At least Steve is still getting attention from industry with these advertisements post DP…He worked pretty-hard with the band, & on his playing throughout. And there’s always someone new to watching these adverts too.
Ciao !
September 22nd, 2026 at 23:17“Perhaps someone like Steve is far better at letting his fingers to the talking on his guitar.”
Nope.
He always was illfitted in DP, the rest their fault, and it ll remain that in historiesbooks.
October 2nd, 2026 at 22:43Here some links to recent Steve and DiMarzio stuff
https://www.stevemorse.net/2026/07/30/steves-updated-dimarzio-artist-page-with-brand-new-photos/
https://www.stevemorse.net/2026/08/20/steve-explains-how-he-uses-dimarzio-pickups/
https://www.stevemorse.net/2026/09/17/inside-the-sonic-revolution-steve-morse-in-conversation-with-larry-dimarzio/
https://www.dimarzio.com/artists/steve-morse
October 3rd, 2026 at 09:10“He always was illfitted in DP, the rest their fault, and it’ll remain that in history books.”
Well, in that case I’m happy he ill-fitted for so long and gave as so much beautiful music with DP. Steve might not have been responsible for the best DP albums of all time, but at least he had nothing to do with the very worst one. 🤗 I don’t think I could have survived the release of yet another The
October 3rd, 2026 at 16:23BRattleRagesGrates On really. 😎@13 To quote The Dude, “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just like, uh, your opinion, man.”
October 3rd, 2026 at 16:43Yeah, I know.
Even RB said taste is an opinion and regularly praised the ones that followed him.
But we re being mindphucked by him for decades and so I take the praising with tons of salt.
I gave arguments for my opinion many times and I m still behind them.
Btw,I first thought my comment was censored
Either I missed it or was put on ice.
October 4th, 2026 at 18:35Yo,
@15 said qt.”1.Well, in that case, I’m happy he ill-fitted for so long and gave as so much beautiful music with DP”.
2.”Steve might not have been responsible for the best DP albums of all time, but at least he had nothing to do with the very worst one”. 🤗
3.”I don’t think I could have survived the release of yet another The BRattle Rages Grates On really”…
OMG…
R1. No-one can / could replace RB, especially if you’ve been with the band since the beginning…But RB decided he’d had enough on a pretty-much permanent basis, -(recent surprise-stage-visit aside). And on the basis that Steve was an ill-fit for the band, I would suggest that Joe Satriani was a better(?) fit for sure, where his performances speak for themselves during the 1993-94 TBRO tour…But what would a DP album sound like with JS as permanent winger ?…They could play fine together without question or doubt, but could they make quality fresh music together ???…We’ll never know.
R2. With around 6-decades of music to discover for new-listeners, I suggest that it’s likely the later albums will be listened to first, & this means Steve or Simon will make their mark on fresh ears, & become the reference-point on which the others will be gauged.
R3. You will find a new appreciation for TBRO when you crank-up a Mk-VI bootleg recording or video…These recordings augmented my appreciation for these powerful tunes 10-fold. Give them a chance, & big smiles will be the result 🙂 !
https://youtu.be/OXg_sGdSghY
Ciao !
October 5th, 2026 at 02:36Joe Satriani, bless him for helping DP out when they needed him most, never really had it in his mind to join them permanently. He has said as much in later interviews, the shadow of Ritchie just loomed too large for him and he didn’t want to end his career as the man who replaced Blackmore. The commitments from his solo career were just a convenient excuse for him to refuse Purple’s offer without insulting them. That’s fair enough, he’s a good guy. Maybe he thought of Tommy Bolin though Joe didn’t have the addiction baggage.
Steve, as his almost three decades of loyal service show, was much more committed to the Purple cause. Later musical disenchantment and mounting touring fatigue aside, I believe he really enjoyed his first 15 years with Purple or so. Purple and Steve were good for each other for the longest time, certainly longer than Blackmore ever was who only managed an initial leg of seven and another one of nine years (with lots of upheavals in between).
And I haven’t even mentioned the muscle shirts yet, which drew in a sizable contingent of adoring women as new DP fans who had been underwhelmed by Ritchie’s puny upper arms before. No one has ever pointed that out before. 🤗
October 5th, 2026 at 14:16DP never really made a bad album
They had albums with some dubious tracks.
Its taste, again, but if I d have to chose I d take STORMBRINGER over ROTD as a keeper.
Probably most will discard S and M.
Though it has flaws for me, I think there was more potential with a less glossy production, more HAMMOND and BOTH RB and Paicey playing as on the TBRO tour.
I love JLT but for some reason it was not his best moment.
October 5th, 2026 at 14:31