Koolick's Picks

Very few people have the opportunity to pick the great guitarists they want to play with. But, us fans do get opportunities to obtain a pick that has been played with by a great guitarist. This reference guide of guitar picks is dedicated to one of those great guitarists, Bruce Kulick and his fans.

Official Tour Picks

KISS: Animalize Tour 1984-1985

When guitarist Mark St. John came down with Reitter's Syndrome just before the Animalize tour, KISS called upon Bruce Kulick to fill in. Not knowing which guitarist would appear on stage, and since Bruce was not a full-time member of the band at the time, his signature did not appear on the picks. As we all know, Bruce fit in so well he became the guitarist for KISS for the next 12 years.

KISS: Asylum Tour 1985-1986

Bruce is now an official member of KISS. The brown version of this pick was only used for a few limited dates on the tour.

KISS: Crazy Nights Tour 1987-88

This same design would later be resurrected for the Hot In The Shade tour.

A rare silver version used on some of the last shows of the tour in the UK.

KISS: Hot In The Shade Tour 1990

Carried over from Crazy Nights tour.

KISS: Revenge Club Tour 1992

In support of the album, KISS played 20 specially selected club gigs in various cities around the US and UK prior to embarking on their world tour.

KISS: Revenge Tour 1992-1994

Also known as the "arena" tour.

KISS: Conventions & MTV Unplugged 1995

In reaction to the successful fan-based expos, KISS decided to stage their own conventions, where they stripped down and played their songs purely acoustic. This of course culminated in the now famous MTV Unplugged special which led to the reunion of the original members of KISS and allowed Bruce to pursue other musical avenues.

UNION 1997-2001

After leaving KISS, Bruce teamed up with frontman John Corabi to form Union. Together with Brent Fitz on drums and James Hunting on bass, they formed something powerful, magical and unique.

Union toured sporadically, but did not really have tour names or tie their schedule to specific album releases. As far as I can tell, Bruce started with black print and went to silver print. Note that his first picks did not have the Union diamonds in the logo.

Union's first tour kicked off in 1998 and has been on hiatus since playing Sweden in 2000. The band played a few one-off appearances in the last few years, but no new picks were made for those limited shows.

Grand Funk Railroad 2002 (Prototypes)

The first attempt to use the Grand Funk logo was a little too busy, resulting in the modified, simpler version he commissioned below (2002-2004).

The second attempt used this modified, simpler version of the Grand Funk logo. Ultimately, the logo work would be rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise in the final approved version for the tour picks.

Grand Funk Railroad 2002-2004

Although Bruce joined Grand Funk Railroad at the end of 2000, he did not have custom picks until the beginning of 2002.

Grand Funk Railroad 2005-2006

The initial artwork Bruce initially hoped to use back in 2002 was perfected, making these look very sharp! If you notice, Bruce also used a different variation of his signature with these picks compared to his first GFRR picks.

Grand Funk Railroad 2006-2008

New colors and the block print logo in white print this time around.

Grand Funk Railroad 2008-2009

Two new pick colors in the block print logo with gold print this time.

Grand Funk Railroad 2010-Present

Go see Bruce on tour with Grand Funk Railroad and you just may catch one of these handsome silver print picks!

Kulick & Gava Live on Tour 2011

Bruce played a couple of dates on March 11th in Buenos Aires and March 12 in Rosario with his friend Sebastian Gava.

They played songs from each of their respective solo albums and some KISS classics.

The Holy Grail!

If you've made it this far down the page, you must be a serious pick collector! I wouldn't want you to be disappointed. Although Bruce certainly has used many of the picks shown above, THIS is what Bruce plays with most...a generic .73MM Dunlop nylon pick.

Novelty and Promotional Picks

Musicade Promotional Pick

These picks were sold through magazines in the mid-1980's. The signatures are upside down from the logos on the other side.

Fan Club Pick

This pick is from a Dutch fan club in the mid to late 1980's called Kiss Army Explorer.

Bruce's Wedding Pick

Given out as table favors at Bruce's reception.

ESP Guitars

These picks were made for handouts at the annual NAMM conventions (with the exception of the green one which started off as an accident. The pick company used the ESP Guitars logo instead of the Eric Singer Project logo. Since Bruce endorses ESP guitars, they just let him have the picks). There are different plastics, different size picks and different size logos used over the years. Also, the E in ESP is different on the Japanese versions from the American versions due to a copyright in Japan on the speaker in the E by Electrovoice.

Return of the Comet

Promotional pick for the 1997 tribute album to Ace Frehley.

Eric Singer Project

Promotional pick for the 1998 "Lost and Spaced" album. Incidentally, this is the pick they were supposed to be making when the green ESP Guitars pick mentioned above was made.

Unholy Down Under

Oversized promotional picks (5" x 3") from 1996 to commemorate the Unholy Down Under featuring Bruce and Eric Singer. It was a series of clinics and jams in Australia in the wake of the KISS make-up reunion of the original 4 members.

I Walk Alone

Oversized promotional picks (5" x 3") from 1998 to commemorate the release of the Carnival of Souls album featuring Bruce on vocals on "I Walk Alone".

Audio Dog

Promotional pick for Bruce's 2001 solo album, Audio Dog. The dog reference is to Bruce's dog, Joe.

Transformer

Promotional picks for Bruce's 2003 solo album, Transformer.

KKB 1974

Promotional picks for Bruce's 2008 release of KKB 1974 featuring music recorded back in 1974!

BK3

Promotional picks for Bruce's 2009 solo album, BK3.

Style 1 came out in 2009 in 18 different colors. Some were printed in gold, some on silver and some in black. The inspiration for the logo work on this one is drawn from the Australian EP pre-release.

Style 2 came out in 2010 in 6 different colors, all with gold print. These utilize the font from the full BK3 release on both sides of the picks.

Style 3 came out in 2011 in the same 6 colors as style 2, but this time with silver foil print. These utilize the cool font from the full BK3 release on both sides of the picks.

Joe the Audiodog 16th Birthday Party 2011

Bruce had very limited quantity special picks made to celebrate the Sweet 16th birthday of the one and only "Joe the Audiodog." Due to overwhelming popularity, the extras were sold with part of the proceeds from each sale donated to the Pet Adoption Fund in California, where Bruce adopted Joe.

Created By Ken Rodenas

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