Billy Corgan is parting with a truckload of guitars and gear he used to record and tour behind classic Smashing Pumpkins albums. Music gear marketplace Reverb will offer the equipment—guitars, basses, amps, pre-amps, drum machines, an autoharp, and more—in a private sale next month. There are more than 150 items in all, dating throughout Corgan’s career with the Pumpkins, Zwar, and various other projects.
“Most of the sounds you hear on albums spanning from Gish (1991) through Monuments to an Elegy (2014) can be traced back to gear you’ll find in this shop,” Reverb boasts. They’ve also provided photos of a few of Corgan’s bestickered guitars and a list of highlights:
•Corgan’s #2 Stratocaster. A modified, star–covered 1988 Fender AVRI Strat that recorded most of Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, including “Today,” the solo of “Cherub Rock,” and many more. •A pair of Marshall JMP-1s that were the main preamps for Mellon Collie album and the tour.
•Two Alesis drum machines, one used for the loops on “1979” and another that was used to record many early Pumpkins’ demos before Jimmy Chamberlin joined the band.
•The modified 1990s Les Paul Special used to record much of the Machina album and played regularly on that tour, and the two backup LP Specials from the tours.
•The rackmount ADA MP-1 preamps used to record Gish.
•A Fender Subsonic Stratocaster in Sonic Blue from the Zeitgeist era signed “This is what true freedom looks like. Billy Corgan.” One of the few items in the shop signed by the guitarist, it was originally set to go to auction in 2008 before Corgan decided against it.
•The Fernandes sustainer guitar used in the studio and on tour for most of Adore.
•A 1969 Gibson EB–3 Bass in Walnut dubbed the Mountain Bass used as a “secret weapon” on everything from Mellon Collie to Machina.
•The small Crate combo amps used to get the distortion sounds on Machina.
•The arsenal of Diezel and Bogner amps used to record and tour for Zeitgeist.
•Dozens of collector–grade vintage guitars, including two ’58 Strats, a ’63 Candy Apple Red Strat, a 1953 Gibson Super 400, and a ’66 Rickenbacker 360.
•A vintage 1950s accordion and an autoharp used on the Mellon Collie tune “We Only Come Out at Night.”
The private sale opens August 16; you’ll have to sign up for Reverb’s email updates to get in on the action. Corgan, presumably, will now go into the wrestling business full-time.
Previously: Billy Corgan Releases Eight-Hour Siddhartha Synth Jam in Unpurchasable $375 Box Set. [Stereogum]
