Billy Corgan's Gear

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At 0:40 minute mark, Corgan shows his EHX PolyPhase pedal. This one was used on the "Siamese Dream", according to him.

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Around 9:40, Billy Corgan talks about his 1974 Hardtail Strat. It appears to be in blue and has a few stickers and wear marks on the body.

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"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.

(...)

Rickenbacker 360 purchased from Courtney Love."

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Billy used this guitar during the Zeitgeist tour, tuned to C# standard. The stock Seymour Duncan pickups look to have been replaced with a Gibson Tony Iommi signature set.

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"Billy had just acquired an amazing vintage Martin that we miked with a Soundelux e251, and an AKG 451 and 414."

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At 2:55 minute mark, Roland AF-60 BeeGee fuzz pedal can be visible, shown by Corgan.

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In this June 2012 Guitar World article, Corgan states:

PICKUPS

[BC]: "It's very hard to determine which pickups are best for you, because it's unlikely that you can afford to go out and buy five different sets and try them all in your guitar. A good alternative is to bring a guitar you like to a music store, then compare its sound with similar guitars that are fitted with different pickups. I did this with my Strat, which is how I determined that I liked the sound of Lace Sensor pickups. In essence, I'd found the right blend between the best of both worlds; the cut of a Strat and the bottom end of an SG. They're right at home producing hugely overdriven sounds without generating a shrill top-end. After I tried a few guitars with Lace Sensor pickups, I decided to try them in my guitar, and they worked out well."

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"This Fender Vibrolux Reverb (Custom Shop) is from the private collection of Billy Corgan.

Given the lack of road wear, this amp was likely used for recording and writing.

This Vibrolux is in great condition, with not real blemishes or signs of hard road life. You can still see Corgan's settings marked with silver marker lines on the dials. The tolex and grill are in fantastic shape.

This is a 40W 2X10 designed by the Fender Custom Shop. Both inputs on both channels work perfectly, with all the pots in good working order. The reverb and tremolo sound delicious. This amp will ship with the original footswitch included. This appears to be all-orignal without replacement parts or mods."

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"This Rickenbacker Model 450 is from the private collection of Billy Corgan.

This vintage Rick was used this on a few recordings in the mid-2000s, but nothing notable that we can point to.

This Rickenbacker is pretty clean for its age. There are no major blemishes – only the subtle surface scratches and tiny nicks you'd expect on a guitar this age, and only a few at that. One of the original tuning pegs has been replaced (the D string) and does not match the others. The pickguard has been replaced as well. The neck pickup was rewound at some point and sounds fantastic.

This guitar sounds great. Low noise, very clear and open pickups. All switches and pots work as they should. The frets are a bit worn but aren't an urgent issue yet.

This guitar will ship in its original hardshell case with the original pickguard included."

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This image comes from a "Rig Rundown" with Premier Guitar. As you can see, one of the pedals towards the bottom right of the board is a Boss PH-3 Phase Shifter.

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At 0:35 minute mark, Corgan shows the Roland Phase Five phaser pedal.

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According to the "Q and A" section with Butch Vig, producer of the "Siamese Dream", Billy used a Shure SM7 to record his vocals.

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This ADA MP-1 is owned by Billy Corgan

Own a piece a Pumpkins history! This was one of two that was used on The Smashing Pumpkins' debut album, Gish.

I would run it into a Marshall head. That was my main sound from '89 or '90 through '92" - Billy

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Used in the music video for Zwan "Honestly" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLPgz9K4D20) At the start of the video

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Billy Corgan's Alesis HR-16 was used for drum loops on a number of Smashing Pumpkins tracks, including "1979."

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"2006 Trussart Rustomatic used as the main guitar on Zeitgeist"

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"This Taylor DN8 is from the private collection of Billy Corgan.

This was Billy's number one Taylor for a long time. It was used in the studio on the Zeitgeist album, and then became his primary live acoustic.

Like many of Corgan's main live guitars, this has stickers to help crew identify it. It has "Fear This," American flag, and Zero stickers. The bridge pins have been replaced with metal pins. By the preamp controls, you can see bright pink tape to indicate Corgan's settings. There are some scuffs on the back, and various small nicks, but overall this is a clean guitar with no major blemishes.

This is a classic dreadnought with a spruce top and rosewood back and sides, giving it the sound you'd expect from a well-built box made with quality woods. It was Corgan's main acoustic, so it's definitely been worked. As a result, it has a nice, open sound unplugged, and the electronics are road-tested.

This acoustic will ship in its original Taylor hardshell case, with original bridge pins included."

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billy can be seen playing a p bass through a svt classic in this image.

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As the guitar he’d used on Gish had been stolen, his go-to guitars became ’57 Eric Clapton re-issue Strats with Lace Sensor pickups.

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Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Billy Corgan shows us his Skreddy Echo pedal in this Premier Guitar interview at (5:04). "As some fans know, this is what Pink Floyd used back in the day to create that kind of beautiful shimmering sound," Corgan said.

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In this Premier Guitar interview, Billy Corgan shows us his Chicago Iron Octavian at (6:05). "This is the exact clone of Jimi Hendrix's Octavia - I use [it] for a few things," Corgan said.

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In this interview, it says, "He still had his Marshall 1960A cabinets, but Corgan shifted to a Mesa Boogie Strategy 500 and a Marshall JMP-1 preamp (Corgan also notes that he used an Alesis 3630 to drive extra gain into a Marshall)."

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On October 7, 2013, a photo shared by Salvation Audio on Facebook shows Billy Corgan's pedalboard, which includes the Catalinbread Echorec delay effects pedal.

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According to the Yamaha's website, Corgan uses the Yamaha LJ16.

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In this 2014 photo posted by Corgan on his Facebook page, his setup can be seen, including the EHX Micro Synthesizer.

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Billy has benn using the Reverend Terz (his second signature made form reverend) in the studio for the new pumpkins album (2018).

"THIS is my NEW guitar. The TerZ, from @reverendguitars. Check it out! A G-scaled beauty. Using it now in the studio."

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Billy Corgan listed a Gibson Super 400 CES for sale on his official Reverb.com shop, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Kerrang.

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In the YouTube video titled "Smashing Pumpkins - MayOnaise," Billy Corgan can be seen playing an Ovation 1771LX Standard Balladeer acoustic-electric guitar, as uploaded by Joaquín Zunino.

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On the pedalboard below the NS-2.

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In a video by Yamaha Guitars, Billy Corgan discusses his Yamaha LJ16BC Billy Corgan Signature acoustic guitar, expressing his joy when it inspires others to pursue their own musical journey.

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This is a community-built gear list for Billy Corgan.

  • Find relevant music gear like Microphones, Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Pedals, Bass Guitars, Pianos, Keyboards and Synthesizers, and other instruments and add it to Billy Corgan.
  • The best places to look for gear usage are typically on the artist's social media, YouTube, live performance images, and interviews.
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Discography

Album Credits

  • World War III

    World War III

    Madina Lake · 2011

    Engineer Producer
  • Kissin Time

    Kissin Time

    Marianne Faithfull · 2002

    Mixing Engineer Producer Recording Engineer

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