Whether you're looking to shop for the guitarist in your life or are searching for a wishlist to send your spouse, Premier Guitar's Holiday Gift Guide is for you!
Aguilar Special Edition Amps and Cabinets
Step into the spotlight and make a statement with Aguilar's all-new Custom Color SL Cabinets and Tone Hammer / AG 700 amps. These special limited-edition masterpieces are meticulously crafted to offer both an unparalleled sonic experience and a visually striking aesthetic. Available in a palette of standout colors, including Racing Green, Blue Bronco, Tuxedo Black, or Winter White. With Aguilar's Custom Colors, customers can express their unique style and steal the show, whether on stage or in the studio.
Fralin 'Tron
It's finally here – our brand-new Fralin'Tron! Experience exceptional clarity and articulation in a Filter'Tron® format with Lindy's unique Fralin'Tron design. Featuring a focused single-coil vibe with a rich, warm midrange and crisp attack, you'll wonder where this pickup has been all your life.
When Lindy started designing the Fralin'Tron, he did so with a particular goal: to get as much clarity and articulation as possible out of this design.
We're thrilled with the result! Our Fralin'Tron features a scooped midrange and defined bass and highs. In addition, you can expect more nuance out of the wound strings, unlike the original design. Furthermore, the treble strings have a round, warm quality, making this pickup perfect for all styles of music – from clean to dirty.
The Fralin'Tron looks impressive, too: it's available in Gold, Chrome, and Polished Nickel. Give the Fralin'Tron a listen on our website today.
108 Rock Star Guitars - 10th Anniversary Limited Edition
108 Rock Star Guitars - 10th Anniversary Limited Edition
By Lisa S. Johnson, first published in 2013, was awarded Best Book by American Photo. We now celebrate the 10th Anniversary Limited Edition featuring some of the most famous guitars ever played. Lisa guides the reader with stories of her adventures capturing the guitars, their provenance, and insights from the artists. This special edition features a signed hardcover, limited edition silk scarf, 10-page booklet, guitar pick, metallic ink book bag, and one giclee guitar print signed by one of 7 artists: Dave Mason, Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, Peter Frampton, Brian Setzer and Randy Bachman. Limited to 252 reserve copies. Available at: LSJRockPhotos.com
George L's Cables Effects Kit
The effects kit comes with 10ft of .155 cable, 10 right angle plugs, and 10 stress relief jackets. Colors include black. vintage red, blue and purple.
Custom fit your pedalboard needs with exact precision.
Strymon Brig dBucket Delay
It used to be that if you wanted to play a delay like an instrument, Bucket Brigade chips ruled the roost. Brig offers emulations of three separate BBD circuits that are sonically indistinguishable from the real thing, giving you access to all of the historic warmth, grit and playability of classic BBD pedals without the headaches and limitations inherent to the vintage designs. With a Time knob that unlocks Radiohead-like chaos, artifact-free Tap Tempo, up to 2 seconds of delay, TRS MIDI and 300 presets, stereo inputs and outputs on single TRS jacks and USB-C for MIDI control and firmware updates, Brig is in a class by itself.
Taylor Guitars 222ce-K DLX
This stunning all-Hawaiian-koa Grand Concert from Taylor’s 200 Deluxe Series combines dazzling visual character with a bold, sparkling sound that’s sure to entice players of all styles. Back and sides of layered figured koa paired with a solid koa top yield a woody, focused voice, with a rich midrange, articulate treble notes and a low-end response that will grow warmer and more pronounced with time and play. Players will find the compact dimensions of cutaway Grand Concert body — newly added to this series — comfortable and inviting, and together with a slim-profile neck, the playability is a dream. It all adds up to a versatile musical tool for everything from fingerpicking to lively strumming, with the hardwood koa top leveling out the response across the tonal spectrum. The beautiful koa body is tastefully accented with a shaded edgeburst around the top, back and sides, black binding, black and white top purfling, a shimmering single-ring rosette, a black pickguard and a rich gloss finish. The neck features a solid ebony fretboard, Small Diamond fretboard inlays, gold Taylor tuning machines. It also includes Taylor’s onboard ES2 electronics and a deluxe brown hardshell case.
Strymon Power Supplies
Noisy pedalboard? Effects not sounding quite right? Strymon’s expandable power supply system shields your gear from noise TWICE, first with a dedicated 24V bus and again by using individual transformers and multistage filtering on each channel. Each discrete output can achieve 500mA of current, and if you add in variable output voltages and native worldwide power compatibility, you get the most technologically advanced power supply system on the market. By starting with a Zuma or low profile Zuma R300 and then adding expansion Ojai units as your needs grow, you’ll never worry about power again.
Taylor Guitars Builder’s Edition 814ce Blacktop
Taylor’s ultra-premium Builder’s Edition collection showcases the highest levels of Taylor design and craftsmanship, with the goal of creating the ultimate playing experience in both feel and sound. This blacktop variant of the Builder’s Edition 814ce reveals a luxurious, eye-catching aesthetic presentation. It starts with Taylor’s best-selling Grand Auditorium body (including a Venetian cutaway), crafted with solid Indian rosewood back and sides and paired with a four-piece Adirondack spruce top. Taylor’s patented V-Class bracing architecture supercharges the response with greater dynamic range, longer sustain and ear-pleasing pitch precision, complementing the natural power of the Adirondack top. This model is appointed with a striking black color treatment for the top, a beautiful rosewood pickguard, a Kona edgeburst around the back and sides, all enhanced with a gloss-finish body. Other aesthetic details include a single-ring green abalone rosette and rosewood-bound soundhole, maple and rosewood top purfling, maple fretboard and peghead purfling, precise Gotoh 510 tuners in antique gold, and Element inlays in mother-of-pearl.
Strymon Iridium
Come see why some stadium rockers have ditched their onstage amps! Iridium delivers the authentic tone, feel and girth of three iconic tube amplifiers in a single pedal-sized enclosure. The simple user interface lets you dial in the right sound in moments with zero menu-diving, and three speaker cabinets per amp mean you’re always ready with more sonic options. Iridium’s IR-based speaker cabinets and hybrid reverbs deliver unbeatable realism by using high-resolution 500ms impulses (usually reserved for DAW plugins), and adding in TRS MIDI control, 300 presets and stereo IO means you’re ready for anything the stage or studio can throw at you.
Warm Audio ODD Box v1
The Warm Audio ODD (Over Drive Disorder) is inspired by an iconic (now discontinued) pedalboard staple with a “cranked amp” tone. Perfect for boosting, adding breakup, or adding high gain to cleans, the ODD has all the tonal versatility of its inspiration. The hard-clipping, op-amp-based circuit delivers all of the sounds of a cranked, saturated tube amp and features classic-inspired controls, including a UK/US Switch, to flip the personality of ODD from “British” to “American” tube amp. True to its inspiration, the ODD delivers the sound of massive, live electric guitar that attracted players like Billy Gibbons, Mark Hoppus, Eric Johnson, J Mascis, Paul Gilbert, and many more to that open tube amp sound.
AxLabs Habanero by Grover Jackson Loaded Pickguard
The AxLabs Habanero-loaded pickguard system features boutique-quality components including USA-made Habanero Serrano Pickups from the legendary Grover Jackson, a Pure Tone multi-contact output Jack, custom AxLabs switches and potentiometers, Orange Drop capacitor, and Gavitt Cloth Jacketed Wire (Red+ / Black-).
The Habanero Serrano Single Coils are Grover Jackson's own Texas-style, high output take on the classic designs from the 50's and 60's. Using Alnico III magnets, the fuller and warmer tones offer the right amount of fatness for the modern player while still retaining the chimey high end of the classics. The neck has warmer bubbliness, the middle pup harnesses a fatter midrange, and the bridge cuts through the tastebuds with stinging clarity unlike any other.
Unlike any other potentiometers on the market, all AxLabs pots were specifically designed for electric guitars. Custom-taper volume and tone controls give you the smoothest (and most musical) turn of the knobs without any lag.
The patented Pure Tone jack contains dual tension grounds and dual positive tips for optimal signal and lowest possible noise. 100% greater surface area at all contact points!
Spürr Audio Time Traveler Delay
The Spurr Audio Time Traveler Delay is a remarkable pedal that transcends the boundaries of your typical delay pedal. This meticulously crafted stompbox seamlessly marries the vintage warmth of analog circuitry with the modern versatility that today's musicians crave.
At the heart of the Time Traveler Delay lies a sonic realm where guitarists can immerse themselves in the cozy embrace of analog warmth. With a delay time that extends up to a generous 500 milliseconds, it caters to a wide spectrum of musical needs, from subtle echoes that add depth to your sound to expansive repeats that transport you to a world of sonic wonders. Regardless of your playing style or genre, the Time Traveler Delay is your trusty companion in adding depth and dimension to your musical expressions.
What truly sets the Time Traveler Delay apart is its ability to satisfy the cravings of sonic adventurers. It empowers you to embark on mesmerizing journeys through oscillating delays that surge and evolve, pushing the limits of your creativity to unprecedented heights. Activating the infinite repeats function on this pedal is like opening a portal to a boundless sonic landscape. Here, you become the architect of expansive soundscapes and captivating textures, all of which will hold your audience spellbound.
However, the Time Traveler Delay doesn't stop at its aural prowess. It features an analog VU meter that not only adds a dash of vintage charm but also serves as a dynamic companion to your musical odyssey. This meter responds in real-time to your playing, effectively measuring the "plutonium" in your tone journey. It's not just a functional addition; it's a visual spectacle that adds an extra layer of dimension to your musical performance.
NoiseBoyz Guitar Pedal Subscription
NoiseBoyz is the most cost effective way to try every combination of tone you can possibly imagine. With plans starting at $9.99 per month, NoiseBoyz gives you access to over 150 pedals from the very best boutique pedal brands like Beetronics, MojoHandFX, Pigtronix, Supro, Fuzzrocious, and AnalogAlien, with new brands and pedals added every month. With no waitlists, no deposits collected for rental, no required return dates, and customer-exclusive discounts, it's a truly hassle-free way to find and save on the pedals that are just right for your play style. It's the perfect holiday gift for the guitarist in your life and we have no doubt that Clark Griswold wouldn't have kidnapped his boss if he'd just gotten a subscription to NoiseBoyz instead of the jelly-of-the-month club.
SmallStage Cable Cup Amp-Top Pick Tray & Cable Rest
The Cable Cup is a convenient pick tray and cable rest that uses microsuction technology to adhere securely to an amp or tabletop, allowing for simple removal without leaving any residue behind.
Providing ample room for your picks, slide, capo, and other small playing accessories, the Cable Cup ensures that the essentials stay organized and within easy reach. Notched cable rests guarantee hassle-free cable management, eliminating the need to fumble around for cable ends during practices, studio sessions, or performances. The Cable Cup Pick Shape also fits your favorite frosty beverage, complete with a “sweat” collector to prevent water rings from staining your amp! Composed of lightweight, flexible silicone, Cable Cup products are washable and reusable, ensuring a lifetime of usage.
The Cable Cup line features a variety of shapes and sizes, including officially licensed Fender® Stratocaster® and Telecaster® headstock shapes, Stratocaster® and Telecaster® body shapes, and a classic pick shape.
Billy Corgan shining with his Reverend Z One.
When the Smashing Pumpkins formed in 1988, they were ripping in rock clubs with psychedelic-inspired sets that drew on ’60s-rock influences like Blue Cheer, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin. But by 1992, after the breakout success of the previous year’s swirling alt-rock masterpiece, Gish, “Suddenly, we’re on a major label,” recalls Corgan. “Pearl Jam sold a gazillion records. Nirvana sold a gazillion records. Alice in Chains is selling a gazillion records. And somebody puts a finger up to my temple and says, ‘You better figure out how to write pop songs or you’re going to go back to working at a record store.’
“So, how do I translate this kind of hazy psychedelic vision into something that sounds like pop-rock radio? I’d better figure this out, and fast.” On 1993’s Siamese Dream, Corgan had obviously gone far beyond simply figuring out how to fit his vision into a radio-ready format; he’d pushed alternative rock to new heights, masterfully crafting hooks fit for the band’s unique, massive guitar-driven sound.
More than three decades later, Corgan hasn’t stopped evolving his artistry to fit the times. On the firm foundation of his extremely well-developed, instantly recognizable musical voice, he’s made his career one of the most interesting in rock music, branching out into unpredictable trajectories. In 2017, he launched a new career as a professional wrestling producer when he purchased the National Wrestling Alliance, the source of the limited TV series Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland.The Smashing Pumpkins - "Edin"
And he’s applied that knack for spectacle—a de facto pre-req for anyone in the pro wrestling biz—to the band’s social media presence. In January 2024, when guitarist Jeff Schroeder split with the Smashing Pumpkins, they turned to the internet for an open call. Not only did the band eventually find new-hire Kiki Wong, but they effectively got every guitarist on the internet dreaming about joining the Pumpkins.
Corgan has also found a creative outlet as a guitar conceptualist. His four signature Reverends—the Billy Corgan Signature, Terz, Z-One, and Drop Z—were created in collaboration with Joe Naylor, the company’s visionary builder. Taken together, these models go well beyond standard signature artist instruments protocols. Not content to just design his own dream guitar, Corgan is equally concerned with contributing to the guitar community. The Billy Corgan Signature and Z-One models are forward-thinking electric guitars well-outfitted with hip, futuristic aesthetics and custom pickups; the Terz and Drop Z break new ground in guitar design. The Terz is a 21 1/2"-scale model meant to be tuned one and a half steps up—G to G—and the Drop Z model, at 26 1/2" scale, is intended for D standard or lower tunings. In the case of these alt-tuned guitars, the instruments are specifically voiced for their tunings, with custom pickups.
“In that quiet solitude of just you and the guitar, this communication can happen that sort of expresses something about yourself that is surprising.”
With all this action—plus signature Yamaha acoustics and his Highland Park, Illinois, café, Madame Zuzu’s, which he owns with his wife, Chloé Mendel—Corgan must be dialing into a deep, super-focused state when working on music, because he’s been prolific. In 2023, the Pumpkins released the epic ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts, the third part of the trilogy that began with the Pumpkins’ smash-hit Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadnessin 1995, followed by 2000’s Machina/The Machines of God. In 2024, the band released Aghori Mhori Mei. Pitched as a stripped-down guitar record, and exempt from the former’s grandiosity, the songs are often riff-centric guitar jams, full of dark, in-your-face tones. But that pitch might belie the album’s rich compositional complexity and intense emotional breadth. Corgan’s writing on Aghori exemplifies all the nuance and finesse of his broader work, as do the dynamic, thoughtful guitar arrangements and hard-hitting performances.
With so much going on, how does Corgan keep his artistic vision focused and in step with the times? How does he find time to tap into the creative essence that has made his music so special? What drives his process? The only way to find out is from Corgan himself.
The Smashing Pumpkins’ Aghori Mhori Mei was pitched as a more stripped-down guitar record, but don’t let that description, fitting as it may be in comparison with their recent work, belie its majesty.
The premise of Aghori was to be more of a stripped-down guitar record. How did you approach this album from a compositional perspective?
Corgan: The idea was to return to the early language of the band and see if it had a modern application. If you were making a movie, it would be akin to: We’re going to shoot this on VHS cameras and edit in an old analog bay and see if you can make something that a modern audience would actually enjoy and appreciate.
The way most rock records are made these days is “in the box,” which is Pro Tools or whatever people use. You can hear that the digital technology is very important to the way modern rock music, whether it’s metal or alternative, is made. It’s become the fifth band member—you know what I’m saying? They’re able to do things and effect changes and musically innovate in a way that you wouldn’t if you were just on a floor with the band playing in a circle, like we used to. So, for us, we could continue down this digital path, and I’m not that interested in gridding out my guitars.
When you go listen to a Pumpkins record, that’s live playing. That’s not all chopped up—99% of what you hear is literally from our hands and mouths—we’ll still fly in a chorus here and there. If you’re at a particular crossroads, do you continue to move forward and with technology as your ally? Or do you kind of go back and see if that old way still has something magical about it? That becomes the sort of the existential debate of the record, both internally and publicly, which is: Is there a there, there?
But to clarify, this isn’t an analog recording.
Corgan: We record to Pro Tools. It’s using the technology of Pro Tools to make your records that we don’t do. I’m not trying to make a point. I’m saying using the technologies that are present to write your music or using it to do things that you can’t humanly do—that we don’t do.
Listen to your standard metal record. Everything is gridded to fuck: All the amps are in the box, all the drums are in the box, there’s not a missed note, everything’s tuned to fuck. You know what I mean? That’s modern metal, and I like it. It’s not like I turn up my nose at the thing, but that’s a way of making music for many people in 2024. We decided to try and go back and make a record the old-fashioned way, not to make some sort of analog point.
“There’s a certain loneliness in the way I play because I didn’t have anybody else to play guitar with.”
You write mostly on acoustic and piano. Where do the guitar arrangements come in?
Corgan: The fundamental process, going back to the beginning, is to create the basic track; the vocal then becomes the next most important thing, and then the icing on the cake is the guitar work over the top of that, basically to support and supplement the vocal and create more melodic interaction.
I got a lot of that from Queen and Boston and some Beatles—the idea that the guitar takes on a lead voice of its own that’s distinctive and almost becomes another lead singer in the band.
That stuff doesn’t show up literally until the last day working on the song. It’ll come off wrong, but we don’t spend a ton of time on it. And I don’t know what that means other than it seems to be like everything is done, and then you go, “Okay, time for the guitar work.” You’ll spend three hours, six hours just going through and trying stuff. Then it sort of just appears, and you go, “Oh, that sounds cool,” and you move on. It benefits from being fresh or feeling kind of like an emotional reaction.
I remember being in a car circa 1975 or ’76 and “Killer Queen” by Queen was on the radio. You’re listening to a song, the song sounds cool, and there’s flange vocals, and I’m 10 years old, in the backseat. All of a sudden, that lead break comes in; it’s just fucking loud. It has that feeling of somebody stepping forward into a spotlight. It’s not a show-off thing. It’s the way it makes you feel. It’s like a lighter type of moment. We’ve always chased that feeling.
Billy Corgan's Gear
Corgan with his signature Yamaha LJ16BC in 2022.
Photo by Mike White
Guitars
- E standard: Billy Corgan Signature Reverend Z-One Black
- E backup: Billy Corgan Signature Reverend - Satin Purple Burst
- Eb standard: Billy Corgan Signature Reverend Z-One - Silver Freeze
- Eb backup: Billy Corgan Signature Reverend Z-One - Orchard Pink
- Eb standard: ’70s Gibson ES-335 walnut
- C# standard: Billy Corgan Signature Reverend Drop Z - Pearl White
- Prototype Gibson Firebird
- Billy Corgan Custom Signature Yamaha LJ16BC Black with Silver Star
- Billy Corgan Custom Signature Yamaha White with Black Star
Amps
- Ampete 444 Amplifier & Cabinet Switching System
- Korg DT-1 Rack Tuner
- Carstens Cathedral
- Orange Rockerverb MkIII
- Carstens Grace Billy Corgan Signature Head
- Laney Supergroup LA100SM
- Laney LA412 4x12 Black Country Custom
Pedals
- RJM Mastermind GT/22 MIDI Controller
- Lehle D.Loop
- Warm Audio Warmdrive
- MXR Phase 90
- Catalinbread Zero Point Tape Flanger
- Behringer Octave Divider
- Strymon Brigadier dBucket Delay
- EarthQuaker Devices Time Shadows II
- Custom Audio Electronics MC-403 power supply
Strings
- Ernie Ball Regular Slinky (.010–.046)
- Ernie Ball Power Slinky (.011–.048)
- Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky (.012–.052)
- Ernie Ball Earthwood Medium Light (.012–.054)
Guitar starts out for so many of us as this really personal thing that we spend all our time doing, and then as life gets more complicated, you just have less time. What is your relationship with the guitar like in 2024? Do you have a day-to-day relationship with guitar playing?
Corgan: I do not. I don’t really pick up the guitar much unless I’m working.
When you do pick up the guitar, is it with intent? Do the ideas come inspired by the guitar, inspired by something you play? Or are they up in your head, and then you’re grabbing a guitar to realize it?
Corgan: If I pick up a guitar, I’m looking to play something that surprises me. It’s whatever comes out. And sometimes you hit the wrong chord and go, “Oh, that’s interesting.” Or you find a new inversion or something that you never thought of before. You try to play a different scale run than you’ve played 10,000 times, always landing on the same note. It’s just looking for something just a little bit new. I find oftentimes, in that quiet solitude of just you and the guitar, this communication can happen that sort of expresses something about yourself that is surprising—an emotional feeling or a way of approach.
“You could say to me, ‘Hey, play me some Siamese-type thing that you would’ve done in ’92,’ and in five minutes, I could write you something that would sound like a song that would’ve been a Siamese song in ’92.”
The style of my guitar playing came out of taking care of my disabled brother when I was a teenager, so I was stuck inside a lot. To paint a simple visual, imagine being stuck inside on a summer’s day and watching people play outside through the window as you’re playing the guitar. That was my life for much of my teenage years, because I was in this position where I had to look after somebody who was not so much homebound, but it wasn’t like the type of child at his stage of development that you could take him in the backyard and let him run around. You kind of had to look after him. It often became easier to stick him in front of a television or let him take a nap while you’re practicing.
There’s a certain loneliness in the way I play because I didn’t have anybody else to play guitar with. I developed a style that had a kind of call-and-response aspect to it in the open strings and the drone playing, because it was a way to effect a larger conversation without somebody else in the room.
Then, when it was James [Iha] and I in the early days of the band, James would basically do different versions of what I was playing. That created an even bigger conversation that seemed to create almost like a third guitarist. You can hear that in the whistling harmonics in the background. That’s just two guitars playing, but you create a ghost effect. I’ve done a lot of guitar work in the studio where people would be visiting me, and they look at the speakers, “What’s that sound?” And I’m like, “That’s just two guitars.” They don’t believe me. I literally have to solo the two guitars and just show them. That’s the harmonic effect.
I still have that inner relationship with my playing, where I could just sit down and play and find something that sounds like a bit of a conversation.
The Reverend Billy Corgan Signature in the hands of the man himself alongside drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and guitarist James Iha.
Photo by Ken Settle
When you’re writing, picking up a guitar, looking for those things, like you said, are you still after the same feeling you had initially or has the feeling changed?
Corgan: I think it’s more trying to find something that seems to signify whatever’s happening at the moment. It’s a truthfulness. You could say to me, “Hey, play me some Siamese-type thing that you would’ve done in ’92,” and in five minutes, I could write you something that would sound like a song that would’ve been a Siamese song in ’92. I can dial in any era of the band or my writing at will, because they’re all based on methodologies and certain emotional templates. So, I’m trying to do that for today. What is the 2024 version of that that makes me feel something—anything at all?
There’s this other creative side to your work, which is your signature gear. You have four Reverend guitars, and they’re all very different from each other. You’ve created them with Joe Naylor. Can you tell me about that collaboration?
Corgan: Somehow, Joe is able to go back and listen to what I’m referencing, and then translate that into something that’s physically tangible and consistent.
I don’t think a gimmicky guitar serves anybody. My signature guitars need to be useful to anybody else doing their music, not just my kind of music. And I’m very proud of that. I think that’s what makes a great guitar—it has application to whoever picks it up. And a lot of credit to Reverend to be willing to take these chances that I’ve sort of set them off chasing.
The Reverend Billy Corgan Drop Z is specially voiced in feel and sound for D standard and lower tunings.
They’re all bold guitars, but especially the Terz and the Drop Z, which are built specifically for alternate tunings. What were you looking for when you came up with the idea of those instruments?
Corgan: The thing with the Terz, which is G to G as opposed to E to E—a step and a half higher—was in listening to guitarists like Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and other guitar players of that generation, I noticed that the function of the guitar for many alternative guitar players was becoming more atmospheric and less elemental. I thought maybe they would like to have a higher tonal range to work in. Because, ultimately, in 2024 logic, you want to get the guitar away from the vocal. If you think of the classic Telecaster sound, well, if you’re playing in the key of G on a Telecaster, that sits exactly where the vocal is. It’s like the worst possible place for a guitar in the 21st century. But if you can increase the harmonic range of the guitar, it does sort of sit, elementally, a little higher.
I don’t think people have figured that out yet about that guitar. But I have a funny feeling that at some point somebody will, much like when Korn took the Steve Vai guitar and took it in a completely different direction and made a whole new genre of music with it. I think the Terz opens a player up to a different tonal range.
“I don’t think a gimmicky guitar serves anybody. My signature guitars need to be useful to anybody else doing their music, not just my kind of music.”
A lot of these modern alternative guitar players, they don’t play super complicated stuff. Whether they were inspired by Jonny from Radiohead or the guy from Coldplay, it’s more like a tweedle-y guitar, like twilight, vibey.... You look at their pedalboards; it’s a lot of reverbs and bucket delays and stuff like that. I get it.
On the Drop—on making Aghori, I found myself thinking a lot about Mick Mars’s guitar sound and where Mick’s guitar sat in Mötley Crüe. Early Mötley Crüe was basically a guitar tuned down a step. Something about the D range—you could do it on a normal guitar, but it gets a little sloppy with the tuning and certainly the intonation. So, I talked to Reverend about making a D-to-D guitar that doesn’t feel like a baritone guitar, that plays and feels very much like an E-to-E guitar, but gives you range. For a modern guitar player who wants to make music that ends up on the radio, the specificities of where that guitar needs to sit tonally and how it would be mixed is what I was thinking of.
So, these are instruments for the modern player who wants to make music that can reach people vis-à-vis what is the media these days—streaming or whatever. If you want to take an old guitar and tune it down to F and all that … I did all that crazy stuff, too. I wouldn’t discourage anybody from doing it. But these are specific instruments with a very specific purpose, primarily for recording.
On “Edin” [from Aghori Mhori Mei], well, that’s that guitar. I think in that song, it’s dropped, so the low string is a C. But you can hear how that guitar sits so forward in the track. That’s a credit to Joe making that guitar exactly what I wanted, and the pickups really doing their job with how it sits in the track.
Corgan has an early memory of hearing Brian May’s lead break on “Killer Queen”: “It has that feeling of somebody stepping forward into a spotlight. It’s not a show-off thing. It’s the way it makes you feel. It’s like a lighter type of moment. We’ve always chased that feeling.”
I want to come back to how that affects your playing. You have these instruments that are now specifically voiced to your vision. When they get in your hands and you’re working on something, how do you exploit the sonics of those guitars? Maybe you wrote a song on acoustic, but now you have this instrument that you’ve helped ideate, and you can do stuff that your other guitars can’t. Where does that come in the creative process?
Corgan: I don’t think I have a romantic answer. For me, it’s more about recording accuracy or clarity. If you compare, let’s call it the “Mellon Collie ’95” guitar sound, where we were mostly a half-step down; it’s clear, but it’s very sludgy—a lot of midrange and not a lot of stuff above, say, 17k, because I was using those Lace Sensor pickups. Modern recording; everybody wants the guitar as far forward as you can get it.
These days, I’m mostly using these Carstens amps, which is a Chicago amp-maker, Brian Carstens. I used one amp that he made for me, the Grace, which he does sell, which is kind of a modern take on the Eddie Van Halen brown sound—a ton of gain, but clear. And then he has another amp called Empire, which is more for a metal player. I use that as well. And in some cases, I stack both amps on top of each other by reamping. He has another amp, called Cathedral, which is like a cross between a Fender Twin and a Hiwatt. Again, very clear.
“Modern recording; everybody wants the guitar as far forward as you can get it.”
The best way I can explain it, and this is my poor language-ing, but if I was to take a vintage Marshall plexi and a Les Paul, like a classic amazing guitar sound, and record the riff for “Edin,” and then I was to take my Reverend Drop Z run through a Carstens amp, and you listen to the two tracks, the modern stuff I’m using, the guitar is like six more feet forward in the track; the vintage stuff sounds kind of back there. You can hear it—a little gauzy, a little dark, and the modern stuff is right in your grill. It’s not harsh; it’s not overly midrange-y. It just sounds really good and present.
So that’s the key. Because I play so distinctively that I kind of sound like me whatever you put me through, my focus is more tonal and how it sits in the stereo field.
Are pedals just pragmatic means to achieve a tone? Or is there exploration involved there?
Corgan: Since Siamese Dream, where we famously used the op-amp Big Muff and EHX Micro Synth, and some MXR stuff, the main sound of the band is just crank through something. Going back to something my father told me many, many moons ago: guitar, chord, amp is the key. I worked in the studio with Tony Iommi. Those hands, a chord, an amp—and when he plays, God’s moving mountains. We get super granular when I’m in the studio; I might play a chord that’s no more than seven-feet long, anything so I can be as close to the amp as possible, so there’s the least amount of chord from the guitar to the amp.
It’s all about driving the amp and moving that air and moving those electrons in the tubes. That’s just the key for me. If there’s pedal work on any Pumpkins albums in the last 25 years, it’s for solos and little dinky things on the top. The main guitar sound is always pure power. We want as much pure power as possible.
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The Smashing Pumpkins kick out “Sighommi” from Aghori Mhori Meilive on Kimmel with new-hire Kiki Wong joining Corgan and James Iha in the guitar section.
