“If you try to use those old pickups, everybody’s cell phone is coming through them”: Why Billy Corgan won’t use vintage guitars on stage
Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins is more than happy to embrace guitar innovation, and won’t use vintage guitars for a live show.
Though often spotted with a Stratocaster in hand during the early days of the Pumpkins, Corgan tends to play with Reverend Guitars these days, and has three signature models with the brand under his name.
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In a new interview with Guitarist for its latest print edition, Corgan explains why he mostly uses his vintage models for writing and studio use, but opts for one of his Reverend models when taking to the stage.
“I’ll bring out old gear. I still like using old gear to write. I certainly have gone into some albums where I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m going to use this stuff because I just want to. I don’t care what anybody thinks.’ And then, halfway through the process, it just falls to modernity. Like, Joe Naylor with Reverend, his pickups, and these designs that he’s done for me, they’ve just brought the guitar forward. I don’t know how else to say it,” he states.
“It’s just what’s required today. You know… everybody loves a good soapbar pickup, and I love those old guitars, like Billie Joe [Armstrong] with Green Day plays and old Les Paul Specials. But if you try to use those old pickups, everybody’s cell phone is coming through them [laughs].”
He adds, “There’s a point where innovation just wins. It’s not sentimental; it’s strictly progress. I had to get out of the way and say, ‘What’s more important? Supreme sound or my personal taste?’ And at the end of the day, sound always wins because it needs to.”
Last year, Kiki Wong was recruited as the new touring guitarist for The Smashing Pumpkins – another player who’s happy to embrace new gear. In fact, joining the band even allowed her to further diversify and develop her playing.
“I would consider myself a one trick pony prior to joining this band. I just love metal, I love chugs, I love unnecessary shreds, I love noise and just high gain shenanigans, so that’s what draws me to instruments… but this band has actually opened my eyes to a lot of like new sounds and new effects,” she told Revv Amps in 2024. “I didn’t use a lot of effects in my own personal musicianship, but having this full pedal board and learning to like it was almost like going back to school for me.”
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The Smashing Pumpkins will hit the road from July-August. For a full list of their scheduled live dates, head over to their official website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
