Billy Corgan is set to open the virtual doors to his all-new online Reverb Shop, through which he will sell over 100 pieces of gear used throughout his prolific career with The Smashing Pumpkins and Zwan.
Electric guitars, acoustic guitars, effects pedals, guitar amps and more will all be available to buy via the online retailer, with each unique piece of music memorabilia featuring, to some degree, on The Smashing Pumpkins and Zwan albums and tours over the years.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Siamese Dream, Gish, Adore, CYR and the Machina albums, among others, are some of the records that will be represented in the extensive sale.
The official site will go live on Wednesday 29 September, though starting today those interested in snapping up a piece of gear will be able to do a spot of window shopping, with previews and demos available to view right now.
It’s the second time Corgan has partnered with Reverb for an online emporium, having already sold a wealth of his gear back in 2017.
10 models feature in the guitar department, with initial highlights from Corgan’s collection including his Harmony Rocket, which was used in the studio and on the road for the Oceania album, and a custom-made Yamaha SA2200 built specifically for The Smashing Pumpkins frontman.
These are joined by a 1976 Fender Stratocaster and a Taylor 855 12-string, the latter of which was used on studio and live renditions of songs from the Machina albums.
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A huge array of preamps are set to be sold, including two gold Marshall JMP-1s, of which Corgan revealed, “These vintage pieces are straight out of the ‘90s and were used in the studio and on tour to support Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.”
Three 1980s ADA MP-1 preamps from the band’s debut album Gish – dubbed by Corgan as the driving force behind his “main sound from ‘89 or ‘90 through ‘92” – are also available.
Elsewhere, Corgan will list a Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 synthesizer – used on Adore, the Machina records and CYR – alongside a Drawmer 1960 stereo compressor that takes center stage in his home studio setup.
“I used it on all my home demos,” revealed Corgan of the Drawmer, “from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness to the Machina albums.”
A final highlight arrives in the form of a pair of Kurzweil K2500 synthesizers, which made their way on to the Adore and Machina albums and tours, and which also supported the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness live shows.
This initial highlight list merely scratches the surface of what will be on offer, with more guitars, amps, synths, preamps and other gear also set to feature.
The Reverb shop will feature fixed-price sales, rather than auctions, and will go live on Wednesday 29 September.
To find out more in the meantime, head over to the Billy Corgan Reverb shop preview page.
Billy Corgan is the latest guitar heavyweight to set up shop on Reverb, with Tommy Emmanuel, Dweezil Zappa, Mike Campbell and Tom DeLonge all partnering with the online marketplace to sell their gear this year.
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Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
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