“When I worked with Tony Iommi, I had an epiphany... he sounded like him no matter what amp you’ve got him on”: Billy Corgan on how watching Iommi taught him the key to the playing style of Eddie Van Halen

Although his chops are often under-appreciated by music fans (something he’s all too aware of) Billy Corgan is a highly robust electric guitar player. As such, he knows a thing or two about technique – and, as evidenced by Smashing Pumpkins, what it takes to develop a truly unique sound.

In the latest issue of Guitar World, Corgan takes a deep dive into his wholly individual Smashing Pumpkins style, and names the aspect of guitar playing that he believes holds the greatest sway over shaping a recognizable and personal tone.

He didn’t stumble upon this revelation by accident, though: he came to his conclusion after witnessing a heavy metal hero at work.

“When I worked with Tony Iommi in around 1998, I had this epiphany,” Corgan remembers. “I was in the studio, and I’m five feet away watching Tony, and I’m looking at his gear, and he sounded like Tony Iommi no matter what amp you’ve got him on.

“For guitar players, you always go back to the attack. If you look at Eddie Van Halen or Uli Jon Roth’s attack, it’s really in the picking.”

When asked to expand on whether the gear behind an individual’s tone is important, Corgan confesses it does – but its overall impact is small in comparison to a more important factor: your pick attack. In other words, tone is in the hands.

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“The gear is important,” he responds. “But a lot of guitar players place too much stress on the gear and not enough on the pick attack. I think it’s just the way I play.

“I’ve been using these boutique Carsten amps in the studio, not exclusively, but predominantly. Brian Carstens, an amp builder out of Chicago, built me an amp called the Grace. We’ve since built another, the Empire, which is a metal-based amp.”

Over the years, Corgan has (thanks to his attack) been able to develop the ‘Pumpkins sound’. Indeed, he’s almost single-handedly shaped the band’s style – and yet, his guitar playing is still underrated.

“Most people don’t even recognize my contributions as a guitar player,” Corgan argues elsewhere in his Guitar World interview. “They don’t even assume I’m the one playing a lot of the guitar.

“You have these silly lists that come out about the greatest guitar players; I usually don’t even make those lists. Or they’ll put me behind somebody who I could play circles around.”

Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Guitar World, which also features interviews with Tony Iommi and Ernie Isley.