Nail the ToneThe Smashing Pumpkins

1979

The Smashing Pumpkins · Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness · 1995

The rhythm part is a clean, compressed Strat through Corgan's Mellon Collie rack rig — a Marshall JMP-1 preamp into a Mesa/Boogie Strategy 500 and Marshall 4x12s — with the gain backed off to just short of breakup. Slow modulation and studio processing give it the woozy shimmer, and the part is doubled and panned wide rather than piled up like the band's fuzz tracks. Tune down a half step or the open shapes will sit a semitone above the record.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Eb standard (down a half step)

Everything is played in E-shapes (Emaj7, E5, A5, F#m, B) tuned down a half step, so the record sounds in Eb; the part is doubled and panned wide, with a second guitar adding the high chime figure.

Part: Rhythm

Guitar

  • Fender Stratocaster (Lace Sensor-equipped '57 reissue "Bat Strat") · Lace Sensor Blue/Silver/Red · neck or neck+middle
  • Fender American Vintage Reissue Stratocaster (star-covered #2) · Lace Sensor · middle

Amp

Marshall JMP-1 (preamp)

GAIN
3.0
BASS
4.5
MID
5.5
TREBLE
7.0
PRESENCE
5.0

Corgan's own Reverb shop listing calls a pair of JMP-1s the core of the Mellon Collie sound and names "1979" specifically; use the clean/crunch mode just short of breakup, since the JMP-1's numeric display means these are relative positions rather than literal knob marks.

Amp

Mesa/Boogie Strategy 500 (power amp)

Stereo power amp driving Marshall 1960A 4x12 cabs; Corgan ran it at reduced power, and most of Mellon Collie was tracked with this live rig at extreme volume.

Amp

Fender Twin Reverb (modern substitute)

GAIN
3.0
BASS
4.0
MID
6.0
TREBLE
6.5
REVERB
2.5

Not on the record — a practical stand-in for the rack rig; set it clean with a touch of compression and let the modulation do the work.

Pedals

  • Alesis 3630 (rack compressor) · compressor · Documented as part of Corgan's Mellon Collie rig; light ratio and moderate threshold to even out the picking
  • MXR Phase 100 · phaser · Not documented for this track; slow rate, subtle depth
  • Eventide harmonizer / flanger (rack) · modulation/pitch · Not documented for this track; slow, shallow sweep with slight detune
  • Electro-Harmonix Op-Amp Big Muff Pi · fuzz · Only for the heavier layered overdubs, not the clean rhythm figure

Tone character

glassy clean · light compression · slow modulation shimmer · soft top-end chime · edge of breakup

easy

Open Emaj7/E5/A5 shapes over a steady sixteenth-note strum where the challenge is keeping the palm mute and picking-hand pressure even for four minutes, plus a quick F#m-to-B move in the pre-chorus.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources