Riff Tone
Drown (Edit)
The Smashing Pumpkins
Guitarrock1990s
Original Gear
Guitar1991 Fender Stratocaster (likely American Standard, Billy Corgan's main clean guitar at the time)
AmpMarshall JCM800 2203 head (studio recording, 1992, Siamese Dream era sessions, typical for clean tones with Pumpkins in this era)
PickupsFender single-coil pickups (stock or Lace Sensor Red/Silver/Blue, but no direct source for Drown clean part)
Amp Settings
gain4.5
bass6
mid6.5
treble6.5
reverb2.5
presence5.5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1992, clean section of 'Drown (Edit)'. No direct source for exact clean amp model, but Corgan used Strat into Marshall JCM800 for clean/edge-of-breakup tones on Gish/Siamese Dream era. No evidence of live rig or alternate amp for clean part.
Tone Character(10)
warm and glassyslightly compressedrounded highsclear note separationmildly scooped midssmooth attacknot sparkly like Fender Twinsubtle amp reverbdynamic response to pickingno audible modulation or delay
Difficulty
The clean riff is easy to play technically but requires careful dynamics and volume knob control to maintain clarity and avoid unwanted breakup.
Sources
Create an account to adapt this tone to your gear
Create Free AccountGuitarrock1990s
Original Gear
Guitar1991 Fender Stratocaster (likely American Standard, Billy Corgan's main clean guitar at the time)
AmpMarshall JCM800 2203 head (studio recording, 1992, Siamese Dream era sessions, typical for clean tones with Pumpkins in this era)
PickupsFender single-coil pickups (stock or Lace Sensor Red/Silver/Blue, but no direct source for Drown clean part)
Amp Settings
gain4.5
bass6
mid6.5
treble6.5
reverb2.5
presence5.5
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1992, clean section of 'Drown (Edit)'. No direct source for exact clean amp model, but Corgan used Strat into Marshall JCM800 for clean/edge-of-breakup tones on Gish/Siamese Dream era. No evidence of live rig or alternate amp for clean part.
Tone Character(10)
warm and glassyslightly compressedrounded highsclear note separationmildly scooped midssmooth attacknot sparkly like Fender Twinsubtle amp reverbdynamic response to pickingno audible modulation or delay
Difficulty
The clean riff is easy to play technically but requires careful dynamics and volume knob control to maintain clarity and avoid unwanted breakup.
Drown (Edit) settings for your amp
Exact settings ToneAdapt players use on these amps.
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