Before Kiki Wong joined the Smashing Pumpkins, she was hustling on the touring circuit as a session player and as a member of She Demons – the punk-rock supergroup formed by Misfits founding member Jerry Only.
It was during that time that she landed her most incredible gear find – an incredible amp bargain, which had loose ties to a rock guitar great.
“We were about to go on tour as direct support across the US and in Canada for a 34-date run,” she tells Guitarist. “The gear I was using before was a hand-me-down Carvin Amp that I was borrowing, so I knew I had to get my own amp.
“With only 500 bucks in my bank account, I was scouring Craigslist for anything that would be up to par for the tour. Someone had listed a Marshall JCM2000 head and cab for $1,500.”
Alas, Wong didn't have the cash, so her brother Eric (who she describes as “a shredder and a metal music fan”) stepped in and helped her pay half.
“We drove two hours down to Orange County and met up with the seller, who ended up being someone who worked on production for Slash. I told him about my situation, and he agreed to sell the stack for 1,000 bucks because he believed in me and what I was doing. He gave me a really nice pep talk.”
Thanks to the mystery Craigslist seller, it was “one of the first times” Wong felt like she had “really good gear for a show”.
In a recent dual Guitar World interview, Wong and her now-bandmate Billy Corgan discussed Smashing Pumpkins' open call for guitarists – and why the band decided to pick Wong from a pool of 10,000.
For more from Wong, plus new interviews with Wolfgang Van Halen and Jared James Nichols, pick up issue 531 of Guitarist from Magazines Direct.
