Johnny Marr

"The Fender has also got the best reverb, so I just let the Roland handle the top end most of the time; it's a dream and sounds great. It's something that I wanted to get together for a long time. On the first long British tour I used either one or the other depending on what sounded good in the sound check."

"Live in Barcelona, 1985. Fender Silverface Twin Reverb and JC-120. Note Boss CE-2 on top of Twin."

"It was very deliberate. It was right when I got a white Strat. I used it on [Unloveable] and I used it on “A Boy with A Thorn in His Side.” But “Unloveable” was the first time I deliberately used that Strat sound for a Smiths song.

I remember scratching my chin and thinking, Hmmm ok, Can I get away with this? You can particularly tell on that end. I used it on the outro of “Some Girls are Bigger than Others.” But “Unloveable” was the first of that whole row of songs."

This Strat was first seen in the background when the Smiths were interviewed by Tony Wilson for Granada Reports on Feburary 21st, 1985. The following day Johnny used it for the Smiths' Oxford Road Show performance. This was one of Johnny's main guitars on the 1986 tours. Johnny played it in standard tuning with no capo, while the '62 Strat was a dedicated capo guitar.

Source: www.smithsonguitar.com/2008/12/johnny-marrs-gear.html

In this picture Johnny Marr can be seen playing this guitar.

"This is my 1983 Black Rickenbacker 330 that I used throughout The Smiths. I got it from A1 Repairs on Oxford Road in Manchester and it was my main guitar at all the early gigs. It's the sound of the riff on 'What Difference Does It Make' and 'Reel Around The Fountain', all of the first album and on other albums too. I still use it now.

I've got my old faithful which is my Rickenbacker 330; a 6 string. I find that this one is the workhorse, it's the one that I use on most of the numbers live and in rehearsals."

This was a major guitar throughout the Smiths live and recorded history. Retired by Johnny sometime in early 1985 for live use, it was later used regularly by Craig Gannon in 1986 as one of his 3 primary live guitars. It has "button top" style higain pickups and Grover slimline tuners. These tuners were used on Rickenbackers for a very short transitional period, and are fairly rare.

Source: http://www.smithsonguitar.com/2008/12/johnny-marrs-gear.html

In the Fender video "Soul of Tone," Johnny Marr expresses his fondness for the Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb, stating, "I have to say I've never plugged in a Deluxe and didn't like it unless it was broken." This highlights his appreciation and regular use of this amplifier.

A Fender Santa Ana Overdrive can be seen in this photo of Johnny's pedalboard which was taken when he was interviewed by Radio X on June 14, 2018.

Johnny Marr gave a quote saying that he uses a Rickenbacker 360 12 String guitar.

"I had the yellow OS-2 overdrive/distortion pedal, the OD-2 Overdrive pedal; actually that’s how I got the riff to The Smiths song ‘London’, (sings riff), I had the CE-2 chorus pedal, the white GE-6 EQ, the BF-2 purple Flanger and when the very first grey reverb pedal came out, the RV-2, I got that. I still own it. It sounds really good."

In his new book a pedalboard of the smiths board can be found, od2 shown as being used.

"I met Sire Records boss Seymour Stein in late 1983 when the Smiths were about to sign to the legendary New York label. Seymour told me that he had once gone to a guitar store on 48th Street with Brian Jones to get him a guitar when the Rolling Stones were in town, so I suggested that if I signed with Sire he should buy me a guitar. We signed the contract on January 2, 1984, and true to his word, Seymour took me down to We Buy Guitars on 48th and bought me the 1959 Gibson 355. I took it back to the Iroquois Hotel and wrote "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and "Girl Afraid". It became my main guitar for quite a while, and I'm told it inspired Bernard Butler and Noel Gallagher to get buy one of their own. It's still one of my favorites."

-Excerpt from Pat Graham's book Instrument, used with permission.

Used on Heaven Knows..., Nowhere Fast, and the 1984-5 Smiths tour.

"On the first tour I also ended up using the Gibson 355 quite a lot. As it was wired in stereo we just didn't have any power at all, so I got it re-wired and also put it through a Boss equaliser to give it some boost."

The first documented appearance of the guitar was January 26, 1984 on Top Of The Pops. It's last known documented appearance was Feburary 14, 1985 also on Top Of The Pops.

Here we can see Johnny using a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb in his home studio. He praises the amp's sound- despite it being digital.

"The first pedal I bought at that time, which was the late 70s, was the purple BF-2 flanger. I’ve been thinking about that recently: I imagine The Cure wouldn’t exist without that little pedal. Like all great effects it can’t really be duplicated. It’s got such a cool distinctive sound that really reminds me of the time, you know? But the problem was every single riff I had was just going woooosshhhh!!! It was the only pedal I could afford at the time!"

"With my amp set up, the Rickenbacker's just perfect as it goes through a Fender 50s twin..."

"Yamaha JX50 in front of Silverface Fender Twin."

"March 1st, 1985. Ibanez CS-505 Chorus on top of Vox AC30."

At 0:12 in this video of the song Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, Johnny Marr can be seen playing this guitar.

Used on Heaven Knows... and Strangeways Here We Come.

"I've got a Telecaster, made by Roger Giffin, which is a phenomenal guitar; it's in a dark-green sunburst."

I have read rumours that this guitar was bought from Alan Rogan, who sold Johnny several of Pete Townsend's guitars. Roger Giffin made a lot of Tele's for Pete in the 80's. This guitar is pretty unique, though, and I have never seen Pete playing it. Note the mini-toggle switch between the volume and tone knobs, likely a coil-tap for the humbucker. The humbucker looks like it could be a Super Distortion.

Source: www.smithsonguitar.com/2008/12/johnny-marrs-gear.html

Johnny Marr says, "The 1963 Gibson SG that was my main guitar until it was stolen from the Healers show at the Scala, London in 2000. Amazingly this guitar was retrieved from the person who stole it in 2010," about his Gibson SG on this page of his official website.

It is unsure whether is this a 1963 or 1964 Gibson SG, because this Gibson article lists this story under fact number 33. "A theme is developing here. Ex-Smith Johnny Marr had his favorite red Gibson SG Standard (a ’64) stolen in 2000. The thief eventually confessed to police, returned it, and was sentenced to 200 hours community service. Watch a rarity: Johnny Marr singing and playing his ’64 SG on The Late Show with David Letterman". Apparently, this is the video Gibson talks about. He can be seen playing that guitar at 1:33 minute mark for song "The Last Ride" with The Healers.

In this picture of Johnny Marr's pedalboard (as it can be confirmed in this picture), we can notice that he uses this pedal.

He discussed it on guitarplayer.com: "There’s also the Diamond Compressor that’s important to my sound. It really works with my Jag. It’s the best." (article found here)

This 1966 Gibson ES-335 12 String is also used by Johnny Marr. He is famous for his "guitar break" in the song "Shoplifters Of The World Unite" in this video.

On his official website, Johnny Marr says, "1964 Fender Jazzmaster that I used for the Modest Mouse LP “We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank” and The Cribs “Ignore The Ignorant” LP. This guitar played the main riff on “We Share The Same Skies”

This interview with Marr for Premier Guitar magazine, regarding the recording of his 2018 album Call the Comet, includes a list of gear currently he used during the sessions. It indicates that Johnny prefers to use an EB medium pick.

Johnny Marr mentioned using a Martin D-28, likely a model from the 1970s, as detailed on Smithsonguitar's overview of his gear.

On Johnny Marr's website, he lists a Gibson Les Paul Special among his guitars.

"March 1st, 1985. Ibanez CS-505 Chorus on top of Vox AC30."

On his official website, Johnny Marr says,"The Gretsch Country Gentleman made for me in 2008. I used this guitar to write and record “Satellite Skin” for Modest Mouse."

In this image of Johnny Marr's pedal board, we can see a Boss GT-100.

Rare shot of Johnny's pedalboard from the '86 Nottingham gig. The pedal case is a Boss BCB-6. From right to left is a PSM-5 followed by a GE-6, OD-2, TW-1, HM-2 and the CE-2 on the end. Below is a mock-up of the pedalboard.

"A lot of 'The Smiths' was actually recorded with a '54 Telecaster belonging to John Porter. I used a Rickenbacker 360 12-string as well, and that was the guitar which subsequently got all the attention, but in fact it was mainly the Tele, and a bit of Les Paul.

"This Charming Man" was the first record where I used those highlife-sounding runs in 3rds. I'm tuned up to F# and I finger it in G, so it comes out in A. There are about 15 tracks of guitar. People thought the main guitar was a Rickenbacker, but it's really a '54 Tele."

John Porter said this about the guitar in a 2008 interview: "I also have one that's a refinished guitar, back to butterscotch. It's a 1954 I got from an old friend Alan Rogan when all my guitars were stolen. It had a route for a humbucker, a couple of frets were missing, the pickguard was in pieces, and the nut had fallen out... I bought it for £17 and Roger [Giffin] refurbished it. It became a fantastic guitar! When I was working with the Smiths, Johnny only had two guitars - a Rickenbacker and a Gretsch Super Chet, I believe. It was a bit limited; to my ear we needed a good Tele. I brought in the refin, and Johnny really loved it. So every record I did with the Smiths, on every single song, most of the chiming Rickenbackers are in fact the Tele!"

Source: www.smithsonguitar.com/2008/12/johnny-marrs-gear.html

"I used to use one of these quite a lot in The The"

According to the Boss's website, Marr is also a user of the Boss OS-2 overdrive/distortion pedal.

Johnny Marr uses the G7th Performance Capo, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Rata.