Posted on Jun 27 2013 02:34 PM
From Pro Guitar Shop:
If you’ve never listened to the Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now?” cranked through a pair of headphones – do yourself a favor and make it happen TODAY. PGS cannot be held responsible if your mind melts while you listen OR while you try to replicate this iconic 80s guitar riff.
Johnny Marr has made it to guitar hero status not just because he has been working non-stop since the Smiths broke up in 1987, but because of his inventive, textured playing. Along with the Edge and Peter Buck, Marr was a breath of fresh air in the eighties guitar scene, eschewing overplaying (metal!) and underplaying (punk!) to find innovative ways to use the guitar to create amazing songs (see: “How Soon Is Now?”).
Marr may be one of the more low-key guitar heroes of the last 30 years, but the man has a collection that is to be reckoned with—it takes a guitar village to create the tones that Marr has cooked up in the last 30 years. This week in Andy’s Corner, we’re taking a look at some of the tools he’s used to do it.
Though Marr is inextricably tied to the Fender Jaguar these days, he wasn’t yet using them as a primary instrument in the Smiths. Taking a look at Marr’s own Guitarchestra reveals a host of non-Fenders that laid the foundation for his legendary Smiths’ sound, perhaps most iconically a 1983 Rickenbacker 330/6 which helped define Marr’s bright, plucky, chimey tones. Marr added a Rickenbacker 330/12 to kick up the chime --an instrument that once belonged to Pete Townshend and somehow managed to escape un-smashed!
Marr was also known for using a variety of Gibsons/Epiphones during the Smiths—including 335s and Casinos for a rich, huge, ringing sounds but also Les Pauls for thicker, meatier tones. Among the great instruments in Marr’s collection are a 1959 Les Paul and a gorgeous 1954 Gibson 295 that has seen some action and lives on to tell the tale.
A few years into the Smiths, Marr began using Strats- a lot of them. He is seen photographed with a plethora of strats, yet none of them have made it onto Marr’s official Guitarchestra gallery, as well as a green Roger Giffin custom telecaster.
In the post-Smiths landscape, Marr worked with New Order’s Bernard Sumner in Electric- where he tended to favor 335s and 345s, including a ’68 345 Stereo that was converted to mono (why not?!) and a stunning ebony 335 that features a Bigsby and bound f-holes. Gorgeous.
Marr has worked non-stop since the Smiths, doing stints in the Pretenders (seriously), Modest Mouse, Johnny Marr and the Healers, and the Cribs. Over the course of the last several years, Marr has increasingly favored the Fender Jaguar and in 2012, Fender released the Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar to great acclaim.
Marr has always used Fender amplifiers throughout his career, complemented by a handful of other brands; a Fender Twin Reverb or Reverb Deluxe was often complemented by a Roland JC120, Vox AC30, and/or Mesa Boogie MKIII for a mix of tones to deliver any sound Marr needed.
Like many players in the eighties, Marr started off his effects rig with one or two little boxes from Boss. Though he was frequently using the chorus out of the JC120, he had a Boss CE-2 onboard to add chorus to his Fender amps. Later, a GE-6 was added to allow Marr to fine tune the frequencies of his tone. But—like many players in the eighties—Marr graduated onto rack effects by the later years of the Smiths, using a Bel BD40 and then Korg SDD 3000s, 2000s, and 1000s (units also favored by the Edge). And- like many players from the eighties who started on Boss and then moved to rackmounted effects-- Marr is back to the pedalboard again, recently having been spotted with a board featuring an array of Carl Martin effects, including a CM Chorus XII, CM HeadRoom, and CM DeLayla XL for that classic Johnny tone.
After 30 years of playing and evolving, Marr is still an inspiration, recently releasing his solo debut, The Messenger , which features what is surely a signature style.
—
IMO.
December Birthdays 
A rare surf cover of the Dr. Who theme!
