Johnny Marr's Rickenbacker mystery... solved?

[egosheep]

No kidding about Marr's playing; watch a recent video and an 80s video and his playing isn't quite the same, but then he could be playing one of the variations he recorded, or mixing it up-playing bits from one track and bits from another, rather than replicating just one.

Yeah, there were even some variations in the 80's with how he played songs with the Smiths. When playing live with Craig Gannon, there were times when CG would be playing standard while Johnny was in an open tuning(Meat Is Murder) or others where the capo was different between guitars. On Frankly Mr. Shankley, CG played in standard and JM used a capo on the 4th fret. On Never Had No One Ever, Johnny was in standard and Craig had a capo on the 5th fret. And on and on.

I can really respect those who replicate full tracks of Smiths songs on Youtube; they have to learn all the parts, use similar gear, etc. However, I am not too interested in replicating every note of an artist's music - I either put my own spin on it, only partially learn it for my own benefit, or don't bother.

I'm also not interested in replicating every note myself, but researching the minutiae is fascinating. I geek out on it in the same way some Beatles fans do about Beatles gear. It's just amazing what a wide range of amazing guitars and amps Johnny used during the "dark ages" of the 80's. Who else among his peers at the time had TWO 'bursts??

[paologregorio]

Sometimes getting the flavor of the song is not replicating every note, but putting together some of the bits from overdubs and the main track together! I wouldn't compare anything I did to Marr's stellar playing, but when my band plays our studio tracks live, I have to combine the prominent parts as mixed from different tracks that I recorded into one "live" part as best as I can.

This is thread drift though; it's pretty amazing that Marr was able to pick up guitars from all of these other famous players, and that they were willing to sell their guitars. Granted, these famous players may not have played the guitars in question as long as Marr has now owned them, but one would think that if a player used a guitar extensively for a time, one would become attached to the guitar. I am attached to most of my guitars for this very reason, even if I don't currently have them in my gigging stand.

[collin]

Who else among his peers at the time had TWO 'bursts??

Good point, and he didn't go outright and pay top dollar either, he came across them from random places. Even in the mid 80s, a Burst was an expensive guitar ($10K + for a clean flamed example)...a LOT in those days.

[egosheep]

Yeah, and the provenance is just insane... Who knows where his '59 came from, but his other burst(refinished one) was given to Pete Townshend by Joe Walsh. Then Johnny gave it to Noel Gallagher, who promptly broke the headatock off.

Then Johnny gave him his '72 LP Custom. Nicest guy in rock, there's proof!!

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Ego, this is Richard Thompson; he owned the Ric pictured here. It once belonged to Roger McGuinn, but Richard's wife, Linda, got in their divorce and sold it.

I wonder.

[stsang]

Ego, this is Richard Thompson; he owned the Ric pictured here. It once belonged to Roger McGuinn, but Richard's wife, Linda, got in their divorce and sold it.

I wonder.

Don't you mean "Well I Wonder"?

Interesting that the Ric in the picture has the traditional 12-string headstock style, not the super cool Ric style with 6 pegs facing back.

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Ego, this is Richard Thompson; he owned the Ric pictured here. It once belonged to Roger McGuinn, but Richard's wife, Linda, got in their divorce and sold it.

I wonder.

Don't you mean "Well I Wonder"?

Interesting that the Ric in the picture has the traditional 12-string headstock style, not the super cool Ric style with 6 pegs facing back.

Yes, and it's quite different from Marr's. I think it's funny, though, because both Thompson and Manzanera got their's in the early seventies, lost them sometime around the 1980s, and both belonged to McGuinn.

[stsang]

Yes, and it's quite different from Marr's. I think it's funny, though, because both Thompson and Manzanera got their's in the early seventies, lost them sometime around the 1980s, and both belonged to McGuinn.

Maybe that's a magical recipe for musical greatness? All paths lead back to the great McGuinn. George Harrison may have started it all, but personally, it was McGuinn's and Marr's guitar playing that inspired me most to start playing guitar (for fun only) and ultimately join the Ric club.

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Yes, and it's quite different from Marr's. I think it's funny, though, because both Thompson and Manzanera got their's in the early seventies, lost them sometime around the 1980s, and both belonged to McGuinn.

Maybe that's a magical recipe for musical greatness? All paths lead back to the great McGuinn. George Harrison may have started it all, but personally, it was McGuinn's and Marr's guitar playing that inspired me most to start playing guitar (for fun only) and ultimately join the Ric club.

I agree. McGuinn is usually the guy I think of when I hear 12 string Rickenbacker.

[egosheep]

There seems to be more guitars "once owned by Roger McGuinn" than Roger ever actually owned. I suspect some of these stories are just stories, and that would include this Manzanera Ric of Johnny's. It's possible I suppose but it seems unlikely. I wonder what year the fireglo 330/12 was originally? Early 70's?

Alan Rogan was a friend of John Porter's. Porter produced the debut album, so he was probably the one that got Johnny in touch with Rogan, and he's the one that supplied him with a lot of his most famous guitars.

There was a feature on John Porter in the Feb 2008 Vintage Guitar magazine, and it has some photos of the '54 Telecaster used to record This Charming Man(and many other early Smiths tracks). Porter bought it from Alan Rogan for 17 pounds and had it restored by Roger Giffin, who built Johnny's green Tele. I added a photo of it to the gear page on Smiths On Guitar.

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Well, if Jimmy Page owns over 1050...

[stsang]

I added a photo of it to the gear page on Smiths On Guitar.

Thanks for the link - that is an excellent web site!