Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I stumbled upon this vid of someone playing his own little rendition of the song by The Smiths. Really great tone I thought you guys might appreciate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtTH30H_VE

I once played with a guitarist who was a Smiths nut. He played a paisley reissue Telecaster and would say he was, "born to twang."

I laughed my @ss off when he discovered Marr played a RIC. LOL!

John Marr's main guitar was/is a Gretch 1620. He also had a Les Paul that he said would go to grave with him. Ric (my favorite guitar) was not his. I saw them twice in the 80's and im sure he was playing a gretch.

...and Marr has stated he use a tele on several Smiths studio recordings. Doesn't change the fact that Ricks sound great used on Smiths songs.

Eric, I think you mean "Gretsch 6120". of which about a zillion variations have been made in the last 50 years, as this number denotes a body size and trim option level.

We all knew Marr played other guitars back then. This guy was head strong with a "naivete" style in a group where everyone else played RIC's. lol

I think it's a very bold statement to claim any model or make as Marr's "main guitar". He's clearly as big a guitar fetishist as most of us here and has a ridiculous collection of vintage instruments. On just about every clip you see of the Smiths he's seen with a different guitar.
That said, Rick 12 strings featured very heavily on the first two albums. A man with great taste and a big hero of mine.

Here it is live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GKIlkzIP_8&mode=related&search=

Marr has stated that the first album "The Smiths" and "The Queen Is Dead" albums were Rickenbacker albums. You can hear it. However, he used a Telecaster on "This Charming Man."

The majority of "Hatful of Hallow" is Gretsch.

The majority of "Meat is Murder" is the Les Paul.

I think he used the Gretsch and Les Paul on "Strangeways."

Brad - where do you find this information? That's the first time I've heard the Smiths' discography broken down (in a basic sense) by guitar make. I'm a huge Johnny Marr fan, so any links to this kind of info would be greatly appreciated.

I was a huge Smiths fan since, well, during the mid-80's when the Smiths were still around. My info comes from my memory of Marr interviews I've read over the years. I probably have several of the magazines from back then lying around in a box somewhere. You can also probably Google Marr interviews online as well and get the same information. Johnny is pretty good about admitting what he played when. Even what tunings he used. For example, he found David Crosby more influential than Roger McGuinn due to Crosby's different tunings on different songs. Cool stuff is out there to be had by the person willing to delve through it.

The Smith's were a great band. I ended up parting with them back in the day in a hotel room in Boston. Ended up throwing the round pizza box bottoms (pizza was veggie) out of the 10 story window like frizbees.

Wow, cool Rikk! I met Andy Rourke about this time last year. Sometimes it can be a little disillusioning to meet a musical hero, but he was just as gracious and COOL as could be. He was doing a DJ set, and during a break he sat down beside me at the bar. I couldn't help but say hello and tell him how influencial his playing had been for me, and he took it all in stride like a pro. And he even stayed to talk for a while.

I just saw Morrissey a few weeks ago and he was great.

I seriously doubt there will ever be a Smith's reunion, too much bad blood, but Morrissey was awesome by himself...