Johnny used this Telecaster on the studio recording of This Charming Man, where it was double-tracked with his black Rickenbacker 330. Interestingly, the guitar wasn’t actually his – it belonged to John Porter, who produced The Smiths’ debut album.
The first time I ever used a Telecaster was the day I recorded This Charming Man. The sound of that intro was always assumed that it was a Rickenbacker because that is what I was most known for at the time, but it is actually – mostly – a ’54 Tele, maybe ’53, that belonged to the producer [John Porter] tracked with a Rickenbacker, so it is quite an interesting sound.
Quite quickly, I was lucky enough to acquire a few different guitars, but I made it my business to get a Tele. That’s why Angie knew I needed one. The green one I used mostly on Meat Is Murder – Nowhere Fast and the title track.
Johnny Marr for GuitarWorld
Marr also used this exact Telecaster on The Smiths’ second album to record the slide parts on How Soon Is Now. By that time, Marr had acquired a Telecaster of his own through Porter, a green sunburst model made by Roger Griffin, but he still occasionally kept using Porter’s Telecaster in the studio.
If my recollection is correct, it was used by either Johnny Marr or myself on every track that I recorded with the Smiths, starting with ‘This Charming Man’, including the slide parts which I played on “How Soon Is Now’ (using the original “Mighty Mite’ slide-one of the parts given to me by Izzy-I still use it).
I found a Tele with a very similar neck profile for Johnny – I think Roger made it – It was green sunburst and a great player – Johnny used it for a bit but thought that it was a bit too heavy for gigging).
John Porter for Julien’s
Specs
The Telecaster used by Johnny on This Charming Man was a 1955 model, identified by the serial number 6915 (note that Porter himself thought it to be a ’53 or ’53 model). It featured an ash body, a vintage-style bridge, a black pickguard, and a maple neck.
When Porter got it, the guitar had been refinished in red, but he wanted to restore it to its original butterscotch blonde finish. He took it to luthier Roger Giffin, who restored it to its original look.
According to information from Julien’s, some of the guitar’s electronic components, including the pickups and volume potentiometer, had been replaced. However, it’s unclear whether these changes were made before or after Johnny Marr used it with The Smiths.
Auction
In 2023, John Porter auctioned the 1955 Telecaster through Julien’s, where it sold for $26,000. This price is surprisingly low, considering the guitar was used on at least two of The Smiths’ biggest hits. Beyond that, Porter had also used the guitar in sessions with legendary musicians like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Joe Walsh, and Lucky Peterson.
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