Johnny received this guitar in early 1984 as a gift from Seymour Stein, owner of Sire Records. At the time, The Smiths were in talks with Stein about a record deal aimed at promoting the band in the U.S. Though the band later expressed some dissatisfaction with the deal they signed, this guitar likely played a key role in Stein’s ability to win them over.
According to Johnny, he joked with Stein, saying they’d sign the deal if Stein bought him the guitar—just as he had done for Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.
Got this guitar on January 2nd, 1984, because a few weeks earlier, when the Smiths were going to sign to Sire Records, Seymour Stine, he took us out to dinner, wine, and diners. We were getting stories out of him about all of these different bands, and he was telling me about when he took Brian Jones to get a guitar in New York.
I saw my opportunity right there, and I said – if you take me to get a guitar in New York, we’ll sign to your record label. And in a moment of weakness, he took the bait, he said sure I’ll get you a guitar. [,,,] We went over to 48th Street in New York, and I saw in the store this guitar, and it was like there was a light glowing around it. That’s the one I want.
Johnny Marr – NME Song Stories The Smiths, ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’
After picking up the guitar, Marr headed straight back to his room at The Iroquois Hotel. The first chords he played on it quickly evolved into what became Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now. A little while later, he experimented with some different chords, and those would turn into another song—Girl Afraid.
Specs, Usage
Johnny’s ES-355 is a 1960 model finished in red. It’s the stereo version of the ES-355, which means that the pickups were wired in stereo, and the signal from the neck and bridge pickups was sent to separate amplifier channels. According to Marr, he had the guitar re-wired to a mono configuration.
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 equalizer to give it some boost.
Johnny Marr – original source needed
In addition to being featured on The Smiths’ recordings, Johnny also played the guitar live on occasion. Notably, he used it during their performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 1984 and on the TV show Top of the Pops in January of that same year.
According to Marr’s Guitars, at some point, the guitar ended up in the hands of Noel Gallagher while he was touring with The High Flying Birds. The details of the arrangement between the two remain unclear, but the guitar eventually returned to Marr. In fact, he was spotted playing it again during his book tour in 2023.
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