Johnny used an Epiphone casino to record the rhythm track on The Smiths’ song How Soon Is Now. The slide part was recorded on a 1955 Fender Telecaster, borrowed from the band’s producer, John Parter.
How Soon Is Now’ was in F# tuning. It’s a straight E riff, followed by open G and F#m7. The chorus uses open B, A, and D shapes with the top two strings ringing out.
The vibrato sound is fucking incredible, and it took a long time. I put down the rhythm track on an Epiphone Casino through a Fender Twin Reverb without vibrato. Then we played the track back through four old Twins, one on each side. We had to keep all the amps vibratoing in time to the track and each other, so we had to keep stopping and starting the track, recording it in 10-second bursts.
Johnny Marr – original source needed
According to Marr, he also used the guitar to write the song Nowhere Fast (presumably, this also means that he recorded it with it), and he used the guitar at the Glastonbury Festival in 1984.
Specs
Marr’s Epiphone Casino is a 1963 model finished in sunburst, featuring two P90 pickups and a Bigsby tremolo bridge.
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