Johnny Marr bought his first Rickenbacker guitar, a 330 model, at the A1 Repairs music shop in Manchester from the money he received after The Smiths signed their record deal with Rough Trade. Following the contract, the band received an advance of £4,000, and Marr used part of that sum to acquire a six-string Rickenbacker 330. Chronologically, this took place around mid to late 1983.
I spent the rest of my money on a bass stack for Andy and a drum kit for Mike, and I got myself a black Rickenbacker 330 six-string. I bought the Rickenbacker because I loved the look of it and also because I knew it would make me play in a way that would be good for my writing.
Some guitars are designed to be as easy to play as possible and are great for a rock approach, but as much as I liked the Gibson Les Paul I was aware that it might influence my style in the wrong way. The Rickenbacker would make it more difficult to fall into an automatic rock technique, and from a sound point of view it wouldn’t be bluesy. It suited me perfectly and it steered me towards writing new songs like ‘You’ve Got Everything Now’ and ‘Still Ill’.
Johnny Marr – Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
Usage
The black Rickenbacker 330 became Johnny Marr’s main guitar during The Smiths’ early tours and played a pivotal role in shaping the sound of their debut studio album. Its distinctive tones can be heard on tracks like Still Ill, You’ve Got Everything Now, and Accept Yourself.
The first songs I wrote on it were ‘Still, “You’ve Got Everything Now’ and ‘Accept Yourself”. But you hear the sound of that guitar best on ‘What Difference Does It Make’. The whole of that track is all about the Rickenbacker. It became my main guitar for the first few Smiths tours. My whole style and sound came together from getting that black Ricky. It was a part of the band’s identity, and even though I started using different guitars later on the black Rickenbacker 330 was the guitar I was most associated with until I started using Fender Jaguars in 2005.”
Johnny Marr
Among others, the guitar was also used on The Smiths’ breakthrough hit This Charming Man. According to Johnny, he used his black Rickenbacker double-tracked with a Fender Telecaster.
‘This Charming Man’ starts with the guitar riff, double-tracked by a Telecaster and the Rickenbacker, which creates the chiming sound that was most people’s introduction to The Smiths.
Johnny Marr – Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
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