Johnny Marr’s Satellite 96/L (Les Paul copy)

According to Johnny’s book, Marr’s Guitars, he owned a Satellite Les Paul copy sometime in the late ’70s, likely around 1978. This was after he traded in his Vox Ace and before he acquired his first genuine Gibson Les Paul.

From what little information is available online, Satellite guitars were produced in Japan and were known for being very cheaply made. The 96/L model featured a plywood body, and although it appeared to have a humbucker, the metal casing actually housed a single-coil pickup. The rest of the space inside the humbucker casing was reportedly filled with a sponge.