Johnny Marr and his Rickenbacker 330 (Imagine: The Story of the Guitar)

[@doctorlefthandthread]

When someone says something like " you just have to turn your daydreams into sound " You know he is extraordinary

[@odyshape]

The jangly melodies he plays after he says "turning your daydreams into sound" (1:59 - 2:11)... I've downloaded it cut it up and put on repeat right before he changes it into a chord. It's so glorious and shimmering and beautiful... really those melodies convey so many emotions. I literally put it on repeat until I'm satisfied. Johnny is such a sensitive guitarist.

[@basti_marr]

Search for There Is A Light That Never Goes Out from the live album Adrenalin Baby, he plays that arpeggio at the end, you don't know how much I suffered to learn that arpeggio

[@garbiello]

Same, i wanted to learn that part so hard, i sat for weeks trying to figure it out. Finally - something struck me and i got it.

[@MrRolled1]

Can u send me it

[@odyshape]

@@ghostbike99 I did happen to know.

[@azzaro714]

@@ghostbike99 I thought that is "Some girls are bigger than others"

[@hooflungpoo4553]

I could listen to Johnny Marr play all day.

[@JJONNYREPP]

Johnny Marr and his Rickenbacker 330 (Imagine: The Story of the Guitar) 0135am 10.12.24 nearly.... nearly guessed the derby assembly halls sound therein.............. tom o'connor's name that tune has nowt on me, sir.

[@Maryonpark]

That Rickenbacker 330 jetglo's so cool. The guy's a guitar genius.

[@AnthonyBurrito1313]

360

[@Maryonpark]

That's a 330 in the vid.

[@AnthonyBurrito1313]

Its cool I have a 360 but my daughter nicked it for her band tour

[@ethanc1719]

That green telecaster tho😂

[@jamesbradley2397]

He’s a god 🙏🏼

[@banjo7598]

I wish Jonny still played a Rickenbacker. It just looks and sounds so right. I heard a radio one show back in the mid 80’s on the Rickenbacker and mr Marr was on it talking and playing. Made my hair (actually a mullet) stand on end and I knew at that precise moment I was going to play a Rickenbacker in a rock ‘n roll band. And I did.

[@ogvisionquest09]

Man he definitely has some of the greatest riffs of all time. Just awesone

[@JJONNYREPP]

Johnny Marr and his Rickenbacker 330 (Imagine: The Story of the Guitar) 0138am 10.12.24 bastard!!! yeah, when he was strumming his guitar 2mins 46secs in to this presentation i envisaged the butthole surfers american woman ditty....

[@glendepasse1698]

A true original...one of the masters.

[@piptar]

*"MUSIC IS TURNING YOUR DAYDREAMS INTO SOUND"*

[@DWilly116]

My guitar! Jetglo 330 ... Marr has the sound down like a master

[@heliopolis29]

Johnny Marr is quite the wit. Love him

[@Calvinism1517]

The mark of genius is how the melodic chords are so simple to him, but never before heard. He's clearly the Mozart of all guitar.

[@joellebrodeur1015]

He's so right, though, about people liking a riff/song but not liking the band. I never liked the Smiths growing up as a kid in the '80s but I obsesssed over the guitar layers on "How Soon is Now". Little did I know then that the sound that I loved was coming from a Rickenbacker. I chased that sound for years before I became a Beatle fan, thus picking up guitar playing and eventually getting a Rickenbacker of my own. Needless to say, it's the only sound guitar tone that I never tire of. Those guitars lend their own voice. Johnny's playing isn't flashy with shredding riffs, he paints with sound and melody. I totally get when he says he plays what he feels. I know he's been a Fender guy for years now but for modern guitar, his Ric tone is tops in my book.

[@andym28]

Every guitar player knows what it's like to be in a world of sound with your guitar. Marr encapsulates the intimacy of a guitarist in their bedroom and their guitar.

[@selchap3054]

'Turning ya daydreams into sound'

[@collincassady]

❤

[@deweypug]

Make me want to pick up my guitar and never put it down.... And its almost like the Rick sound goes hand in hand with Fender... A match made in perfection.

[@pippipster6767]

Before his Fender Jaguar deal!

[@tat3w]

Pip Pipster he sounds so much better on a rick imo but the jag still has its place I guess

[@andym28]

Prefer the mustang because it's got the best clean tones imo. John Mclaughlan Miles Davis It's about that time.

[@ezzong]

Yeah his guitars sound differents but it's still his fingers and playing which is always great.

[@davidcurry3999]

I've seen him 3 or 4 times over 10 yrs and as much as I love him, I want more than him reduced to rhythm guitar on a Jaguar. To be fair, I've seen Morrissey as many times too and been underwhelmed. Together they are greater than the sum of their parts.

[@monolunarazul]

Thanks man! Johnny Marr wrote most of the soundtrack of my life!

[@davidcurry3999]

He wrote the soundtrack to most of my life, too. The rest of my life has been spent working out his tunes. A life well spent.

[@waltercoyle6393]

My favorite guitar player ever. His work with The Smiths is all he ever has to do.

[@buriedbits6027]

A genuis. Guitar master. Legend.

[@RegularDude00]

Those rickenbackers are really something.

[@CaptNeeda]

Charming man

[@RamshackleSerenade]

turning your daydreams into sound.

[@joellebrodeur1015]

I love that phrase.

[@lukecoyi1784]

Describes The Smiths perfectly

[@wahivalleys3011]

I've seen this demo a hundred times, and the same thing hits me each time. I really dig that coat! Addendum: Mr. Narrator, I'd say he used a Gibson 355 more than a Rickenbacker. Wahi' Valleys

[@davidluqueskywalker527]

this Rickenbacker is featured on the cover of the single Supersónic by Oasis!

[@olympian3]

Interesting 🤔

[@matthewsmith2035]

Fookin wizard

[@MellodyRock]

1980th ,〇〇〇〇′n Johnny Marr is my Ricken guitar hero . so i respect him forever.

[@dparis2172]

"SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!!!" Starts riffing...

[@lucasp.calheiros2755]

That rickenbacker sound is so fucking cool

[@pamela8329]

When JFM is playing it

[@lucasp.calheiros2755]

Pamela yeah of course Johnny Bloody Marr makes the difference

[@noworries12]

beginning at 0:44 - 0:51 reminds me a lot of Midnight Oil's "Diesel and dust" and "Blue sky mining" guitar picking style

[@brunokoch672]

1:59 I could hear the whole day in a loop.

[@juka421]

at the end he meant to say a fender jaguar with pickups wound in the same direction with a series switch where the second vol tone go. But a 20 foot rick is close too

[@deaddoll1361]

He can speak for himself.

[@donnellwalah5690]

What EFFECT is the RIC going through at @:200 to 2:10 - CHORUS plus DELAY: it sounds so juicy rich! Thanks

[@ShiroiTengu]

Pretty sure Johnny is using a Boss multi effects unit here. That particular tone you're asking about is a chorus as well as a clean octave up

[@Jeffcatbuckeye]

effects and the CAPO on the neck.

[@S2Sturges]

HIs sound is impossibly great and pretty hard to emulate... I have a Rickenbacker 1971 360/6 with the "transitional" high gain pickups, a bit different than his, and I sound nothing like him, doesnt seem any combination of amps I try gets me there.. That's the mark of a genius

[@basicsforbaroqueimprovisation]

Agreed ! I have a Rickenbacker 330 and one thing I hear in the beginning of this clip is he is using a compressor to even out the dynamics along with an EQ boost of highs. Back in the Smiths days it was a Boss CS Compressor and later he went to a Diamond Compressor and these days I believe it's a Carl Martin. Good luck in your tone search !! Best Wishes - John

[@maxbishop5364]

It's all kind of ringy and melodic!!!! Easy as that

[@samstainer7455]

Guitar genius.........beyond cool.

[@Judedunlop]

Does anyone know what he starts to play at 00:30

[@ericmorgan_music]

Jude Dunlop it’s just improvisation, an example of what he’d do with a basic riff.

[@Judedunlop]

Eric Morgan what a shame, I just really like the sound of it

[@ChainNonSmoker]

Just relentlessly keep on listenin' through the Smiths' catalogue and u'll end up finding plenty of such chord sequences.

[@paullemon6542]

Totally awesome

[@brerogers4311]

God I love him

[@darkestfugue]

this guy doesnt age

[@will30x]

Why Al Pacino plays the guitar of the Beatles!

[@azzaro714]

It's different lennon use a 325 and johnny is 330

[@georged4578]

@@azzaro714 Harrison used 330 I think

[@Rick-Jangle]

@@georged4578 George played a 360/12 Rickenbacker. It was the old style 360 which was very similar in shape to the 330. But with binding front and back, also triangular inlays on the fretboard.

[@nitedrive2956]

Marr is in a small group of guitarists whose isolated guitar parts stand alone a genius, ear-pleasing compositions. I think the only other two in that league are Eddie Van Halen and Alex Lifeson. So much feeling, so much melody and rhythm.

[@jgabora]

Man this guy is cool.

[@jstuffco]

GOOSEBUMPS

[@ChainNonSmoker]

Although it's an American brand, I think Ric is the weapon of choice to make music sound recognizably English.

[@Blasteroid01]

Rickenbacker is American? Someone tell the Germans.

[@morecowbell69]

@@Blasteroid01 Adolph Rickenbacker was a Swiss immigrant to the U.S. He founded Rickenbacker Guitars in California

[@Indieguitarist2007]

Does anyone know what effects he is using in this video?

[@benpowell992]

To my ears it sounds like hes playing a rickenbacker 330/12. Would love hear what other people opinions are.

[@Riffmaster227]

It does but I think what we’re hearing is a boss ce-2 and a compressor

[@mr_bassman6685]

@@Riffmaster227 There's definitely an octave effect in the first half, his Ric is pretty jangly but usually doesn't sound like a 12-string.

[@mod69]

Rickenbacker,beatles,who,kinks,byrds,Jam,smiths rem,nuff said

[@webname8886]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers too.

[@Indieguitarist2007]

Beach boys aswell

[@108padma]

Rickenbacker AND multiple Fenders and Gibsons!

[@נירניר-ט8ש]

Cool sound wooww

[@999pynchon]

King of rhythm

[@SAMHPWRTH]

there's an extra twang in a ricky that he can't quite get from his jag

[@ethanc1719]

The jag is probably a bit more versatile but you can’t replicate that Ricky tone

[@RastaSaiyaman]

The Smiths actually have a lot in common with REM both in lyrical content and in the fact that Johnny Marr and Peter Buck had a similar of playing and they both used Rickenbackers.

[@ChainNonSmoker]

I always saw R.E.M. as their american equivalent, they stepped out of different musical background but have many similarities just fit'd to their own culture. In music journalists' tongue they became known as 2 traditions "Alternative" and "Indie".

[@Big_Bag_of_Pus]

@ChainNonSmoker They also filled an equivalent role at around the same time -- the role of rehabilitating the guitar in an era of Oberheims and Rolands and Junos.

[@RastaSaiyaman]

@@Big_Bag_of_Pus Which is overlooking the fact that high scoring pop bands such as A Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran and INXS had plenty of guitar woven into them. Not to mention synth pop bands such as Eurythmics and Depeche Mode also picking up guitars. ( Take for example Martin Gore twanging away on songs like "People are people", "Shake the disease" and of course "Personal Jesus") And err... Stevie Ray Vaughan broke big in the eighties too.

[@Big_Bag_of_Pus]

@RastaSaiyaman I would never in a million years consider A Flock of Seagulls or Duran Duran to be guitar bands. Never. INXS certainly had guitar, but not in the way that either the Smiths or REM did. And SRV breaking into the public consciousness in the U.S. came several years after "Radio Free Europe" was in heavy rotation on MTV.

[@RastaSaiyaman]

@@Big_Bag_of_Pus Look up the song "I ran" from Flock of Seagulls, and then tell me there's no guitar in that. Or look up Duran Duran's "American science" which has solos by both original DD guitarist Andy Taylor and his replacement Warren Cuccurullo. And err... SRV broke big (the US included) in 1983, which was way before REM's "Radio free Europe" Thanks to him being involved with David Bowie's "Let's dance."

[@davidcurry3999]

I am waiting patiently for a new 330 fireglow to arrive. Can anyone recommend a low wattage all valve combo' to best work with the Rickenbacker? I can go a bit over £1k for the amp. Basically the best tone from a quality valve combo. (I have a Blackstar HT5R for my Les Paul Standard)

[@andrewmasterman2034]

Check out matchless amps

[@jimmy21217]

Check out the Vox AC-15

[@boogingtonthunderwood8969]

@@jimmy21217 is it even LEGAL to NOT at least TRY one’s new Rickenbacker through a Vox amp? Lol The corksniffers will say that playing through a new Vox is not like playing through a 60’s Vox but it’s close enough for me, personally. Congrats on your new Ricky!

[@ShiroiTengu]

A Fender Deluxe could be just the ticket for you!

[@seamusbrowne4909]

Take note you are now in the presence of a Real Musician.😎😎😎

[@andym28]

The guitar is a wonderful instrument understood by few. Schumann.

[@psychedeliccarrie5921]

His back has to hurt after carrying The Smiths all these years.

[@deaddoll1361]

Morrissey certainly didn't need carrying.

[@GenteelCretin]

Johnny Marr's Rickenbacker is a bit overstated in the legacy of The Smiths. I'm pretty sure a lot of the earlier tracks were on John Porter's Telecaster, and the 12 string electric parts people assumed were a Ric were his 335-12. Personally, I've always dug the sound of a Ric, but the necks are just awful, and the pickups are hard to find good replacements for. I once had to replace a pickup (and had to pay something like $15 for the foam pad under it) and it was way hotter than the one it came with. When I posted about it on the Ric forums, I got banned. It was a solid guitar for recording (a bit finicky live), but I gave up on Rickenbacker after that.

[@franzmovi]

Johnny Marr was the Smiths

[@deaddoll1361]

If they were an instrumental band maybe.

[@Indieguitarist2007]

Johnny marr, may be the sound of the smiths, but morrissey is the greatest poet of his time.

[@sitarnut]

Johnny... I like your Brain as much as anything.....

[@duffymoony]

20 foot Rick 12 foot high, kin A, imagine the sound through a 20ft Fender Twin?

[@rene2899]

what record does he mention on 3:44?

[@Vespertilio528491]

It's Disco Stomp by Hamilton Bohannon.

[@rene2899]

+Vespertilio528491 tks

[@dianelunn-parsons7340]

The price of talent

[@telecasper]

I can't understand if he's using a 6 or 12 strings..?

[@Jeffcatbuckeye]

He did 6 strings.

[@joellebrodeur1015]

Just 6 strings with a smattering of simple effects. The rest of the tone is in Johnny's hands. I have experienced this. Depending on how you're dialed in on a Ric, it can go from mellow to ear splitting chime. I heard back bad phone recording we had from practice the other day. Cleaned up a better take of one tune from it, using only plate reverb for mixdown and realized "shit...how did I get my 320 to sound like a 12 string?". I had zero effects. Just reverb at 6, chorus off and running through a Roland JC22 Jazz Chrous. It was the guitar dynamics doing it. Amp was EQ'd with the bass at 2 (short scales throw too much bass) and both mid and treble at 7. These guitars are magical, fun, quirky and sometimes frustating a hell when having an off playing day.

[@frankzappa951]

Then he discovered the Jaguar and all its sonic mystical beauty.

[@Daniel-ll3qp]

He actually started using the Jag a couple of years before this was recorded.

[@Sam97812]

The Rickenbacker is better

[@danr554]

How the fuck, does someone write something so beautiful at 2:00

[@itaintmebabe714]

Why didn't the camera man zoom on Johnny Marr's hands when he first started playing? You had only one job!

[@citizenchris099]

As a more Blues/Rock guitarist i'm not super into this "type" of music. That said , I love hearing him talk about music / guitar as a form of expression that is in ways superior to words.

[@mrpentium]

That Ric sounds like he's playing springs

[@despicabledog]

He actually uses the Hi Gain pickups... weird... I always thought he would use the classic Toasters.

[@aolstudios1504]

Hi Gains are superb. Similar sound, cut through a mix better

[@widowspeak5973]

Hi gains are great, they're not actually "High gain" for today's standards. They're just like a more full sounding toaster.

[@Jeffcatbuckeye]

Like the previous guys said….similar Rick sound with higher gain to cut through the mix. I think they sound “cleaner” although you do lose a bit of jangle and woody sound of the toasters.

[@maverickminstrel1557]

sounds so much better on a rick...rather than the jag with all the effects.

[@johns.9819]

the smithssound

[@harryphillips8033]

How fucking cool is he tho

[@Justice4all_001]

@hendrika Sharwood 1:14 look who it is! 😂

[@josephfriel6597]

What show is this clip from is it on the IPlayer?

[@PhillyBoyRoy]

is he using a chorus pedal

[@EvanDavid666]

Philly Boy Roy he uses a boss multi effects unit (I forget which one). He usually has some combo of chorus, delay, and reverb going with tremolo used at times as well

[@freebova]

Detune

[@VaporMario64]

He's using some kind of pitch shifting effect (octaver/harmonist) cause it sounds like a 12 string, which is basically natural chorus

[@RealReado]

As one poster below says, there’s definitely more than just chorus on his guitar in this video. A pitch shift / octave effect for sure - I reckon it’s an Electro Harmonix Polyphonic Octave Generator (POG) which has the option to blend sub octave and octave up which can give you a reasonably good twelve string sound out of a six string.

[@johnlogan9401]

What's that course effect Johnny is using at the start?

[@Rustyjamesman]

What's the first song be places before what difference does it make?

[@Vespertilio528491]

Johnny was just improvising. Sounds cool though!

[@creativejimi]

Bobby before the improvisation it's Nowhere Fast, one of my favourites!

[@davidcurry3999]

I've just bought a Rickenbacker 330 fg from Thomanns in Germany. They took my money (£1550) and the next day sent me an e mail saying that I am in for a long (unspecified) wait as they are built to order ... oh, and btw, EU export tax is 20% and you will have other fees to pay upon delivery. ... I'm prepared to wait. I thought I might get priority as I have bought a £3k Les Paul Standard from them a few years ago but nein! ... Ich bin at zee back of zee queue. .... can't wait to get it though.

[@adamlitchfield3371]

It will be worth it. Good things come to those that wait 😎

[@mikemcconville2495]

Just got a 330. I have every guitar you can imagine. This one may be the one that never leaves my hands.

[@davidcurry3999]

I have more anticipation than frustration. It would have been nice to get a heads-up from Thomanns, but hey ho. Anyhoo, which amp would you recommend for the Rickenbacker? AC30's are too loud for jamming with mates and man-cave practice. I am willing to go to £1k ... for an all valve, low wattage combo with perfect tone for a Rickenbacker or '50's Telecaster?

[@mikemcconville2495]

@@davidcurry3999 I have both an AC30 and AC10. You’re right, the 30 is just too much power. So I mostly use my 10, and when dialed in just right gives me the Hard Days and Help sound I love. To me they pair perfectly. Clean, slightly overdriven gets the jangle. I’m still playing with it and figuring it out. One of the things I immediately noticed was how fast and playable the neck is. The neck is narrow, fretboard lacquered and action low make for some fast playing. Open chords sound great. Seems like the perfect combination of an acoustic and electric.

[@weaselsuit]

I had a 330 thirty years ago now, and I didn’t like it. I was playing an Orange OD 80 head at the time, and I don’t think that they were a good fit. I’m purely Voxes now and want to try a Rickenbacker again.

[@shawn13mertle13]

As far as clean tone goes Ricks are the best.

[@nightlife6899]

I would happily leave my wife for Johnny Marr..

[@johnmcdermott2551]

What I read was he layered the sound in the studio. It's the 80's antithesis to Led Zeppelin. Led toured. Smith's didn't. Led Albums. Smith's singles. But Marr and Paige both did their studio sound and live sound differently. Mostly down to technology. Poor Jimmy had to use that bloody awful beast with two necks. Fin.

[@pamela8329]

Mr. Melody. Color me arpeggio

[@MicrophonesInTheTrees]

Chorus: one of the biggest tragedies of the 80s.

[@reviewguy12]

0:43

[@Chrisdavies33]

Johnny Marr is that Fucking Good ....that even Johnny Marr can’t play Johnny Marr.........Noel Gallagher

[@russellbeyers1646]

Back in the '80s they were known as the British REM...

[@quinyc1]

They came around at the same time and a lot of people prefer the smiths

[@encapsulation]

Russell Beyers - absolute bollocks. R.E.M. Didn't have their first mainstream hit until 1987. By which time The Smiths had released countless hits, recorded 4 albums and split up.......

[@robertboyd7458]

A term like "the British R.E.M." probably indicates something they were known as in the U.S.A., not the U.K. (although I *never* heard that term in the U.S.). I liked both R.E.M. and the Smiths in the 1980s (still do). The Smiths never had a mainstream hit in the U.S.A., R.E.M. did with "One I Love" and "Stand" in '87. "How Soon Is Now" was very popular in U.S. clubs that played New Wave/Alternative whatever you call it and college radio, but then, so were many R.E.M. songs (Radio Free Europe, Catapult, Driver 8, etc). In terms of mainstream, The Smiths were pretty much unnoticed in the U.S. In terms of niche music culture in the U.S., both bands were on pretty equal footing. I'd say it depends on which country's perspective you're talking about when talking about popularity or being recognized. Keep in mind that outside of places like NYC, America was behind the times in music that the U.K. had been enjoying for some time.

[@andrewm1112]

The U.S. is still behind, because our radio & music is controlled by bad corporations who give us horrible moronic bad rap music & douchey pop garbage (Bruno Mars, Rhianna etc made literally in factories). But we do have college towns with good radio, & big cities, plus good stations online, including Pandora, where one can find good alt rock and other genres. About REM & the Smiths, many good points you & others raised. Peter Buck & Johnny Marr had a similar approach to guitar playing, emphasizing arpeggios, and having similar influences of folk rock guitar riffs (both Brit & American folk rock), punk, The Who, and all the prior rock gods influencing their lead guitar playing. Their approach to lead guitar is very similar, emphasizing arpeggios & rythm guitar style riffing & fills, as far as technique goes. They both come up with intricate, yet sparkling and powerful rock riffs & compositions on the guitar that wasn't being heard anywhere else. Similar approaches, but different sounds were the result. Peter Buck's sound is more upbeat, pretty, with some exceptions like the darker sounds in Driver 8 or Can't Get There from Here, which are more Smiths like, in being more minor chord oriented and darker, edgier. Marr's sound is more minor key and downbeat, sadder, yet very beautiful. Quite often, I'm in awe of the beauty of his playing, as well as his incredible technical mastery that is at a very high level. I play guitar, and as some have said here, there are parts I found very hard to master, like some riffs in the Headmaster Ritual, without my hands hurting like heck. Radiohead's version of this song is great, but they used 3 guitar players to play Marr's composition, and while Marr of course overdubbed parts on the record, he, with one guitar, can play it all & blow your mind, if you are a guitar player. I get on my knees, and like Mike Myers & Dana Carvey, bow to Marr and say"'You are awesome, and I am not worthy!" Marr is simply a great guitar player. But I think the reason many lump Buck & Marr's guitar playing together is due to their similar use of arpeggios, a fancy word that simply means picking each string, and therefore each note, in a chord, when strumming, and their use of rhythm guitar riffs that both excel at, and prefer to compose with. The result is the so called "jangly rock" sound that many people love, myself included. Which is why both bands are very important in rock history, and required listening for any indy rock lover.

[@BeatPoet67]

Johnny Marr's a one off. The music he made in The Smiths is equal to The Beatles. That's how good he is. Morrissey and Marr drove each other as hard as Lennon and McCartney did. I liked REM but Buck's playing/invention is nowhere close to Marr's.