{"id":654472,"date":"2026-06-23T18:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/654472\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T18:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:53:12","slug":"johnny-marr-on-shredders-guitar-heroes-and-his-guitar-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/654472\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Marr on shredders, guitar heroes and his guitar auction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johnny Marr spent much of his career avoiding the guitar-hero label.<\/p>\n

As guitarist with the Smiths and throughout his solo career, Marr largely shunned guitar solos<\/a>, prioritized songs over showmanship and frequently criticized the cult of virtuosity that dominated rock guitar culture in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

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That philosophy helped make Marr one of the most influential players of his generation. While the Smiths scored 17 hit singles in the 1980s, Marr built the band\u2019s sound around intricate layers of overdubbed guitars, unusual chord voicings and a vast palette of tones. His style drew from the rock \u2019n\u2019 roll primitivism of the \u201960s, the grooves of the \u201970s and the bright, chiming textures of the \u201980s, creating a sound that inspired countless guitarists.<\/p>\n

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\"Johnny\n<\/p>\n

Marr poses in his studio. (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed that any instrumentalist is basically just an accompanist to the singer and the words,\u201d Marr told Guitar Player in 1990. \u201cThat\u2019s born out of being a fan of records before I was a fan of guitar players. I\u2019m interested in melody, lyrics, and the overall song. I don\u2019t like to waste notes, not even one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guitarist recently made headlines for a different reason, announcing plans to auction nearly 100 acoustic<\/a> and electric guitars<\/a> from his personal collection, including instruments used with the Smiths.<\/p>\n

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Among the highlights is the 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355 that Sire Records founder Seymour Stein bought for Marr to help persuade the Smiths to sign with the label. The guitar is expected to fetch as much as $198,000. Also heading to auction is Marr\u2019s 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo, which he purchased in 1983 and used on the Smiths\u2019 self-titled debut, including \u201cThis Charming Man.\u201d Marr later loaned the guitar to Noel Gallagher, who used it during the recording of Definitely Maybe. It subsequently appeared on the cover of Oasis\u2019s \u201cSupersonic\u201d single.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC about the sale, Marr explained, \u201cI didn\u2019t like the idea of my studio space becoming a museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Johnny\n<\/p>\n

Johnny Marr sits with guitars and amps he’s auctioning via Christies. (Image credit: Christie\u2019s Images Ltd. 2026)<\/p>\n

Back in 1990, however, Marr was focused on another subject entirely: the army of guitar shredders dominating magazine covers and guitar-store walls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho was it that said, \u2018The reason why all those guitar players play so many notes is because they can\u2019t find the right one?\u2019\u201d he asked Guitar Player in a cover interview. \u201cI like to put the right note in the right place, and my influences have always been those kinds of players. Keith Richards<\/a> comes to mind, and I really like Nils Lofgren<\/a>\u2019s soloing, because he\u2019s so melodic. I love John Lennon\u2019s rhythm playing, and George Harrison was an incredible guitarist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marr\u2019s admiration for melody and economy put him at odds with much of the era\u2019s guitar culture.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guitar culture that I don\u2019t like at all,\u201d he said. \u201cI find the traditional idea of the guitar hero to be really irrelevant to the 1990s. I don\u2019t think that young people are that impressed with some guy brandishing spandex trousers and a hideously shaped guitar, playing that kind of masturbatory, egotistical noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a soloist who wants to just display virtuosity is a dated philosophy, and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any room for it in pop music. It\u2019s the last stand of late-\u201960s\/early-\u201970s rockism, and it should have gone a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A\n<\/p>\n

Marr’s Gibson ES-355 is expected to fetch as much as $198,000 at auction. (Image credit: Joby Sessions\/Guitarist Magazine)<\/p>\n

Despite his criticism of shred culture, Marr made clear he respected players with genuine technical ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a healthy respect for guitarists like Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen<\/a>, disciplined players who really know what they\u2019re doing \u2014 if you\u2019re going to be a virtuoso, you can\u2019t be hit-and-miss. But I think people like Yngwie Malmsteen should be forgotten as soon as possible, I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marr then offered one of the interview\u2019s most provocative observations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got very little to do with music, and the \u2018I\u2019m the fastest gun in town\u2019 idea is almost like homosexual panic. Nothing against gays, but when players perpetrate this incredibly sexist image of being so macho, I find it suspicious.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus, I can\u2019t do all that stuff, so that\u2019s why I say it\u2019s stupid,\u201d he added with a laugh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Johnny Marr spent much of his career avoiding the guitar-hero label. As guitarist with the Smiths and throughout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-654472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}