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Lot Essay
I've always loved the sound of 12-string acoustic guitars, so I started using one as soon as I could. People often make a big deal of how hard they are to play or keep in tune, but they're worth the effort. It's the sound of 'Get The Message' by Electronic, and 'Half A Person' and 'Unhappy Birthday' by The Smiths.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
Marr’s gravitation towards the acoustic 12-string was tied up with an early conviction that a serious guitarist should be proficient on both the acoustic and electric guitar. Marr told us: To me, acoustic guitars are 50% of the guitar world. Once I got the notion as a youngster that to be a “proper guitarist” you need to be good on the acoustic, that almost became somewhat of a rule for me personally. That was completely in line with my early heroes being Rory Gallagher and Keith Richards, and from then Bert Jansch. I sort of remember Keith Richards saying that if you can’t play acoustic, you’re only half a guitar player. I like to keep that as a rule. From a technical point of view, I go through periods at home where I restrict myself to just playing 12-string because it just makes you a better player. When I get a few days into that, it feels like it’s the greatest sound in the world and nothing can beat it.
Marr was first drawn to the 12-string acoustic as a young teen when he got into folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I discovered David Crosby because of CSNY, and that was where I learnt about fitting a few different guitars together, Marr told guitar historian Tony Bacon in 2009. My first practical experience of that would have been listening to David Crosby – his solo record and the stuff he did with CSNY – and he would play acoustic 12-string. Me and my friends went through a phase of learning how to sing harmony and getting into that kind of music… That’s when I discovered that some guitar players will avoid [12-strings]. As you can imagine, for a 15, 16-year-old, they were quite an elusive item. Me and my mates would get together with a bunch of crappy acoustics and start playing some songs, and after a few numbers the 12-string would get passed around. I didn’t mind letting someone use my Eko and I’d get on the 12-string. That’s where I learned how to get comfortable with the 12-string… You have to apply yourself, to play it… There are plenty of things that a rock guitar player can’t do readily on a 12-string that I actually think is one of the benefits of the 12-string, because it stops you just going into those automatic clichés.
Soon after acquiring his first Martin six-string (lot 21), Johnny Marr purchased this 1976 Martin D12-28 12-string at Vintage and Rare Guitars in Earl’s Court, London, in late summer 1984. Back then, me and my girlfriend, now wife, had an apartment [in Earl’s Court], and every bit of money I got that I could spend on a guitar, I did, Marr told Forbes in 2023. Next thing, I had two, three, then seven. The Smiths records sounded like I was getting even more because there'd be a 12-string acoustic on there, then a cool sounding six string acoustic, then a rockabilly sound would come in. Then I would get a 12-string electric—because I didn't have one of those! Then the group sound expanded a bit again… All the guitars were an inspiration going into my writing. The Martin D12-28 became Marr’s chief acoustic 12-string for the next forty years, used throughout his career with The Smiths, Electronic, The Healers, and into his solo era.
Marr made a conscious effort to feature prominent and layered acoustics as part of The Smiths’ sound. I was determined that this aspect of the band was going to get noticed, he told Henry Yates for Guitar World in 2025. I was so proud for us to be an all-out guitar band, that I didn’t want to be polite about those things... so it was my agenda to push that. He went on to single out the distinctive 12-string acoustic on the start of ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, say, and ‘Unhappy Birthday’, emphasising that at the time… no-one else was doing that, even after I’d been doing it for a few years. Recorded in September 1985, the Martin D12-28 provided the propulsive acoustic rhythm on the Stones-esque ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, which would be released as the second single from The Smiths’ third studio album The Queen Is Dead in May 1986. I was trying to write my ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, Marr told Guitar Player in 1990. I wanted something that was a rush all the way through, without a distinct middle eight as such. Marr double tracked his D-28 six and 12-strings for the main acoustic rhythm part on ‘Half A Person’, which Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield calls a fragile shiver of a song, and ranks as the second best song in the entire Smiths’ catalogue. Originally written in October 1986 as the intended B-side to 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby', ‘Half A Person’ was eventually released as the B-side to ‘Shoplifters of the World Unite’ in January 1987. This D-28 12-string is perhaps best heard doubled (one on the right side and one on the left) on the acoustic-led ‘Unhappy Birthday’, recorded in spring 1987 for the band’s fourth and final studio album Strangeways, Here We Come. The latter track is a prime example of Marr’s ‘one-man band’ approach, which sees him trying to play the whole song, a cross between rhythm and top lines. You can do that on a 12-string, Marr tells Yates, but you have to apply yourself and you need a big breakfast. It’s not for the faint-hearted. I’m really glad I persevered when I was younger and it didn’t alienate me too much, because I know a few players who just don’t want to know.
When Marr formed the alternative dance supergroup Electronic with New Order’s Bernard Sumner in late 1987 following the breakup of The Smiths, he began blending synthesisers and technology with more minimal guitars. Yet this Martin 12-string was key to the success of 1991 single ‘Get The Message’, which Marr highlights as the standout track from the band’s self-titled debut album and one of the best songs he’s ever written. In his 2016 autobiography, Marr recalled the writing process: I found myself messing around one sunny afternoon with a bass sound I’d sampled off an old soul record. I was playing around with it and came up with something that sounded really good. I programmed a drumbeat, and with the rhythm track happening it sounded perfect already and I knew exactly what the guitar should be. I played some chords on a twelve-string acoustic and added a string arrangement, and before I knew it I had an instrumental track that was unlike anything I’d done or heard before. In conversation with author Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, Marr called it guitar pop made at a time when pop music didn’t have guitars and explained: With 'Get The Message', I was trying to be like The Family Stand's 'Ghetto Heaven'. Before I added the acoustic 12-string, it still worked as a track, like Soul II Soul or something, but adding the guitar really gave it something. Re-examining the album 30 years on for Music Radar, Marr said of ‘Get The Message’: It sounds like a magical song. It did from the moment I wrote the music for it… I just really think it was a great listen – still do. I play it in my live set to this day – I realised that no other band sounded like it before. Particularly New Order and The Smiths. The D-28 12-string also featured heavily on the intro and outro of Blind Faith cover ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’, recorded for Electronic’s third studio album Twisted Tenderness in 1999.
Shortly after the formation of his first solo band The Healers, Marr made a rare stage appearance with his Martin 12-string to accompany Marianne Faithfull in a performance of her 1964 hit ‘As Tears Go By’ at the Concert for Linda benefit tribute for Linda McCartney at the Royal Albert Hall on 10 April 1999. The guitar was then featured on the song 'You Are The Magic' on The Healers’ 2003 studio album Boomslang. Around the same time, Marr played the D12-28 on American singer-songwriter Lisa Germano’s song ‘Paper Doll’ for her 2003 album Lullaby for Liquid Pig. This Martin 12-string remained a trusty studio staple as Marr emerged into his solo era in the 2010s. When itemising the guitars used on his fourth solo studio album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 for Premier Guitar in 2022, Marr listed the Martin D12-28 I’ve used since the Smiths. The 12-string is clearly heard on the songs 'Human', 'Counter Clock World' and 'Ariel'. When reflecting on his long history with Martin in 2024, Marr made clear that his vintage Martins remain working instruments: They are elite instruments and they are very beautiful things – like all guitar players, we can almost fetishise these things – but they are the tools of my trade really… The one thing that it's not about is being a collector, it's about being a guitar player.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
Marr’s gravitation towards the acoustic 12-string was tied up with an early conviction that a serious guitarist should be proficient on both the acoustic and electric guitar. Marr told us: To me, acoustic guitars are 50% of the guitar world. Once I got the notion as a youngster that to be a “proper guitarist” you need to be good on the acoustic, that almost became somewhat of a rule for me personally. That was completely in line with my early heroes being Rory Gallagher and Keith Richards, and from then Bert Jansch. I sort of remember Keith Richards saying that if you can’t play acoustic, you’re only half a guitar player. I like to keep that as a rule. From a technical point of view, I go through periods at home where I restrict myself to just playing 12-string because it just makes you a better player. When I get a few days into that, it feels like it’s the greatest sound in the world and nothing can beat it.
Marr was first drawn to the 12-string acoustic as a young teen when he got into folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. I discovered David Crosby because of CSNY, and that was where I learnt about fitting a few different guitars together, Marr told guitar historian Tony Bacon in 2009. My first practical experience of that would have been listening to David Crosby – his solo record and the stuff he did with CSNY – and he would play acoustic 12-string. Me and my friends went through a phase of learning how to sing harmony and getting into that kind of music… That’s when I discovered that some guitar players will avoid [12-strings]. As you can imagine, for a 15, 16-year-old, they were quite an elusive item. Me and my mates would get together with a bunch of crappy acoustics and start playing some songs, and after a few numbers the 12-string would get passed around. I didn’t mind letting someone use my Eko and I’d get on the 12-string. That’s where I learned how to get comfortable with the 12-string… You have to apply yourself, to play it… There are plenty of things that a rock guitar player can’t do readily on a 12-string that I actually think is one of the benefits of the 12-string, because it stops you just going into those automatic clichés.
Soon after acquiring his first Martin six-string (lot 21), Johnny Marr purchased this 1976 Martin D12-28 12-string at Vintage and Rare Guitars in Earl’s Court, London, in late summer 1984. Back then, me and my girlfriend, now wife, had an apartment [in Earl’s Court], and every bit of money I got that I could spend on a guitar, I did, Marr told Forbes in 2023. Next thing, I had two, three, then seven. The Smiths records sounded like I was getting even more because there'd be a 12-string acoustic on there, then a cool sounding six string acoustic, then a rockabilly sound would come in. Then I would get a 12-string electric—because I didn't have one of those! Then the group sound expanded a bit again… All the guitars were an inspiration going into my writing. The Martin D12-28 became Marr’s chief acoustic 12-string for the next forty years, used throughout his career with The Smiths, Electronic, The Healers, and into his solo era.
Marr made a conscious effort to feature prominent and layered acoustics as part of The Smiths’ sound. I was determined that this aspect of the band was going to get noticed, he told Henry Yates for Guitar World in 2025. I was so proud for us to be an all-out guitar band, that I didn’t want to be polite about those things... so it was my agenda to push that. He went on to single out the distinctive 12-string acoustic on the start of ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, say, and ‘Unhappy Birthday’, emphasising that at the time… no-one else was doing that, even after I’d been doing it for a few years. Recorded in September 1985, the Martin D12-28 provided the propulsive acoustic rhythm on the Stones-esque ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, which would be released as the second single from The Smiths’ third studio album The Queen Is Dead in May 1986. I was trying to write my ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, Marr told Guitar Player in 1990. I wanted something that was a rush all the way through, without a distinct middle eight as such. Marr double tracked his D-28 six and 12-strings for the main acoustic rhythm part on ‘Half A Person’, which Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield calls a fragile shiver of a song, and ranks as the second best song in the entire Smiths’ catalogue. Originally written in October 1986 as the intended B-side to 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby', ‘Half A Person’ was eventually released as the B-side to ‘Shoplifters of the World Unite’ in January 1987. This D-28 12-string is perhaps best heard doubled (one on the right side and one on the left) on the acoustic-led ‘Unhappy Birthday’, recorded in spring 1987 for the band’s fourth and final studio album Strangeways, Here We Come. The latter track is a prime example of Marr’s ‘one-man band’ approach, which sees him trying to play the whole song, a cross between rhythm and top lines. You can do that on a 12-string, Marr tells Yates, but you have to apply yourself and you need a big breakfast. It’s not for the faint-hearted. I’m really glad I persevered when I was younger and it didn’t alienate me too much, because I know a few players who just don’t want to know.
When Marr formed the alternative dance supergroup Electronic with New Order’s Bernard Sumner in late 1987 following the breakup of The Smiths, he began blending synthesisers and technology with more minimal guitars. Yet this Martin 12-string was key to the success of 1991 single ‘Get The Message’, which Marr highlights as the standout track from the band’s self-titled debut album and one of the best songs he’s ever written. In his 2016 autobiography, Marr recalled the writing process: I found myself messing around one sunny afternoon with a bass sound I’d sampled off an old soul record. I was playing around with it and came up with something that sounded really good. I programmed a drumbeat, and with the rhythm track happening it sounded perfect already and I knew exactly what the guitar should be. I played some chords on a twelve-string acoustic and added a string arrangement, and before I knew it I had an instrumental track that was unlike anything I’d done or heard before. In conversation with author Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, Marr called it guitar pop made at a time when pop music didn’t have guitars and explained: With 'Get The Message', I was trying to be like The Family Stand's 'Ghetto Heaven'. Before I added the acoustic 12-string, it still worked as a track, like Soul II Soul or something, but adding the guitar really gave it something. Re-examining the album 30 years on for Music Radar, Marr said of ‘Get The Message’: It sounds like a magical song. It did from the moment I wrote the music for it… I just really think it was a great listen – still do. I play it in my live set to this day – I realised that no other band sounded like it before. Particularly New Order and The Smiths. The D-28 12-string also featured heavily on the intro and outro of Blind Faith cover ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’, recorded for Electronic’s third studio album Twisted Tenderness in 1999.
Shortly after the formation of his first solo band The Healers, Marr made a rare stage appearance with his Martin 12-string to accompany Marianne Faithfull in a performance of her 1964 hit ‘As Tears Go By’ at the Concert for Linda benefit tribute for Linda McCartney at the Royal Albert Hall on 10 April 1999. The guitar was then featured on the song 'You Are The Magic' on The Healers’ 2003 studio album Boomslang. Around the same time, Marr played the D12-28 on American singer-songwriter Lisa Germano’s song ‘Paper Doll’ for her 2003 album Lullaby for Liquid Pig. This Martin 12-string remained a trusty studio staple as Marr emerged into his solo era in the 2010s. When itemising the guitars used on his fourth solo studio album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 for Premier Guitar in 2022, Marr listed the Martin D12-28 I’ve used since the Smiths. The 12-string is clearly heard on the songs 'Human', 'Counter Clock World' and 'Ariel'. When reflecting on his long history with Martin in 2024, Marr made clear that his vintage Martins remain working instruments: They are elite instruments and they are very beautiful things – like all guitar players, we can almost fetishise these things – but they are the tools of my trade really… The one thing that it's not about is being a collector, it's about being a guitar player.