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Lot Essay
I liked that people like Eddie Cochran and The Cramps would use big hollow body guitars like this one. They remind me of those great sounding rock ’n’ roll records from the 1950s. I got this one from John Entwistle of The Who and used it on ‘Ask’ by The Smiths and in the video for ‘Panic’.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
Johnny Marr acquired this 1960 Gretsch 6120 from John Entwistle via guitar tech Alan Rogan in 1984. In conversation with Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, Marr explained: [Rogan] was the guitar tech for Pete Townshend, and he'd also looked after Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and George Harrison among many other people over the years. Alan was one of the most respected guitar experts there'll ever be, and because he was working for The Who I got a few guitars from John Entwistle. Speaking to Premier Guitar in 2018, Marr elaborated: John knew that Alan was doing some work with me and Alan guided me towards it and thought I should have some guitars. Alan pretty much marched me ’round to John’s and made me buy them! …The main one for me was the mid-’60s Gretsch 6120 that I believe was on the wall in that famous scene in [1979 rockumentary] The Kids Are Alright, where [Entwistle] walks down the stairs and has all the guitars on the wall… That one is a really radical guitar, so beautiful. Who bassist John Entwistle owned several Gretsch 6120s in the late 1970s and early 80s. This particular 6120, with its visible corner chips to the pickup surrounds, can be seen in several photographs of Entwistle proudly showing off his guitar collection for Record Mirror in December 1977.
The guitar immediately became a favourite and a mainstay in the studio, popping up on records throughout Marr’s career from The Smiths to Electronic to his more recent soundtrack and solo work. In early 1985, the 6120 first inspired Marr to write the Smiths’ song ‘Stretch Out and Wait’, which was released as the B-side to ‘Shakespeare’s Sister’ in March 1985. Marr would record the song on his Martin D-28 mere hours later, with probable minor overdubs on the 6120. Marr next used the 6120 to record one of the multiple guitar parts on the band’s intentionally upbeat ‘Ask’, which was mixed by Steve Lillywhite for release as a single in October 1986 and later included on the compilations The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs. On 2 December 1986, Marr used the Gretsch to record the song ‘Is It Really So Strange?’ for The Smiths’ last John Peel Session at the BBC. The Peel Session version was later released as the B-side to the single ‘Sheila Take a Bow’ on 13 April 1987. [For] the BBC John Peel Sessions… you had to come out with four finished songs in about eight hours that were gonna be broadcast, Marr told Steven Rosen for Ultimate Guitar in 2012. I kind of got my production skills together at those John Peel sessions because the rest of the bandmembers just looked at the BBC guy with a grumpy face behind the board and they looked at me and said, “Johnny get your wheels on”. Following the release of The Smiths’ third studio album The Queen Is Dead in June 1986, Marr played this 6120 – tuned to open G – for performances of ‘Meat Is Murder’ on the North American and UK legs of The Queen Is Dead Tour, from 30 July to 30 October 1986. Amateur fan footage from several of the October 1986 shows is available on YouTube. Perhaps most notably, Marr is seen playing this guitar in the promotional music video for the band’s 1986 single ‘Panic’, which was shot during the sound check for their show at the Congress Centre in Ottawa, Canada, on 2 August 1986. The wacky filters applied by director Derek Jarman made the Gretsch appear bright blue in the video rather than orange.
After a period exploring the full range of electronics, sequencers and samplers following the breakup of The Smiths, Marr and collaborator Bernard Sumner consciously included more guitars on their second album as dance-rock duo Electronic with Raise The Pressure, released in July 1996. With this new album I’ve gone back to a few guitars that were my mainstays when I was in The Smiths, Marr told Total Guitar in 1995. Like my Gretsch 6120, which is the best Gretsch I’ve ever played. Interviewed for The Guitar Magazine in 1997, Marr continued to rave about the Gretsch: Over the last two years, I've been experimenting with everything I've got and I've come back to the same old guitars - not because of nostalgia, simply cause they're fantastic. My Gretsch 6120 is great, even people who own other ones say mine is the best they've ever played. At some point in the mid-1990s, Marr loaned the guitar to The Cult’s Billy Duffy. Beggars Banquet asked me to make some demos but all of my equipment was in the States, Duffy told Mick Peek in 2013. Johnny kindly lent me a couple of his 1950s Gretsch’s which were incredible. One of which was a 6120 which would have to be my favourite guitar of his that he owns.
After forming The Healers in 2000, Marr enlisted the Gretsch on the group’s 2003 studio album Boomslang, telling Total Guitar: I always find space on a record somewhere for my Gretsch 6120. When he stepped into his solo era in the 2010s, Marr continued to turn to this guitar when searching for a certain sound in the studio. Speaking to Premier Guitar in 2022, Marr confirmed that the Gretsch 6120 was used on his fourth solo studio album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 and revealed: For whammy-stuff and dive bombs, I’ll often use a Gretsch 6120 from the Smiths days. Marr has also employed the 6120 in his movie soundtrack work with Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, which began with their collaboration on the score for 2010 Christopher Nolan film Inception. The Gretsch can be heard on the score for 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which Marr co-wrote with Zimmer as a member of The Magnificent Six.
I found and still find now that it's usually just a small number of fabulous amplifiers and classic, great guitars that all have their own sort of character, Marr tells Rosen. Lucky for me, old guitars weren't called vintage guitars in those days... There was only a few of us sort of young bands into old guitars. Between the Ricky (lot 5) and the old Tele (lot 10), the Les Paul (lot 20) and Gretsch (the present lot), I was able to get a lot of different clean tones. What can I say, I was lucky enough to get my hand on a few very great instruments.
See lot 35 for additional images of this lot.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
Johnny Marr acquired this 1960 Gretsch 6120 from John Entwistle via guitar tech Alan Rogan in 1984. In conversation with Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, Marr explained: [Rogan] was the guitar tech for Pete Townshend, and he'd also looked after Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and George Harrison among many other people over the years. Alan was one of the most respected guitar experts there'll ever be, and because he was working for The Who I got a few guitars from John Entwistle. Speaking to Premier Guitar in 2018, Marr elaborated: John knew that Alan was doing some work with me and Alan guided me towards it and thought I should have some guitars. Alan pretty much marched me ’round to John’s and made me buy them! …The main one for me was the mid-’60s Gretsch 6120 that I believe was on the wall in that famous scene in [1979 rockumentary] The Kids Are Alright, where [Entwistle] walks down the stairs and has all the guitars on the wall… That one is a really radical guitar, so beautiful. Who bassist John Entwistle owned several Gretsch 6120s in the late 1970s and early 80s. This particular 6120, with its visible corner chips to the pickup surrounds, can be seen in several photographs of Entwistle proudly showing off his guitar collection for Record Mirror in December 1977.
The guitar immediately became a favourite and a mainstay in the studio, popping up on records throughout Marr’s career from The Smiths to Electronic to his more recent soundtrack and solo work. In early 1985, the 6120 first inspired Marr to write the Smiths’ song ‘Stretch Out and Wait’, which was released as the B-side to ‘Shakespeare’s Sister’ in March 1985. Marr would record the song on his Martin D-28 mere hours later, with probable minor overdubs on the 6120. Marr next used the 6120 to record one of the multiple guitar parts on the band’s intentionally upbeat ‘Ask’, which was mixed by Steve Lillywhite for release as a single in October 1986 and later included on the compilations The World Won't Listen and Louder Than Bombs. On 2 December 1986, Marr used the Gretsch to record the song ‘Is It Really So Strange?’ for The Smiths’ last John Peel Session at the BBC. The Peel Session version was later released as the B-side to the single ‘Sheila Take a Bow’ on 13 April 1987. [For] the BBC John Peel Sessions… you had to come out with four finished songs in about eight hours that were gonna be broadcast, Marr told Steven Rosen for Ultimate Guitar in 2012. I kind of got my production skills together at those John Peel sessions because the rest of the bandmembers just looked at the BBC guy with a grumpy face behind the board and they looked at me and said, “Johnny get your wheels on”. Following the release of The Smiths’ third studio album The Queen Is Dead in June 1986, Marr played this 6120 – tuned to open G – for performances of ‘Meat Is Murder’ on the North American and UK legs of The Queen Is Dead Tour, from 30 July to 30 October 1986. Amateur fan footage from several of the October 1986 shows is available on YouTube. Perhaps most notably, Marr is seen playing this guitar in the promotional music video for the band’s 1986 single ‘Panic’, which was shot during the sound check for their show at the Congress Centre in Ottawa, Canada, on 2 August 1986. The wacky filters applied by director Derek Jarman made the Gretsch appear bright blue in the video rather than orange.
After a period exploring the full range of electronics, sequencers and samplers following the breakup of The Smiths, Marr and collaborator Bernard Sumner consciously included more guitars on their second album as dance-rock duo Electronic with Raise The Pressure, released in July 1996. With this new album I’ve gone back to a few guitars that were my mainstays when I was in The Smiths, Marr told Total Guitar in 1995. Like my Gretsch 6120, which is the best Gretsch I’ve ever played. Interviewed for The Guitar Magazine in 1997, Marr continued to rave about the Gretsch: Over the last two years, I've been experimenting with everything I've got and I've come back to the same old guitars - not because of nostalgia, simply cause they're fantastic. My Gretsch 6120 is great, even people who own other ones say mine is the best they've ever played. At some point in the mid-1990s, Marr loaned the guitar to The Cult’s Billy Duffy. Beggars Banquet asked me to make some demos but all of my equipment was in the States, Duffy told Mick Peek in 2013. Johnny kindly lent me a couple of his 1950s Gretsch’s which were incredible. One of which was a 6120 which would have to be my favourite guitar of his that he owns.
After forming The Healers in 2000, Marr enlisted the Gretsch on the group’s 2003 studio album Boomslang, telling Total Guitar: I always find space on a record somewhere for my Gretsch 6120. When he stepped into his solo era in the 2010s, Marr continued to turn to this guitar when searching for a certain sound in the studio. Speaking to Premier Guitar in 2022, Marr confirmed that the Gretsch 6120 was used on his fourth solo studio album Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 and revealed: For whammy-stuff and dive bombs, I’ll often use a Gretsch 6120 from the Smiths days. Marr has also employed the 6120 in his movie soundtrack work with Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, which began with their collaboration on the score for 2010 Christopher Nolan film Inception. The Gretsch can be heard on the score for 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which Marr co-wrote with Zimmer as a member of The Magnificent Six.
I found and still find now that it's usually just a small number of fabulous amplifiers and classic, great guitars that all have their own sort of character, Marr tells Rosen. Lucky for me, old guitars weren't called vintage guitars in those days... There was only a few of us sort of young bands into old guitars. Between the Ricky (lot 5) and the old Tele (lot 10), the Les Paul (lot 20) and Gretsch (the present lot), I was able to get a lot of different clean tones. What can I say, I was lucky enough to get my hand on a few very great instruments.
See lot 35 for additional images of this lot.