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Lot Essay
An unusual and useful instrument. This is sometimes known as a 6-string bass, but I've always called it a baritone guitar. I have the strings tuned to a pitch between the bass and the guitar, not as low as a bass or as high as a guitar. The strings were custom made for me by Rotosound, replicating the ones they originally manufactured for John Entwistle in the 1960s.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
Johnny Marr acquired this 1962 Fender VI in the mid-1980s from The Who bassist John Entwistle via guitar tech Alan Rogan. In conversation with Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, Marr recalled: Around [the] time when The Smiths started to have a run of hits - 1985, I guess - I became friends with a guy called Alan Rogan, who is sadly no longer with us. He 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. Marr told us that he kept the guitar tuned to ADGBEA, explaining: John Entwistle taught me always, always tune it a fifth across, so the bottom string is A. There’s a lot of guitarists that make the mistake of just thinking it’s like a six-string bass and tuning it to EADGBE, when in fact you need to tune it like a baritone.
The Bass VI became a useful tool in Marr’s songwriting arsenal and would be called into use in the studio throughout his career, from The Smiths to The Cribs. During the recording of The Smiths’ fourth and final studio album Strangeways, Here We Come at Wool Hall Studios in Bath in spring 1987, bassist Andy Rourke used this Bass VI to record the bass part on the song ‘Death At One’s Elbow’. When Marr joined forces with Matt Johnson in The The after the dissolution of The Smiths, he used the Bass VI to record the bass part on the song ‘Helpline Operator’ on their 1993 album Dusk. In his 2016 autobiography, Marr called Dusk… one of the best things I’ve ever done and noted that, along with ‘Dogs of Lust’ and ‘This Is The Night’, the song ‘Helpline Operator’ conjured up the restless nocturnal life I’d known with Matt in London and New York.
Interviewed for The Guitar Magazine in January 1997, Marr divulged that 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 'cos they're fantastic, and listed his favourite guitars, adding Another guitar I really like is a Fender Bass VI baritone guitar, which is interesting, even though it's only really got one sound. Still a go-to instrument some twelve years later, Marr brought the Bass VI to Seedy Underbelly Studios in Los Angeles in March 2009 to record the 2009 album Ignore The Ignorant with The Cribs. According to Marr, brothers Ryan and Gary Jarman got really into writing on the Bass VI during the sessions and ended up using it to record a couple of tracks. Bassist Gary used the Bass VI on the song ‘Save Your Secrets’, while guitarist Ryan used it on ‘Stick To Yr Guns’. Marr is seen playing the Bass VI in Secrets Saved, the 2009 video documentary of the recording of the album that was included with the deluxe album box set The Roses Edition.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
Johnny Marr acquired this 1962 Fender VI in the mid-1980s from The Who bassist John Entwistle via guitar tech Alan Rogan. In conversation with Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, Marr recalled: Around [the] time when The Smiths started to have a run of hits - 1985, I guess - I became friends with a guy called Alan Rogan, who is sadly no longer with us. He 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. Marr told us that he kept the guitar tuned to ADGBEA, explaining: John Entwistle taught me always, always tune it a fifth across, so the bottom string is A. There’s a lot of guitarists that make the mistake of just thinking it’s like a six-string bass and tuning it to EADGBE, when in fact you need to tune it like a baritone.
The Bass VI became a useful tool in Marr’s songwriting arsenal and would be called into use in the studio throughout his career, from The Smiths to The Cribs. During the recording of The Smiths’ fourth and final studio album Strangeways, Here We Come at Wool Hall Studios in Bath in spring 1987, bassist Andy Rourke used this Bass VI to record the bass part on the song ‘Death At One’s Elbow’. When Marr joined forces with Matt Johnson in The The after the dissolution of The Smiths, he used the Bass VI to record the bass part on the song ‘Helpline Operator’ on their 1993 album Dusk. In his 2016 autobiography, Marr called Dusk… one of the best things I’ve ever done and noted that, along with ‘Dogs of Lust’ and ‘This Is The Night’, the song ‘Helpline Operator’ conjured up the restless nocturnal life I’d known with Matt in London and New York.
Interviewed for The Guitar Magazine in January 1997, Marr divulged that 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 'cos they're fantastic, and listed his favourite guitars, adding Another guitar I really like is a Fender Bass VI baritone guitar, which is interesting, even though it's only really got one sound. Still a go-to instrument some twelve years later, Marr brought the Bass VI to Seedy Underbelly Studios in Los Angeles in March 2009 to record the 2009 album Ignore The Ignorant with The Cribs. According to Marr, brothers Ryan and Gary Jarman got really into writing on the Bass VI during the sessions and ended up using it to record a couple of tracks. Bassist Gary used the Bass VI on the song ‘Save Your Secrets’, while guitarist Ryan used it on ‘Stick To Yr Guns’. Marr is seen playing the Bass VI in Secrets Saved, the 2009 video documentary of the recording of the album that was included with the deluxe album box set The Roses Edition.