.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The seven-string is definitely a different beast... in terms of technique and application, it’s hardly any different to a six-string, but sound-wise, it adds a new dimension.
Johnny Marr, Guitar World, 2025
In keeping with his long history with Martin guitars, dating back to 1984 when he acquired his D-28 (lot 21), Johnny Marr partnered with Martin in 2024 to release two new models - the M-6 & M-7 Johnny Marr Custom Artist editions. Their collaboration evolved organically after Fred Greene, Vice President of Product Management at C.F. Martin & Co., approached Marr to develop an artist signature model, as Marr explained in a Martin Guitar promotional video: We just had a discussion, an enthusiastic discussion about guitars - about Martins, of course - and all the different models. We weren't sitting over a bunch of photographs; it was just two guitar freaks talking. He later told Gardner that the process felt like magicking up all my favourite bits and going, "Really? Is that allowed? Would that work?".
The seed of the idea for a seven-string acoustic had been sewn by Marr's long-time collaborator and luthier Bill Puplett, who had told him of a 1960s blues guitarist in Soho who played a seven-string acoustic. Resisting the temptation to recreate his cherished D-28 – as Marr told Josh Gardner of Guitar.com in 2025: There's no point in me just making another D-28 because the D-28s are perfect! – Marr settled on the Grand Auditorium proportions of a 0000-sized model. The resulting instrument was a combination of Marr's favourite Martin features: the three-piece back of a D-35 with the broad lower bout of a dreadnought and an additional octave G string, sharing a bridge pin with the standard G string in order to achieve the signature Johnny Marr jangle. Marr explained to Henry Yates of Guitar World that he wanted to create a tighter, more rock-and-roll-oriented acoustic, remarking I think it's the closest that Martin has got to those rock 'n' roll records that usually have J-200s on.
Externally, Marr looked to the Martins of the 70s, specifying a faux-tortoiseshell pickguard, ebony fingerboard and gloss-finished mahogany neck. Internally, however, the M-7 would be thoroughly modern, equipped with LR Baggs Anthem electronics which combine an under-saddle pickup with an internal microphone system, allowing the guitar's natural acoustic tones and character to be faithfully reproduced in both live and studio settings. Together these features reflect Marr’s desire to pack his many layered studio and stage sounds into a single, highly playable acoustic instrument.
Once Marr had shared all his ideas for the seven-string with Martin, the Custom Shop put them together and built the present guitar for him to try. Evidently a successful experiment, the final M-7 Johnny Marr Artist Edition was released on 30 October 2024. This guitar has toured extensively with Marr since then, alongside another which was likely the first prototype sent by Martin to him, and is now his main performance acoustic. This guitar made appearances on stage during both his US and European Tours of 2025, including at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York, on 26 September and at CBGB, New York, on 27 September. Footage of his European shows last year and photos captured by tour photographer Gaëlle Beri show the guitar was brought out in Lille, Paris, Utrecht, Copenhagen, Zurich and Milan between 21 October - 6 November, for renditions of Marr's 2023 single 'Somewhere' and the Smiths' 'Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want'.
Reflecting on the self-described one-man band approach to playing, Marr clarified in the Martin Guitar video: All of these things that I do on record using a few guitars, I've [now] got in the one guitar that I can carry around with me, and if I go play with a pal or go and guest with someone, I sound like me.
Johnny Marr, Guitar World, 2025
In keeping with his long history with Martin guitars, dating back to 1984 when he acquired his D-28 (lot 21), Johnny Marr partnered with Martin in 2024 to release two new models - the M-6 & M-7 Johnny Marr Custom Artist editions. Their collaboration evolved organically after Fred Greene, Vice President of Product Management at C.F. Martin & Co., approached Marr to develop an artist signature model, as Marr explained in a Martin Guitar promotional video: We just had a discussion, an enthusiastic discussion about guitars - about Martins, of course - and all the different models. We weren't sitting over a bunch of photographs; it was just two guitar freaks talking. He later told Gardner that the process felt like magicking up all my favourite bits and going, "Really? Is that allowed? Would that work?".
The seed of the idea for a seven-string acoustic had been sewn by Marr's long-time collaborator and luthier Bill Puplett, who had told him of a 1960s blues guitarist in Soho who played a seven-string acoustic. Resisting the temptation to recreate his cherished D-28 – as Marr told Josh Gardner of Guitar.com in 2025: There's no point in me just making another D-28 because the D-28s are perfect! – Marr settled on the Grand Auditorium proportions of a 0000-sized model. The resulting instrument was a combination of Marr's favourite Martin features: the three-piece back of a D-35 with the broad lower bout of a dreadnought and an additional octave G string, sharing a bridge pin with the standard G string in order to achieve the signature Johnny Marr jangle. Marr explained to Henry Yates of Guitar World that he wanted to create a tighter, more rock-and-roll-oriented acoustic, remarking I think it's the closest that Martin has got to those rock 'n' roll records that usually have J-200s on.
Externally, Marr looked to the Martins of the 70s, specifying a faux-tortoiseshell pickguard, ebony fingerboard and gloss-finished mahogany neck. Internally, however, the M-7 would be thoroughly modern, equipped with LR Baggs Anthem electronics which combine an under-saddle pickup with an internal microphone system, allowing the guitar's natural acoustic tones and character to be faithfully reproduced in both live and studio settings. Together these features reflect Marr’s desire to pack his many layered studio and stage sounds into a single, highly playable acoustic instrument.
Once Marr had shared all his ideas for the seven-string with Martin, the Custom Shop put them together and built the present guitar for him to try. Evidently a successful experiment, the final M-7 Johnny Marr Artist Edition was released on 30 October 2024. This guitar has toured extensively with Marr since then, alongside another which was likely the first prototype sent by Martin to him, and is now his main performance acoustic. This guitar made appearances on stage during both his US and European Tours of 2025, including at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York, on 26 September and at CBGB, New York, on 27 September. Footage of his European shows last year and photos captured by tour photographer Gaëlle Beri show the guitar was brought out in Lille, Paris, Utrecht, Copenhagen, Zurich and Milan between 21 October - 6 November, for renditions of Marr's 2023 single 'Somewhere' and the Smiths' 'Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want'.
Reflecting on the self-described one-man band approach to playing, Marr clarified in the Martin Guitar video: All of these things that I do on record using a few guitars, I've [now] got in the one guitar that I can carry around with me, and if I go play with a pal or go and guest with someone, I sound like me.