Smiths On Guitar

Andy Rourke's Gear

2012-01-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is all the information I have been able to collect regarding Andy Rourke's instruments, amps and setup. I will add more information to this entry as it becomes available. Please email me if you have more information or want to correct an error.

Amps

Andy's early Smiths rig was a Peavey Mark III bass head with Ohm 4x10 and 1x15 cabinets. He later used Trace Elliot GP-11 heads with Trace Elliot 4x10 and 1x15 cabinets, as well as an Ampeg SVT head with Ampeg 8x10 cabinets.

Peavey Mark III bass head

Trace Elliot GP-11

Ampeg SVT

Effects

Andy often used a Boss CE-2 chorus, and sometimes a Boss GE-10 EQ. He has said he used a Boss flanger as well, but I haven't seen one in any photos.

Boss CE-2 visible on top of amp

Boss CE-2 visible on top of Trace Elliot GP-11

Boss GE-10 equalizer

Boss GE-10 and CE-2

Tunings

Andy tuned his basses up to F# in the early days of the Smiths. In later years he would use a dedicated F# bass for older songs alongside a bass in standard E tuning. Early basses such as the Guild and various Squier's have only been seen tuned to F#. The Yamaha BB2000, as well as the '62, '64, and '66 Fender Precision basses have been seen in both F# and E tunings at different shows. He used medium-gauge Rotosound strings. A drop-D tuning was used on “How Soon Is Now” and “Shoplifters of the World Unite”.

Basses

Guild B-301

Andy's first Smiths bass. Was first seen on January 21st, 1983 at Manhattan Sound. It's last known appearance was May 6th, 1983, the same month Andy began using his P-Bass copy.

Unknown P-Bass Copy

I don't know what model bass this is. I can't quite make out the name on the headstock. Appears to be a 1970's Japanese copy of some kind. Andy's first known use of this bass was May 21st 1983, and it was last seen on June 29th.

Squier Precision Bass

This bass was first seen on July 6th at the Hacienda, shortly after Andy stopped using the Japanese P-Bass copy.

Squier Precision Bass, Black with Black Pickguard and Maple Neck

This bass is likely the same as the Squier above, but with a changed pickguard. It was first seen with the black pickguard on October 5th 1983 at the ICA. It was used in the video for This Charming Man, and was Andy's main bass for the remainder of 1983. It was last seen in this configuration on the Earsay program on March 31st, 1984.

Squier Precision Bass, Black with Black Pickguard and Rosewood Neck

Only one known known appearance: June 14th, 1984 on Top Of The Pops. It's very possible that this bass is Andy's regular Squier with another neck.

Yamaha BB2000

Described by Andy as being used "for the funky stuff", this was the bass used to record Barbarism Begins At Home. It's first known appearance was at Glastonbury in June 1984. It saw use on the Smiths Spanish tour in May of 1985, where it was used once per show, for Meat Is Murder. It was also seen on the Scottish tour in September of 1985. It was last used on a performance on The Tube on April 10th of 1987- The Smiths' second-to-last TV appearance. The bass was sold on eBay in October 2003.

1964 Fender Precision Bass

“I got my main P-Bass when Seymour Stein from Sire took us down to Manny’s Music in New York to buy Johnny a guitar and me a bass. I picked out this old beat-up bass because its label said 1964—same year I was born. It has a really warm sound. When you crank it, it has a good growl that I don’t think you can get from any other bass." -Andy Rourke

This bass had it's first documented appearance on January 26, 1984 on a Top Of The Pops. Perhaps Andy's most iconic Smiths bass, it was heavily used throughout 1984 and continued to see use as one of his main live basses during the 1986 tours. It was last seen at the final Smiths show in December of 1986, where it was Andy's dedicated F# bass.

1962 Fender Precision Bass, Fiesta Red

This P-Bass was first seen on February 14, 1985 on Top Of The Pops. It saw heavy use throughout 1985 and was the main bass on the Spanish tour, as a dedicated F# bass. It was last seen at the final Smiths show, where it was tuned to E.

1966 Fender Precision Bass, Olympic White(slab body)

The first known appearance of this bass was May 20th, 1986, on Whistle Test. It was used as a main bass on the 1986 tours, in both E and F# tunings. It's quite a rare instrument; it's said that less than 20 were ever made. It was last seen on February 7th, 1987 at the San Remo Festival.

Fender Jazz Bass

This was used at two TV appearances in February and April 1987. This was the last bass that Andy used with The Smiths.

Guitarist, February 2012

2012-01-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

New Year's News

2012-01-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has had a nice new year so far.

Fender has put up a page with details about the upcoming Johnny Marr signature Jaguar. You can check it out here:

http://www.fender.com/products/johnnymarrjaguar

There is also a fairly involved video interview, where Johnny plays some snippets of a few Smiths tunes.

I have recently made some site updates and have added all the tabs from the Smiths Best complete band score, which was published in Japan by Shinko Music. This is one of the Smiths tab holy grails, beside the Off The Record book. It's a complete score which includes multiple guitar parts as well as drum and bass parts.

Here's a photo of the cover. The tabs have been added to their respective song entries.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on Andy's bass gear section. It's been long-delayed, but it should be online in a week or so.

If anyone has any suggestions, please put them in the comments.

Total Guitar, Summer 2005

2011-10-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to MorrisseyScans for this article!

Sound On Sound, January 2005

2011-10-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

Bass Player, March 2006

2011-09-16T21:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks goes to Jeff for these scans.

I Won't Share You

2011-09-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

"There was this auto-harp lying around in the studio. I remember it sitting in one of the windowsills as you went down the stairs, and one day Johnny dusted it down. It had been sitting around for ages so he tuned it up and started playing these chords. It sounded absolutely beautiful so we recorded it there and then. A few days later Morrissey came in and put his vocal on top. It was one of those tracks that sent a little chill down your spine."

- Stephen Street

"I didn't realise it was the same chords as 'Ask' at the time and I'm glad I didn't because I might not have done it. I was just making a tune that sort of resonated with the day."

"I just heard a really lovely tune first off. I was happy that we had another unusual little 'star in our galaxy' or whatever. That's what it was like, this other little thing that just beamed down. The lyrics were brought to my attention by somebody, even before we got out of the studio. There were raised eyebrows and, 'Whadya think of that then?'. But it was all in a days work for me really, still is. If I was bothered by it I'd say, 'Well I ain't anyone's to fucking share, me" but that's really the truth. If, in fact, that sentiment was directed towards me then quite rightly I feel quite good about it. It's nice. It's okay. I'm not arsed about it."

- Johnny Marr

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book:

Thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs.

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

IrishBog does a great cover on acoustic 12 string, capo'ed up. While not an autoharp, it still sounds good. I can almost hear the harmonica playing over the outro!

Total Guitar, August 1997

2011-09-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

Note: The tab for the "This Charming Man" intro is wrong, as usual. It's played on the G and B strings around the 12th fret.

Sound Engineer Producer, August 1987

2011-09-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks goes to Stereovaritone for these scans.

Yultide Update

2010-12-23T21:57:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a nice holiday. As you have probably noticed, the blog recently moved to smithsonguitar.com. So far, it seems to be a smooth transition.

I have just tonight published an overhaul to the gear section, with several new guitars added and new info and photos added to the ones already listed. There will be another update to the gear page coming early next year which will cover Johnny's amps. Other than that, I think it is fairly comprehensive at this point.

I have several more updates coming in the new year including a new interview, a section on Andy's bass gear, and several rare tab books which I haven't posted yet. I will also try to hunt down all of the remaining dead links and fix them, as soon as I can.

I'd like to thank all my readers, especially everyone that has made contributions to the site. If anyone has any further suggestions or ideas, please let me know in the comments.

Guitar Techniques, October 2005

2010-12-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

All scans and mp3's for the example tracks are here.

Jules Standen Interview

2010-10-09T15:36:00.001-07:00

Julian "Jules" Standen is a record producer and engineer that worked with the Smiths first hand in the studio. After a 25 year freelance career he now runs Gearslutz.com, one of the largest pro audio/recording forum online communities.

He was kind enough to respond to an email I sent him, and was willing to answer a few questions about his experiences.

Smiths On Guitar: Can you tell us about your background in recording and how you came to work with John Porter and The Smiths?

Jules Standen: I was a Tape Op at Matrix Studios, London, UK. I started as a Tea Boy in Feb '82. An important part of the team was the engineer Bob Potter. I saw him as my mentor and I assisted him on a lot of sessions.

Smiths On Guitar: How many Smiths sessions did you work on?

JS: The first released singles and then the debut album.

Smiths On Guitar: What was the usual order in which the tracks were constructed? Did the band play together live in the studio, or was everything built on a click track?

JS: Live takes- but often just keeping the drums, then carefully overdubbing everything after that. I can't remember if they used a click or not..(I think perhaps yes).

Smiths On Guitar: What do you remember about the guitars, amps or effects Johnny used in the studio?

JS: John Porter rented in in 2 vintage, tweed covered Fender amps. The signal to them was split by a Boss stereo chorus pedal. This was the stereo chorus effect from the Roland JC120 amp in pedal form.

Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble

Guitars [that were] used included a vintage Gibson 335. I let Johnny borrow my own 1972 Les Paul Standard and my 1953 Gibson SJ acoustic. I think both may have been used a little, I am not 100% certain. Other vintage Gretsch guitars were brought to the studio, perhaps a Telecaster of the producer's also.

Smiths On Guitar: What kinds of recording gear was John Porter using?

JS: One Eurei 1176 would be used on vocals. On the bass and guitars 2 DBX 160 compressors were almost ALWAYS used on the console insert points - at a ratio of 3:1 pulling about 1 or 2 db of compression on the loudest passages. These were NOT stereo linked. The stereo (chorused) mic'ed, twin amp signal, was recorded on two tracks. The amps were placed far apart to pick up the maximum 'stereo' effect of the pedal. John Porter almost always insisted that everything done on guitar was double tracked.

For bass there would have been a DI signal - through a basic DI box and a mic on the amp. New strings were important for bass recordings - perhaps a set per song.

The 2" tape machine was a Telefunken. It had no remote control - so it was my job to sit next to it and load tape reels on and off it, press play, rewind & fast forward, arm tracks for record and press record. I would locate by looking at the number display and my notes for the song - the passages that the production team wanted to work on. I also helped set up mic's, amps etc. I was in the control room with the band and producers full time.

The console was a custom one made for the studio by its chief tech and maintenance guy Tim.

The studio acoustics were 1970's 'dead style' and no 'room sound' or 'ambience' was recorded or desired. The band did the first singles and album in this very small "studio 2" room.

Smiths On Guitar: Did Andy, Mike or Morrissey stay in the studio when Johnny was overdubbing guitars?

JS: They would be hanging around in the recreation area, perhaps playing pool, watching TV, reading NME, Melody Maker or out record shopping. Morressey was the least sociable - and only seemed to talk to the band members, John porter and Geoff Travis the record label boss. The control room was VERY small - so with John Porter, Engineer Bob Potter, Johnny Marr and myself. It would be pretty full already..

Smiths On Guitar: Did you have any personal interaction with Johnny or the rest of the band?

JS: During breaks in recording Johnny and I would hang out together a bit. We both idolized Keith Richards but each for different eras of his career, I would show him him how to play strummed open tuning (E/G) versions of 70's Rolling Stones tunes that were one bared finger and 2 finger "suspended" notes (which he took only a mild (but tactfully polite) interest in) such as songs like "Happy" or "Soul Survivor" from the Exile on Main Street album and he would try to teach me earlier 1960's fingerpicking guitar parts such as "The Last Time" from the Through the Past Darkly album (as it was those more complicated finger pick riffs that really interested him) and usually I would find them all a bit too fiddly, complicated and hard to master! (but I can still play the intro motif for "The Last Time" thanks to his patient tuition).

I was invited to stand and watch from the mixing desk area at the bands packed gig at the ICA art gallery - next to me was the UK Record co boss Geoff Travis and seeing them for the first time was also Seymour Stein of Sire Records (who later signed them to his label for the USA).

Later on The Smiths and I happened to be in New York at the same time so I visited them backstage at their first ever concert in the USA at the NYC club Danceteria. It was New Years Eve, 1983. I arrived late missing the actual gig - (they were very unhappy about their performance) but it was fun catching up with them and surrounded by strangers they seemed very happy to see a familiar face.

Total Guitar, October 2010

2010-09-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Update on site changes

2010-07-12T01:09:00.000-07:00

I have finally fixed all of the Guitar Pro and backing track links. Everything should be working now.

I also got a new file host for all of the bigger tab scans that were too big for Blogger to host. This was all made possible by my friend Uglow, a generous reader of the blog. He donated the space and helped me set everything up.

Lastly, people have asked me for a way to see what posts have been changed and edited after the fact. I have added a Recently Updated Posts page where I will add a note if I add a new video to an old post, or add a new tab etc. The link is at the bottom of the About Smiths On Guitar sidebar.

Miserable Lie

2010-07-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

"It came out exactly as it was. I just had some bananas idea that I gave to Morrissey while he was there. I think as a guitar composition it was kind of caught between two stools, but I was trying to do something original. It was an odd, quirky little thing. Used to confuse the hell out of people at our early gigs."

- Johnny Marr

Here are the scans from the debut album piano book, with guitar chord boxes:

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Sweet And Tender Hooligan

2010-07-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

I uploaded a Guitar Pro tab file here.

Here is the complete score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Here's Oscar80It on acoustic guitar:

Here's erwartungstk on bass:

London

2010-07-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

I have uploaded a Guitar Pro tab file here.

Here is the completed score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle

2010-07-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

I have uploaded a Guitar Pro file here.

Here are the scans from the debut album piano songbook with guitar chord boxes:

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Golden Lights

2010-06-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

"Yeah, that was another low point. Those are the two low points of our recording career, certainly. They're really inferior, and don't deserve a place alongside our own material."

- Johnny Marr on 'Golden Lights' and 'Work Is A Four Letter Word'

Here is the complete score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:

Update on site changes

2010-06-14T03:28:00.001-07:00

I have found a new file host, thanks to a very generous reader of the blog! I will be moving files and fixing dead links to stuff all week and I should have all the Guitar Pro files online by this weekend. I will also be adding a lot of scanned tabs to their individual respective entries, many of which were too big for blogger to host. I am doing some tests now to see what how big I can keep the scans without slowing the site to a crawl. I'm sure I will find a good compromise.

I will also be adding a log of some kind to the sidebar, where I will post the changes made to entries as I make them. This will make it easier to see what's new across the whole site. It can be daunting with almost 100 entries now online, it's even hard for me to keep track of everything. Look for it within the next week as well.

Lastly, I have just finished some huge updates to the gear section. I have added several guitars, added more/better photos of the existing guitars, and have started to cover the Smith's era effects pedals. As usual, I will keep adding info as I get it.

I have also added 5 of the Q&A's that Johnny did on the old site at jmarr.com. You can find them on the sidebar above the Magazines section. I couldn't get the rest, if anyone else has them saved, let me know.

Sheila Take A Bow

2010-01-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

Here is the complete score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:

Here are the scans from the Singles tab book:

Here are the scans from the Smiths Best Complete Score:

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Here's a cool guitar and bass version by johnnymare:

Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul:

Rubber Ring

2009-12-25T05:59:00.000-08:00

Here is the complete score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:

Here is a definitive version from pljnr:

Guitarist, June 2001

2009-11-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

These Things Take Time

2009-10-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

Here is the complete score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

I have uploaded a guitar pro file here. This tab is based off a live version of the song.

Here's a great version by Daniel Earwicker:

thirdynumberone does a quick run through here:

Another awesome cover by johnnymare:

The Queen Is Dead

2009-10-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

"I'd done the rhythm track for The Queen Is Dead, and left the guitar on the stand. The wah pedal just happened to be half open, and putting the guitar down made the guitar suddenly hit off this harmonic. We were back at the desk playing back the rhythm track and I could still hear this harmonic wailing away, so we put the tape back onto record while I crept back into the booth and started opening up the wah-wah, thinking 'Don't die, don't die!' Eventually I opened up the pedal, and 'Wooooohhhhhh!' Kept it going, too. Great accident.

For the frenzied wah-wah section on 'The Queen Is Dead,' I was thinking '60s Detroit, like the MC5 and the Stooges.

The album's title track was partly inspired by The MC5 and The Velvet Underground. A Velvets outtakes album called V.U. had just come out, and I loved 'I Can't Stand It', mostly because it had this swinging R&B guitar. I'd wanted to do something bombastic like that for a while, and 'The Queen Is Dead' was the right place to drop it.

I had The Queen Is Dead, the track, in my mind for a long time. I knew the song had the title, and I knew that was what the album was going to be called. To me, it was the MC5 playing 'I Can't Stand It'. I'd always felt let down by the MC5. When I was younger, people were going 'Oh, the Dolls, the MC5, the Stooges' -but when I first heard the MC5, it felt a little too gung-ho, too kind of testosterone-mad for me. I wanted to deliver what I imagined the MC5 to be - energy, coolness.

It was Morrissey's idea to include 'Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty' and he said, 'I want this on the track'. But he wasn't to know that I was going to lead into the feedback and drum rolls. It was just a piece of magic. I got the drum riff going and Andy got the bass line, which was one of his best ever and one that bass players still haven't matched. I went in there with all the lads watching and did the take and they just went, 'Wow'. I came out and I was shaking. When I suggested doing it again, they just said, 'No way! No way!' What happened with the feedback was I was setting my guitar up for the track and I put it onto a stand and it was really loud. Where it hit the stand, it made that note of feedback. I did the guitar track, put the guitar on the stand, and while we were talking, it was like, 'Wow, that sounded good'. So I said, 'Right - record that!' It was going through a wah-wah from the previous take, so I just started moving the wah-wah and it was getting all these different intervals, and it definitely added a real tension.

I loved Morrissey's singing on that, and the words. But it was very MC5. Morrissey has a real love for that music as well. I remember him playing the Ramones as much as he played Sandie Shaw.

The record company want to put out some rarities, so we’ve spoken about the longer versions of The Queen is Dead: the eight-minute one and another one where we played for 12 minutes. It sounds like Can or something.

The song 'The Queen Is Dead' I really like. I used to like the MC5 and The Stooges and it's as good if not better than anything The Stooges ever did. It's got energy and aggression in that kind of garagey way.

Using Dame Cicely Courtneidge's voice at the top of that track was Morrissey's idea, but it was also very apt for The Smiths collectively. We were all fans of classic British films like The L-Shaped Room, A Taste Of Honey and Hobson's Choice. The aesthetic of those movies was a huge source of inspiration, feeding into our music and artwork. Morrissey's never really been given full credit for that."

- Johnny Marr

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Here are the scans from the Queen Is Dead piano songbook with guitar chord boxes:

Daniel Earwicker does an awesome cover on bass, drums and guitar:

maudit80 does a cool version of the bass part: