October 31: Johnny Marr’s guitar architecture
Born October 31, 1963, Johnny Marr shaped the Smiths' guitar arrangements through melody, layers and texture, later refining his signature Fender Jaguar.
Reference-guided illustration of Johnny Marr. Photo reference and licence credited below.
Johnny Marr was born on October 31, 1963. With the Smiths, he made the guitar an arranger’s instrument: melody, layers and texture could do the work of a conventional lead-guitar spotlight.
His interest in shaping sound extended to the instrument itself. Fender released the Johnny Marr Jaguar in 2012 with his personal design refinements, a later chapter in a career that reaches well beyond the Smiths. Dig into the instruments and ideas in our Johnny Marr guide.
Illustration based on a photograph by Liliane Callegari, licensed under CC BY 2.0. New illustrated composition, pose, setting and lighting; not a documentary photograph.
