Riff Tone
Girl Afraid
The Smiths
Guitarrock1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1983 Fender Telecaster (customized, likely with stock single-coil pickups)
AmpRoland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
PickupsFender single-coil (stock Telecaster bridge and neck pickups)
Amp Settings
gain0
bass5
mid6.5
treble7.5
reverb2.5
presence6
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1984 (Hatful of Hollow sessions). Johnny Marr is widely documented to have used a Fender Telecaster into a Roland JC-120 for this era and song. No evidence of live/tour gear or alternate guitars/amps for this specific recording. No evidence of additional amp gain stages or amp distortion.
Tone Character(10)
bright and janglyclean and glassyarticulate and percussivechorus shimmertight attackupper-mid presencestudio clarityno breakup or distortiondynamic response to pickingslightly compressed
Difficulty
The riff requires fast, accurate picking with complex chord shapes and precise muting, making it challenging for most intermediate players and demanding for advanced players seeking Johnny Marr's signature clarity and articulation.
Sources
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Create Free AccountGuitarrock1980s
Original Gear
Guitar1983 Fender Telecaster (customized, likely with stock single-coil pickups)
AmpRoland JC-120 Jazz Chorus
PickupsFender single-coil (stock Telecaster bridge and neck pickups)
Amp Settings
gain0
bass5
mid6.5
treble7.5
reverb2.5
presence6
Effects & Signal Chain
No effects used for this tone
Notes
Studio recording, 1984 (Hatful of Hollow sessions). Johnny Marr is widely documented to have used a Fender Telecaster into a Roland JC-120 for this era and song. No evidence of live/tour gear or alternate guitars/amps for this specific recording. No evidence of additional amp gain stages or amp distortion.
Tone Character(10)
bright and janglyclean and glassyarticulate and percussivechorus shimmertight attackupper-mid presencestudio clarityno breakup or distortiondynamic response to pickingslightly compressed
Difficulty
The riff requires fast, accurate picking with complex chord shapes and precise muting, making it challenging for most intermediate players and demanding for advanced players seeking Johnny Marr's signature clarity and articulation.
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