MAGNIFICENT

Tearing up the blueprint with an octave G string, Johnny Marr's new seven-string Martin signature model is a distillation of all the British icon's most rebellious opinions on acoustic (and yes, there's also a six-string version)

- HENRY YATES

IT WAS DECEMBER 2023, and backstage at Manchester's Aviva Studios, Johnny Marr was wrestling with a dilemma. Playing the same venue the night before with a 30-piece orchestra, he'd turned to a Martin D-28, of the kind that propelled him to Eighties stardom in the Smiths, and gifted him classics like "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out." Now, flanked by elite classical musicians and facing an expectant hometown crowd for the second show, Marr found himself debating whether to give a trial by fire to the prototype of his new signature Martin M-7, which was delivered half an hour earlier.

As the man who jumped from that most cherished of British indie-rock bands with no safety net in 1987, perhaps it's no surprise to learn that Marr took the leap of faith that night, walking from the wings with the head-turning seven-string model. "The minute I took it out, people noticed the tuning configuration and did a double-take," Marr tells us. "But the most striking thing is when you hear it."

Conceptually, the M-7 is not quite without precedent. Back in 2005, that other great master of crystalline chime, Byrds icon Roger McGuinn, launched a signature Martin that also offered a doubled G string. Even so, it's remarkable to hear how Marr's new model sings, its jangle-ready format accentuated by a wishlist of build features including an all-solid Grand Auditorium body, full-thickness mahogany neck and three-piece back (a regular six-string, the M-6, is also available). "It was all instinct for me," he says. "But the really exciting thing was whether all those different features would work together as one instrument."

Do you remember the first time you saw a Martin?