Johnny Marr guitar auction brings a 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo back into view at Christie's, where it sits among nearly 100 electric and acoustic guitars. The instrument first went to Oasis during the recording of Definitely Maybe, then turned up in the photoshoot for Supersonic. Noel Gallagher said he looked at it on the floor and knew it could not be The Smiths' guitar.
Christie's and the 1982 Rickenbacker
1982 is the key date on the guitar itself, and the sale now gives collectors a direct line from Marr's ownership to Oasis imagery. Christie's is placing it inside a wider auction of nearly 100 electric and acoustic guitars, so the item is not isolated as a one-off lot but positioned as one of the standouts in a larger sale. For bidders, that means the guitar's value will be tested not only against its make and age, but against its history across two bands.
During the recording of Definitely Maybe, Marr sent the Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo to Oasis to help the band. That loan is what turns the auction into more than a memorabilia sale. The guitar carries a traceable path from Marr's support of Oasis to the single that helped define the band's early run, which gives the lot a layered provenance that buyers can assess with unusual precision.
Noel Gallagher and Supersonic
1993 is the release year tied to the photoshoot image Gallagher described, and he said the guitar was placed on the floor so the band would look like a working group. “Someone took it out and just put it on the floor so it would look like we were a working band.” He added, “It’s on the cover of Supersonic.”
Gallagher also recalled the moment the guitar registered to him: “I remember looking at it on the floor going, ‘That can not be The Smiths’ guitar, there’s no way he sent that down here to a load of geezers from Longsight,’” he said. That reaction captures the oddity at the center of the lot: a guitar tied to The Smiths and to Oasis, now moving into a market setting where provenance and cultural memory travel together.
Marr, Oasis and the sale
Nearly 100 guitars in one auction means the bidding will not be driven by one collectible alone, but Marr's Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo is the piece with the clearest story attached. If the sale follows the pattern collectors usually reward, the combination of a 1982 build, a documented loan to Oasis, and an image tied to Supersonic should make this guitar the lot that sets the tone for the rest of the catalogue. The open question is the one buyers will answer at Christie's: what price does a guitar with both The Smiths and Oasis history fetch?
