A relentless, capo-high jangle with a famous secret layer, "Bigmouth Strikes Again" is Marr firing on all cylinders. Here's the tone.
What makes the tone. A bright, clean amp and a capo high on the neck for that fast, chiming ring — plus Marr's trick of a layered, pitch-shifted second guitar (the sped-up "Ann Coates" part) that adds the shimmering, otherworldly top. A little compression and reverb glue it. No dirt — it's all clean sparkle and layering.
The analogue recipe. Clean bright amp, capo up the neck, light compression and reverb. For the shimmer, add an octave-up/harmoniser layer or a second track pitched up.
On a Boss GT-100 / GT-1000 / GX-100. A clean Fender-style amp, compressor, reverb, and a pitch/harmony block for the layered shimmer.
On a Kemper. A sparkly clean profile, comp and reverb, a pitch-shifter in the loop for the top layer.
Skip the guesswork. The Soulster Tonebook for fans of The Smiths → has Marr's clean settings for Boss GT and Kemper. The full method is in our Johnny Marr guitar tone guide →.
Put it on the wall. The "Bigmouth Strikes Again" print → and t-shirt →.
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