Knight Gretch anniversary gtr

A close listen to every Depeche Mode album from 1987’s ‘Music for the Masses’ onward reveals an increasingly significant role for 6-strings, including the cleanly plucked harmonics and swinging, half-Johnny Cash/half-Goth acoustic riff that drove 1990’s ‘Personal Jesus’ and the glorious Gretsch tones that highlighted ‘Enjoy The Silence’. In fact, although guitar rarely commands the spotlight in the traditional sense on planet Depeche, co-founder and primary songwriter Martin Gore – who also handles keyboard and occasional lead vocal duties – ensures that they play a far more integral role than many listeners might realize.

Says Martin “I started playing guitar when I was about 13. In the very first incarnation of the band, I was the only one who actually played synth and I’d never had any kind of keyboard training whatsoever, so I learned keyboards through guitar. We felt electronic music was the way forward at that point, however, so we decided to become an all-electronic band. It wasn’t until a few years later that we realized we were really restricting ourselves by not opening up to any other kind of instrumentation.”

It is common knowledge that in more recent years Martin has been an avid collector of guitars, gizmos, synths and effects via eBay. Despite his eBay prizes, Gore’s favorite guitar remains his beloved lime green Gretsch Double Anniversary, dubbed “the Green Knight” after luthier David Knight, who modified it in the early ’90s to be feedback resistant.

“This guitar is one of two identical replicas which were manufactured specifically for the ‘World Violation’ and ‘Devotional’ tours. Knight adapted them to work better in a live context due to the feedback issues associated with the original guitar. It was used throughout those tours and also in the studio around that time, and still supports the rubber protective backing designed to avoid the inevitable scratches that would have occurred as a result of the friction from Martin’s metallic jangling stage clothing! I don’t think I’ve actually changed the strings since the tour even though I do occasionally play and record with it myself. I have also included the original DM flight case used to transport the guitar on the road.”