Johnny Marr Sig Jaguar

[The Dead Ranch Hands]

my memory's foggy- is the marr neck based off a 65 jag or a 65 strat? i seem to remember it being based of a 65 strat.

As far as I can remember it was a Jag neck but he copied the contours from a Strat and Jag (which was owned by someone on here no?)

I think that's right.

[mekhem]

my memory's foggy- is the marr neck based off a 65 jag or a 65 strat? i seem to remember it being based of a 65 strat.

As far as I can remember it was a Jag neck but he copied the contours from a Strat and Jag (which was owned by someone on here no?)

I think that's right.

Yep - Neck 65 (possibly the 65 he bought from a member here), body early 60's strat.

[saturday]

Update on the guitar. In a nutshell - back to happy.

Hey kids - got sucked in to trying to make this guitar something it isn't.
First a lil background
I have an inexpensive PRS Corina Single Cut with nice Joe Barden HB Two Tones that equals the price of the guitar and sustain~~~~~
And a bit of a level up American made Strat with nothing special pick up wise other than Seymour Duncan humbucker - short lived model which sustains~~~~
So I am expecting sustain~~~~~~~~ from the Marr Jag.

So I put a Wharton bridge on the Marr Jag. With those strings stretching from the bridge to the tremolo, it isn't ever going to sustain like strings ending right at the bridge. Unless I click on my Bigg Muff and then yeah - sustain.
So I learns sometin.

I loved that guitar out of the case despite the neck. One or two people's accurately assessed that guitar (neck) really needed a set up. Kudos. You were right.

Well, Flat wound 11s and the Whartmoth and I was not feeling the love. I mean, I was ebay ready.

I put wound 11s on, the Marr bridge back in place and with the short neck the guitar is what is - a plucky percussive guitar that would make Dick Dale proud. With Marr's Smith catalog I was trying to fit this guitar's sound into that era.
He ain't there anymore - aside from the nice tele bridge sound. Cribs and Modest Mouse - mostly Cribs - My Gibson - or maybe not - his playing of the Smiths' tunes sound like the recordings.

Yous guyz was right - I was wrong - so sue me.
Live and learn. The neck is adjusted. Bright 11s are on. The nut is filed so the strings sit closer to the fret board at the first fret. The Marr bridge is back in - which if the plastic whatchamacallits do dampen sustain, they simply add to the percussive nature.

I still wish that neck bolt was at the top of the neck but what evs. On the other hand, I wish those Klusons were on every Fender!!!!! And I love the stay in place tremolo arm. And the tremolo - no dive bombs - but it stays in tune.

And I dig the Bare Knuckles pick ups.

And the "little things" not so little - the case is gorgeous. Love the 65 neck and the deeper body - but too heavy!!!

Marr took the Jaguar and made a new instrument. Just like there are variations on strats. Also, I noticed they have gone up $100 in price since coming out.

I gots one question - Does anyone know exactly what lacquer the guitar is finished with? Would the guitar not being lacquered allow it to sound any better? Would the would resonate more? Thanks for allowing another possibly incredibly dumb question. http://www.mother-of-tone.com/lacquer.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HP Hovercraft]

It's the same price, it just happened to be on sale for $100 off all summer, like Fender's other guitars in the same price range.

As for the paint, the type is not really made clear by Fender. I don't think it's nitrocellulose, otherwise they would say so. I think it's acrylic lacquer.

[saturday]

Well I got lucky and got it for a lot less than that one hundred.

It would be nice to know the lacquer.

As always - thanks HP.

I am waiting for the told you sos.

Oh and Warmoth. Sorry - not Whartmoth.

[dph]

I've been gassing for an offset since I sold my '62 RI Jazzmaster some months ago, soI finally ordered the Marr last night through Sweetwater. I haven't figured out what I'm going to sell to pay for it, but looking forward to the box on the porch.

[saturday]

I love it.

I bet you do. Remember my friend it is a unique sounding guitar.

I had a hard time not expecting it to sound like a guitar it was not.

Ryan at Sweetwater by any chance? Great guy!

[araT]

I have a question for all you JMJag owners... how do you feel about the custom BKP pickups? do you like them better than AVRIs? I'm contemplating pulling the trigger on a set, I've loved everything else BKP has done, so I'm excited to hear your opinions on these.

[saturday]

This is my first Jag so I cannot compare.

The guitar as a whole is a much more percussive sounding guitar than a strat. I would assume
the BKP play a role in that.

Sorry, I could not be of more help.

[dph]

The Marr is my first Jag too. I’ve only had it for one day, but as others have said, it’s not what I expected. I was honestly expecting an offset Telecaster with a great trem and New Frontier styling, but the Jag is really its own thing, even more so than my old Jazzmaster.

Regarding the pickups question: I’ve never played another Jaguar, but the Marr tone is especially unique. It's definitely in the Fender family, but I’d say there’s more overlap between a strat and tele than between the Jag and any other Fender I’ve played. The clean sounds are great, most excellent to play something like the Cocteau Twins or the XX, although I primarily plan on using it in my funk/soul band with a horn section. I haven’t had the chance to put any paste on it yet, but it seems to not to push my amp as hard as does my Baja Telecaster. All said, being pretty familiar with Johnny Marr’s catalogue, it makes a lot of sense that Marr was behind the design of this guitar.

Other unique qualities? Another surprise was the excellent sustain. I was very much anticipating the plunkiness (not a bad thing) of my Jazzmaster, but it rings like a Les Paul. The only thing so far that I don’t like, and may have to change, is the potentiometers. The volume seems to go from 10 to 4 in about 1tenth of a turn, rendering it almost useless in a gig situation. Same goes for the tone knob. All said, so far so good.

[saturday]

That is interesting about your feelings on the sustain. Without a Big Muff, I don't find the sustain to be very long.
I take that back - on the parallel position - it is a bit more. That sound is a sound all its own! Def a Tele sound on the bridge pick up.

I am so glad you mentioned The XX!!! An excellent style of playing this guitar is made for.

How I wish Baria Qureshi was still playing in The Xx.

[dph]

Sustain is something that's usually not too important to me, especially given the genera that I usually play in, so I wasn't looking for or expecting that from a Jaguar. I've also heard on the forums that Jag sustain isn't usually that great, so maybe I just got lucky with mine.

Re. the XX and similar, they owe a lot to '80s anti-heros like Marr and the Edge who used their instruments more like a paint brush than anything else.

[saturday]

The Xx guitar playing is nothing like Marr's or the Edge's. What makes it so unique at the current time is the lack of effects, layering and delay.
So I will have to disagree with you at least concerning the first album.

The other thing that struck me is that despite the videos of Marr playing Smiths' covers withhis sig gtr - it is nothing like the Rickenbackers, Telecasters (well ok in bridge position) and strats he played in The Smiths.
Cribs and Modest Mouse seemed to have been the big influence on his sig


Again, congrats on the purchase!

[dph]

The Xx guitar playing is nothing like Marr's or the Edge's.

I couldn't agree more. I didn't communicate it well, but I was referring to their textural approaches which are all very different. And the xx uses Gibsons anyway. :-)

[EdGrip]

(Johnny just put this on his Facebook:)