Fender introduces a new Jaguar with modifications by The Smiths guitarist 05-Jan-12
Fender has introduced the Johnny Marr signature Jaguar guitar, which they say puts the inventive ringing sounds and highly distinctive design mods of one of the U.K.'s greatest modern-era guitarists into a truly unique variation on a classic Fender guitar model.
Marr is best known, of course, as the strikingly dynamic and influential anti-hero guitarist-arranger-all-around-musical-wunderkind behind Manchester quartet the Smiths, which virtually redefined and ruled U.K. pop throughout the 1980s. A master of melody, layering and texture, Marr has always brought his own instantly identifiable ringing, jangling genius to the proceedings, as he has done in post-Smiths stints with The The, Electronic, the Pretenders and Johnny Marr and the Healers, and right up to the present with Modest Mouse, the Cribs and innumerable guest appearances.
Fender tells us that the Johnny Marr signature Jaguar is a fantastically non-standard version of the model that is as distinctive as the sounds Marr wrings from it, with a wealth of highly specialized features including:
Custom-wound Bare Knuckle® Johnny Marr single-coil neck and bridge pickups.
Custom-shaped maple neck based on Marr's 1965 Jaguar, with vintage-style truss rod, lacquer finish and Marr's signature on the front of the headstock.
Four-position blade-style pickup switch mounted to the lower-horn chrome plate (bridge, bridge and neck in parallel, neck, bridge and neck in series).
Two upper-horn slide switches (universal bright and pickup switch position four bright).
Jaguar bridge with Mustang saddles, nylon bridge post inserts for improved stability, chrome cover and vintage-style floating tremolo tailpiece.
"Taller" tremolo arm with arm-sleeve nylon insert to prevent arm swing.
The guitar comes in Olympic White and new Metallic KO (a distinctive orange tint derived from the heavily faded Candy Apple Red finish of one of Marr's favorite '60s-era Fender models).
Other premium features include the classic Jaguar 24" scale length, lacquer-finished alder body, 7.25"-radius rosewood fingerboard with 22 vintage-style frets, master volume and tone controls, three-ply pickguard (white-black-white) and chrome hardware. Accessories include a custom case with blue crushed velvet interior, strap, cable, flatwound strings and booklet featuring commentary on the guitar by Marr himself.
Wow! I just watched the entire video. He's always been one of my favorite guitarists, although I've often been saddened by his career choices. But he's put so much love and effort into every aspect of this guitar......you're actually getting something more than a name attached to it. AND it happens to be one of the coolest guitars on the planet, a Jaguar! Time to start saving up! It's so funny.........I just last week, after months of neglect, picked up my Cyclone II (a very underrated guitar, by the way), with two jag pups in it, and I've been really digging on the versatility and uniqueness of its sound(s). And now this comes along.............
why? he used various other guitars to get that jangle sound...that's a misconception people have that it's always a ric...but you'd be surprised what guitars were used when you think it was a ric that recorded it.
Bare Knuckle. Go on their site and contact them about these pickups as they were designed and made for this guitar alone. Get ready to burn a hole in your pocket though..... Bare Knuckle pickups ain't cheap!
Morrissey is tormented & still suffers & all Johnny Marr wants to do is talk about his Fender Jaguar...lol...Just playin, Johnny is a killer guitarist & deserves his own signature model..;-)
Well, Leo Fender thought about his guitars differently. He didn't see them as different guitars but rather as an evolution of one guitar, which is why he always sought to replace the older ones with the newer models. Of course, that didn't work out because they all sound different. I guess he looked at it from more of a design perspective since he didn't play guitar. The Telecaster is my favorite Fender guitar, it sounds MEAN with distortion and has that sweet twang when clean.
Thanks. . . it seems shorter than my Les Paul and my SG. . or is it just me? I never measured it when I had the Jag. From what I have read this was going to be a flag ship guitar for Fender when it came out . . and then the short scale. Thanks for the insight into the design.
Maybe it will happen when he finally returns with a new My Bloody Valentine album.
We're in a world where Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore, and J Mascis have been honored with signature Jazzmasters so it might not be such a stretch any more to think a KS Jag/JM could happen.
I don't know if it would be anything special. Shields seemed to make the magic happen with regular Jags anyway, perhaps a Kevin Shields Reverb pedal would be more fitting!
I couldn't tell you, all I know is they put the short scale necks on the Musicmaster guitar, and they started off as student models, something easier for the beginner, that's all I can tell you, I love the short scale neck, but, I think they should have been more versatile, and had more options, so everyone could be happy with them, including having more than one headstock, that's what attracted me to the Kurt Cobain signature, that and the pickups, I would love this guitar also
Does anyone know why Fender put a short scale on this guitar? I love Jag's and have owned two American made ones. . but always wondered what the thinking was behind the shorter scale?
Thats a thing of beauty! and I wants one! Johnny has an extensive collection of guitars which you can check out on his website if interested The dudes such a legend and a true inspiration!
If you want to see more of him- he's also in a documentary coming out later this year about the decline of Independent Record Stores in the UK- It's called Last Shop Standing :)
the Irish Tony Montana, well Mancunian Irish. Marr is a master craftsmen, he has such love/respect for the Guitar, & it shows in his classy playing. One of the greats..
Thanks for the direct links to the songs! I love listening to Marr speak about his craft, but I crave listening to him play. I come back to hear that.
It's very Johnny actually spent some time figuring out exactly what he wanted out of a signature model and made some serious demands of Fender in the design process. I get the feeling that most dudes who get a signature model just give a thumbs up to whatever the company draws up and wait for the checks to roll in. I'm not a Fender guy, but I definitely want to play one of these now.
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