Fender is very proud to introduce the Johnny Marr signature Jaguar guitar. 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.
Specialized features include 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; and "taller" tremolo arm with arm-sleeve nylon insert to prevent arm swing.
Johnny Marr on his Signature Fender Jaguar
"Primarily, I was attracted to the Jag by the way it sounded - this big, clear, ringing sound. My first proper experience playing one was with Modest Mouse in 2005. I had this riff kicking around that ended up becoming the song 'Dashboard', and it went from there really. The Jag suited the way I'd evolved as a guitar player, but at the same time my old stuff sounded absolutely right on it. It sounds like I'm supposed to sound."
"Aesthetically, I think the Jag is beautiful. I love the body shape and chrome; the early-'60s idea of space-age design. When Fender approached me to make my own signature Jaguar, I wanted to iron out some of the flaws that I felt the guitar had, and spent months on the road going through as many as fifteen old Jags working out what I liked and didn't like about each one. I wanted to prove the naysayers wrong about the Jag and my world became the guitar and the length of my guitar lead!"
