It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:09 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 79 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:45 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:25 am
Posts: 18
That's great. Yet he is one the most influential guitarist. Certainly is to me, along with John Squier.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:20 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:48 pm
Posts: 16
Hi guys,

Has anyone taken delivery of this guitar yet? I will be interesting in hearing any views and opinions people may have.

On the tremolo arm fitment issue, Fender got back to me within a few days & as expected I had to de-string & remove the tremolo. The locking nut on the back of the tremolo collar has to be tight enough to compress the nylon insert so that it grips the arm - makes sense & all good! However, in order to stop the arm from free swinging the locking nut has to be fairly tight; so tight that once tightened, the arm cannot be removed. With the tremolo locked in this manner, and baring in mind that this guitar comes with a raised tremolo arm, I wouldn't advise putting the guitar in its case and closing the lid!

I don't know - there may be an in between sweet spot with the locking nut / nylon insert that i've missed, if there is, why didn't the guitar come set up like so?

Next gripe.

The high 'E' was virtually hanging of the fretboard making the guitar extremely difficult to play! After slacking off the neck plate and slightly adjusting the neck I've managed to free maybe a mm, but it's still not great. This has obviously come at the expense of pushing the low 'E' further up too! I think the general problem appears to be the Mustang saddle. It spreads the strings out across the neck a lot further than the standard Jag saddle does.

Apart from the guitars beautiful looks and switch functionality, compared to my much cheaper Mexican version it somewhat lacks in guts and ease of playability (the former maybe a little harsh as I know this guitar wasn't designed to be so!)


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 4:21 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:19 pm
Posts: 60
Gents, I am brand new to the forum. Just got my Johnny Jag 3 days ago, and I love this thing!

-to learn more (a lot more!) about this Jag there are at least 2 videos online: one is the Fender video (~14min and on youtube) in which JMarr just describes and plays; second is online magazine iGuitar which has 3 textual articles (one is Jag history) accompanied by 2 videos (part 1 ~ 20 min, part 2 ~ 15 min) in which JM is interviewed

-my guitar teacher has 3 Jags. he has been playing for 40+ years and says it is the best Jag he has ever played by far. He and I agree that the tones (10 separate settings using the 4 way toggle and two slider switches) are the most outstanding characteristic coupled with the Bare Knuckle pickups collaborated on by JMarr and the BK guys. The surf tones are unreal! Am receiving a Twin Reverb Custom 15 in a couple of days, and am real excited to surf the JM thru this amp.

-Playability: JM says the neck is modeled from a bit beefier contoured neck from a Jag he owns (a 1965 I believe), and I like it better than the slimmer ones I have run into over the years (guitar teacher really likes the JM neck because he has big hands). Action came set up for me great from the factory. Being a short scale, the strings are a little loose, but nothing like the Mustang I had in the late 70s. I have to work a little sometimes to keep the low E on the board. I think this is to be expected per the design.

-Body / cosmetics / switches / vibrato: I like the white (bright white pguard) on the cream white body (is Fender Olympic White supposed to be that cream color?); metal work well polished; body more scooped out on the back for comfort; switches all work well, no noise.

continued on next post


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 5:04 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:19 pm
Posts: 60
continued from my previous post:

-Vibrato: DO NOT close guitar in case with arm installed. On install, you will feel a distinct pop when in place. To retrieve, pull hard and wiggle. Much easier to operate and control than the Vibrato arm on my custom shop Strat. I do have concern about the longevity of the design.

-Accessories: lots of paperwork, and chogster I did receive the JM book (pamphlet) and was lucky enough to get one of the first 350 JM Jags in which the book has Johnny's autograph. Simple strap and bridge cover (wont use either), cord. G&G hard case has vintage outer cover and pretty blue interior velour.

Summary: My evaluation above may be colored by the fact that I am a huge Smiths and Johnny Marr fan. My labmates in grad school (1986-90) listened to a lot of Smiths (my fault), as have my wife and sons subsequently (my fault again). But as a scientist, I am trained to be objective, and I hope the above has some objectivity. The #1 reason external to playing the JM Jag in the store that got me to buy it was the 3 JM videos mentioned above. He REALLY cared about building it and spent parts of 4 YEARS doing it. When he described things that he did not like about his old Jags, and how he went about rectifying or improving in his JM Jag, I kept saying, "Yes, that is what I would do".
In the Fender artist series guitars, I wonder how many artists did little else but sign on, versus putting in the big effort that Johnny Marr did on his Jag. Might somebody in the know from Fender comment on JMs hard work versus the continuum of effort from the other artists on their signature guitars?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 11:56 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:48 pm
Posts: 16
Chartman,

Glad to hear that your guitar meets all expectations! Mine unfortunately has gone back to Fender and will hopefully be replaced ASAP! The final straw came earlier this week when the paint work started to crack and detach around the base of the neck! I think I may have been unlucky with my mine, but form word go this thing has been a disappointment! As per my moans in my previous post - this thing came poorly assembled on a massive scale! Having to unstring and remove the tremolo to get it to function is pretty unacceptable; upon removing the tremolo I also noticed I have a random wire just hanging and unconnected within the recess! Whilst setting the PUPs, I noticed that the screws had been fitted misaligned at angles so that the screw head had scrapped down the side of the PUPs! The 'G' string intonation screw continually works loose and falls out of the saddle during play.

To top it off, I now have bare wood visible on the guitar body after 1 month!!

Argos Fender Squire complete with Johnny Marr headstock sticker springs to mind!!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:21 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:19 pm
Posts: 60
Chogster, I sure hope Fender rectifies your JM Jags problems permanently, and as you say a replacement guitar is probably warranted. I am concerned that MULTIPLE things went wrong with yours, and I will be watching for those potential malfunctions in mine. Would you please check back in with us upon the repaired or new guitars return? And then we should stay in touch on this site, to check up on durability.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 3:35 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:48 pm
Posts: 16
Chartman,

I will keep you updated as and when I hear back from Fender.
I am glad to hear that you received a signed booklet! As for myself, didley squat as you well know, and I received my guitar on the 1st Feb - over a month before yours! TBH, this is another reason why I am really pissed off, as this means a lot to the likes of you and me.

I have since received an unsigned booklet from Fender.

Just out of interest, what is the serial number of your guitar?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:43 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:19 pm
Posts: 60
Chogster,

S/N V204394 on my Johnny Jag. We dont know that "the first 350" JM Jags that got the signed booklet were necessarily sequenced by serial #. Who knows how Fender made that decision? On my end, I bought it (did not pre-order) from Gelb Music, Redwood City, CA, here in the Bay area, and they are good guys. I would expect them to handle a set of problems with a Fender gone bad, as yours has been. I was checking around the Bay area with Fender dealers for the JM Jag, Gelb got one in and somebody took it that day, then I got the 2nd one. Because of my research, I found out I knew a lot more about the guitar than they did. They did not know about the signed booklets, I told them about the possibility, and after the sale, opened up the sealed bag inside the case which contained booklet+, and there was the autograph. The Gelb guys were raving about the tones from the Jag, and we were all running it thru a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue (I have the limited addition version at home, like it better than the std, has different Jensen 12in speaker). I had alerts in with all the major Fender dealers in the Bay area for this guitar, but the only hit has been Gelb. Why they got 2 at all, and at least one autographed to boot might be found in a statement from my salesman. He said that they may get special or rarer guitars from Fender sooner or at all because their owner has a long-time relationship with the local Fender rep. Maybe, again who knows?
Sorry you did not get the autograph booklet.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:50 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:48 pm
Posts: 16
My serial no is/was V201901; you'd think, by comparing the numbers, that mine was considerably earlier in the production line, but as you say who knows how Fender issued the signed booklets? Having received mine without a booklet it does raise suspicion as to why it was missing in the first place? Being a Manchester lad and a fan for the last 25+ years it's a bit disappointing!

It will be interesting to hear your string and PUP height measurements as it sounds as if yours is set up just right. I mentioned in my earlier post that the guitar lacked considerable response and guts from the PUPs - this was with the Fender height recommendations. I later raised the PUPs by ear and it made a huge difference to the overall sound. As for the high 'E', I don't think you should have to fight against a guitar, especially when you buy expensive high end instruments! Surely this should work in the opposite sense!

Should hopefully hear from back Fender this week about the replacement. For now my old MIM is more than keeping me happy!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:44 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2012 7:25 am
Posts: 18
Image
Got mine today


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:00 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:54 am
Posts: 1179
Location: Florida
Sweet!

Art


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 8:24 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 10:28 pm
Posts: 54
Dave C63 wrote:
Image
Got mine today


A sweet, sweet little Jag ..... if you ever get tired of Johnny's lil Jag, let me know.

Cheers minzapint


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:09 am
Offline
Amateur
Amateur

Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:59 am
Posts: 103
For me it was a difficult decision to choose between the JM Jag and the 50th Anniversary. It was the blocks and bindings that did it, but the more I see of the JMs the more I doubt my choice :o

Still waiting to receive my guitar but what really bothers me is that the 50ths come with that crappy poo-brown G&G case while the JMs get that amazing blue lined case.

Smoking guitar Dave. Enjoy in good health.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:32 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:19 pm
Posts: 60
chipbutty, those 50ths are nice. Top reasons, I particularly liked the JM better was:

-beefier neck
-4 position pickup toggle versus sliders
-tones you get from the 2 Bare Knuckle pickups, particularly like surf sound from position 2 and humbucker sound from position 4. Sliders up high are great for filtered alternative tones.

please give us a report when you get your 50th in.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: NEW Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar® Guitar
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:29 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:48 pm
Posts: 16
Dave,

How are you finding the high 'e' string? Is yours close to the neck edge?

Also Dave & Chartman, what are your pup heights?

Fender are in the process of replacing my guitar, stock has run out & they're awaiting the next batch. They admitted that mine was from the first batch, but haven't given me a reason for the lack of signed booklet.

Been without the guitar since the 1st week of March. I wish I could post something positive on this site!


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 79 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: