FENDER
JOHNNY MARR
SIGNATURE JAGUAR
BY CHARLES SAUFLEY
Guitar heroes don’t come much more atypical, or antiheroic than Johnny
Marr. Apart from hardcore fans, there
probably aren’t many who can whistle a
Johnny Marr solo. Heck, in his time with
the Smiths—still one of the most influen-
tial and adored English bands of the last
three decades—Marr rarely played a solo,
at least in the rip-snortin’, fire-breathing,
Jeff Beckian sense. What Marr contributed
instead, is a virtual holy text on how to
craft a hook and support a song. While
there may not be a lot of fleet-fingered fire-
works in his oeuvre, licks don’t come much
more delicious and clever than the intro to
“This Charming Man.” And the menacing,
chugging, tremolo-pulsing, Bo Diddley-
on-nitrous riff that anchors “How Soon
in Now” is heavy enough to make Tony
Iommi green with envy.
Mustang-style bridge
to hear audio clips of the guitar at
premierguitar.com/may2012
CLICKHere…
one thing stays the same about Johnny Marr,
it’s that he never stops changing. When he
surprised many by joining up with indie-rock
superstars Modest Mouse, he threw guitar-spotters a curve by embracing the Jaguar too.
And when Fender gave Marr a chance to
come up with his own version of the design,
he responded with a smart, thoughtful,
superbly executed take on this much-misun-derstood, and ultra-expressive instrument.
High-pass filter switch
Treble boost
switch for in-
series pickup
configuration
Telecaster-style,
4-way pickup switch
with in-series pickup
switching option
