Just a PSA that this limited edition color is on sale now. If you've been in the market for one of these, I must say this is a pretty dope color IMO!

This got me thinking about selling a my tele for one...

TheFintastics wrote:

That's one great looking guitar.

Big question is do the pickups sound like a true 60's vintage Jaguar or are they different? The price is quite high to knowingly have to swap the pickups right after it arrives.

If anyone has seen The Volcanics live, Frankie's Jag is 100% pure vintage sounding to my ears. Perfect, perfect surf tone!

TLDR summary:

IMHO, you can play surf with the Johnny Marr Jaguar with the stock Bare Knuckle pickups if you have any outboard reverb unit (Fender, SurfyBear, etc.) or a decent spring reverb-style pedal.

My Longwinded experience:

I bought my 2016 oly white Johnny Marr Jag new. My 2016 JM Jag still had the the very thin nitro finish coat that chipped off quite easily. I had mine professionally refinished in Fiesta Red with a matching headstock by my guitar tech.

Inflation stinks - I got my 2016 Johnny Marr Jag (new, blemished) for $1419 + 68.99 shipping (Total $1487.99) back in 2016. The new color is cool and for $2299.99, they cost less than used, older Johnny Marr Jags on Reverb currently!

How do the Bare Knuckle Johnny Marr single-coil pickups sound? Well, I felt initially that they were a bit too dark/muddy for me when playing through my various Fender amps (at the time) for surf. They were OK and I lived with them for a time.

Eventually, I decided to swap out the stock pickups for a set of Fender Pure Vintage '65 Jaguar pickups. Totally got the surf sound with the PV '65 Jag pickups. In 2017, I acquired my '64 Reverb Unit - if I had kept the stock pickups in the Jag, they would have surfed no problem.

After acquiring my '63 Fender Jaguar in 2018, I decided to sell my Johnny Marr Jag and a fellow forum member on the Offset Guitar (OSG) forum bought it.

A couple of years later, the stars aligned and I had the opportunity to trade another one of my Fender guitars to the same guy for my old Johnny Marr Jag. Once I got it home, I swapped out the Fender Pure Vintage '65 Jaguar pickups and put back in the original stock Bare Knuckle pickups.

For me, they still sounded less than an ideal (muddier/darker) in my Fender amps when compared to the PV '65 Jaguar pickups.

However, during the time I didn't own the Johnny Marr Jag, I had gotten a used Vox AC15C1-TV. Since the Bare Knuckle pickups are made in the UK, I thought that perhaps the pickups would sound better through a British style amp like a Vox. I was not wrong - finally, these pickups really shined - I can do surf, alternative, punk, shoegaze, etc. I'm happy with the stock Bare Knuckle pickups now.

The doofus formerly known as Snorre
Surfysonic on YouTube
World Famous Philistines: 2014 - 2015
K39: 2013 - 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv9JADQ4ukw

Last edited: Sep 28, 2022 12:44:08

Tqi wrote:

Surfysonic wrote:

IMHO, you can play surf with the Johnny Marr Jaguar with the stock Bare Knuckle pickups if you have any outboard reverb unit (Fender, SurfyBear, etc.) or a decent spring reverb-style pedal.

You can play surf with a PAF Les Paul if you have a 6G15... ;)

Sure, if you don't mind the sustain or make the sustain work for ya.

The doofus formerly known as Snorre
Surfysonic on YouTube
World Famous Philistines: 2014 - 2015
K39: 2013 - 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv9JADQ4ukw

As Surfysonic mentioned, these pickups are specifically voiced by Bare Knuckle with input from Johnny Marr. I'm sure they have a different flavor than vintage or Pure Vintage 65 pickups, but I think they'd surf just fine given that they are single coil jaguar pickups voiced for a guitar player who largely plays clean guitar parts (and are modeled after some his favorite vintage examples.). That being said, I've not played these plugged in and I only have experience with my AV65 Jaguar (PV65 pickups).

Going into my Surfy Bear Metal > Deluxe Reverb, I'm sure it'd get surfy.

Also, speaking of Frankie from The Volcanics...confirming he has one of the best Fender Jag tones. The new record is what made me get the Surfy Bear...I need to legit drip after hearing that record!

Thisis the only song I've recorded I think on my JM Jag?
Anyway, since I got it several years ago, I never looked back on my old '62 RI.I don't know if the pickups sound original or not or whatever. And I don't care, they sound wonderful!
Bridge pickup is my favorite!!

Paul
Atomic Mosquitos
Bug music for bug people is here!
Killers from Space

"Fever"? or "Banana" Yellow? Dig it. Diiiiig.

Bango Rilla!

DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas | Spotify

The color is awesome. There are not enough yellow or orange guitars out there.