Love them or hate them these guitars get a lot of attention and they've certainly earned a place in rock history. And they look sexy too!
I've always wondered this too. Other than Johnny Marr, I can't think of anyone who made these things sound good.
If you need some "indie/alternative heroes" as examples, Sonic Youth and J.Mascis played these guitars extensively on live recordings and studio albums. Not to mention My Bloody Valentine and scores of other shoegazer and shoegazer-inspired bands.
That was exactly my point. They tend to be played by bands who make terrible-sounding recordings and sloppy guitar playing on purpose. Not my thing. Sonic Youth is definitely the worst offender though, I never understood the appeal there. MBV at least has some cool ideas, even though I wish they sounded better.
Sonic Youth has made great albums and horrible ones. Recording quality across the spectrum of course. I dunno if Marr played a Jag on Smiths', The The, or Electronic stuff. My understanding is that he used a wide variety of guitars. His own sig model Jag that he uses live and on his recent solo work is heavily modded vs. a typical one. The pickups, IIRC are different (higher output), same with the bridge and electronic config.
I had one of the Cobain Jags with DiMarzio's and I swear it sounded almost identical to my Gibson Les Paul equipped with DiMarzio's and just as heavy. Over 9 pounds! I only had it 6 months and sold it and got (most) of my money back. My 52 Tele reissue is 10x the guitar that Jag was. Fender did a great job with these. Very versatile and awesome tone although I will admit the thick neck and 7 1/2 radius combined with smaller frets took some getting used to.
I'm sure Marr used a lot of stuff, I just always associate those specific Fenders with him, and when I saw him live around 5 years ago, that's what he played for the vast majority of the show. Only guy who made good-sounding music with it, as far as I can tell, although yeah, I don't know what he played on the Electronic stuff or his solo records (all of which I prefer to anything with Morrissey moping over it).
Didn't Steve Winwood play one of these? There's a picture of him on the Last Exit album playing something that looks like one of these. The guitar on the 1st album doesn't sound like a Strat or Tele.
I wish I could understand what's so great about Marquee Moon. I've tried, but...I don't get the big deal.
I say this in all sincerity... I love it when the SH Forums talk guitars. I could read this stuff all night!
One of my favorite Jaguar users, Dave Wronski of Slacktone, is certainly an aggressive player and seems to have no problem keeping his strings in their respective saddles. I know some of his Jaguars are equipped with a "buzzstop", (a roller bar between the bridge and tremolo that increases the break angle over the bridge, providing more down pressure on the strings so they dont pop out of the saddles ), but this one isn't, and he's really hammering that little guitar!
This is nothing. Check out The Gear Page sometime. I'm a member over there. Those guys are obsessive! I once saw a 37 page thread there discussing the pros and cons of Dave Gilmour's shortened whammy bar.
Todd Rundgrenradio played a Mustang for many years which is the same basic guitar. He preferred the shorter 24" scale for bends and the wonky tremolo. That is the sound of the Bat Out of Hell solo. He hated the electronics and cheap pickup selector switches and modified it with a traditional 3-way toggle switch on the lower cutaway. Here's a great clip of Todd wailing and bending on the Stang... [YOUTUBE]
Jazzmaster are just cool and cool enough to be on Lawrence Welk far from the beach or punk scene. Buddy Merrill plays "Lover" on his Fender Jazzmaster
I saw My Bloody Valentine twice last year and I have never seen so many guitars on the side of the stage as I did seeing My Bloody Valentine. Does anyone know what guitars Kevin uses on Loveless?
The great West Coast guitarist Kid Andersen,gets some great Albert Collins tones from his green Jaguar.
Let's just say we have different tastes then. I'd find it hard to figure out what I don't like about it.
A very underrated album IMHO, however, even Richard Lloyd doesn't think it's as good as Marquee Moon, and he played on it.