Johnny Marr, the visionary guitarist, arranger, and songwriter best known for his work with The Smiths, has long been celebrated for his ability to combine melody, texture, and rhythm into one unmistakable sound.
After decades of pushing sonic boundaries with artists such as The The, The Pretenders, Modest Mouse, The Cribs, and throughout his acclaimed solo career, Marr has once again teamed up with Fender to release a new iteration of his signature instrument: the Limited-Edition Johnny Marr Signature Special Jaguar in Fracture Black.
This special model builds on the foundation of Marr’s acclaimed Jaguar design, introducing a custom gloss nitrocellulose black lacquer finish and a range of artist-driven refinements. At its heart are custom-wound Kent Armstrong Johnny Marr single-coil lipstick pickups, voiced to capture Marr’s unique blend of chime, clarity, and punch.
A custom Jaguar wiring configuration, designed in collaboration with Marr himself, expands the tonal range far beyond the standard model. The setup includes three upper-horn slide switches – a universal bright switch, a second bright switch for position four, and a middle pickup selector with on/off/only options – combined with a four-position blade selector for seamless access to parallel and series pickup combinations.
The instrument features a custom neck profile modeled after Marr’s own 1965 Jaguar, offering a comfortably worn-in feel that encourages long sessions without fatigue. A 9.5″ radius Rosewood fingerboard and 22 vintage-style frets provide an ideal balance between classic feel and modern playability, while the Gloss Nitrocellulose neck finish enhances resonance and responsiveness.
Hardware appointments include a Jaguar bridge with Mustang saddles, enhanced by nylon post inserts for increased tuning stability and intonation accuracy. A vintage-style floating tremolo system – with a slightly taller arm and nylon sleeve insert – retains the smooth, expressive motion of the original Jaguar design while improving return-to-pitch performance.
Get the Fender Johnny Marr Signature Special Jaguar here for $2,999.99 and keep up with all our Fender coverage right here.
