Flats on a Fender Jaguar?

[Mark Schmieder]

Although I thought I hated Jags due to not liking (and thus selling) both my MIJ Special Edition (black and silver), and later on the AVRI (this is now a few years ago for both), I need something in NC that isn"t duplicative of what I left behind in CA, so I settled on the special Johnny Marr edition as I like its sound and feel as well as its mods to the original design concept.

 

As I"ve been spending too much due to having brought nothing with me, I have to slow down a bit on larger expenditures so I settled on the new Squier '70s Classic Vibe (in beautiful Surf Green) and it arrived yesterday, being safe to unbox and try out today.

 

Surprisingly, I like it better than the more expensive ones I had earlier (though in all cases I have bought used vs. new). These are upgraded pickups vs. what was used in the previous Squier Vintage Modified edition, and I like them more than the other two I owned earlier from Fender, but not as much as Johnny Marr"s of course.

 

I only have two complaints, and one can be taken care of quickly. The 9' radius C-shape neck isn"t bad but is far from ideal for me, as I have shifted towards vintage necks over the past 6+ years (after previously preferring modern shapes and radii). Johnny Marr is vintage shape and 7.5' radius.

 

It"s the strings that are the problem. It ships with 9"s, which for a 24' scale guitar are way too narrow-gauge. Some recommend going to 12"s or even 13"s (in both cases, this only applies if switching to flat-wounds), but I"d need setup work even going to 11"s (especially if switching to flats).

 

It"s essentially unplayable as-is, going out of tune quickly (and not due to any neck issues) and not really getting enough heft in any of the switch positions.

 

I"m hesitant to change anything in case I send it back during the 30-day evaluation window. After all, it has a slight chip in the nut by the high string, which may be leading to some instability there (though not in a big way if so). I"d probably want a better nut anyway as this one kind of sucks.

 

I"ve always been pleasantly surprised when I switch to flats on other guitars, finding them just as jangly â if not more so â as with rounds. And as the Jag was designed with flats in mind, I"m not terribly afraid that I"ll lose any essential aspect of its signature sound by trashing the D"addario rounds in favour of Chromes.

 

I"m thinking of the jazz set, at 11-gauge, as I"ve played this guitar enough today to think it would benefit from a wound 3rd string. Although I normally feel that"s for hollow and semi-hollow body guitars, I have a sneaky suspicion that the super-short scale of the Jag will allow a wound 3rd string to work quite well.

 

Any ideas about the safest approach? Maybe I should just go to flats at 10-gauge on this one and save heavier gauge concepts for the Johnny Marr (which ships with Fender .010 NPS strings, but someone says they now ship with flats even though Johnny himself of course uses .011 Ernie Ball Slinky round wound strings).

 

Has anyone here used flats on a Jag? And as a reminder, is setup work only required if going more than .001' away from what is currently installed on the instrument? Sweetwater did give it their normal inspection and setup, but they don"t really do much compared to some specialty vendors.

[KuruPrionz]

There are quite a few "it depends" on this one.

First one being "is it a keeper or does it go back where it came from?"

 

If you've decided to keep it then you do need to put what you like on it. I'm planning on putting the D'Addario Chromes 11 gauge first string set on my 58 Dano U2 (a real one, not a reissue) once I've addressed the very worn first 5 frets. Flats have a certain sound to them, I have plenty of guitars with rounds.

 

You'll probably want a new nut anyway with larger gauge strings, and put some pencil "lead" (it's graphite) in the nut slots so nothing binds there.

 

As to the intonation, it will probably need adjusted. The difference between wound and unwound (G string) is on reason. The "stiffer" flatwound string will also be different, I think you are going from a 42 (9's) to a 52 (Chromes)? That is a big difference by itself, add in how much more flexible round wounds are than flat wounds and it's intonation time.

 

I haven't really looked at the new Jags or Jazzmasters but I am assuming the Squier series uses a Tune O Matic that is solidly placed instead of the floating bridge that the vintage Fenders had?

String slots may need slightly enlarged too, maybe rub pencil lead on the flatwounds att point of contact?

 

I had 3 pre CBS Jazzmasters at one point or another, all gone now. Fun guitars!

The one that go away? A punk band was practicing at the laundromat and the guitarist had a Pre CBS Charcoal Metallic left handed Jag. I offered to buy it but he said he was keeping it forever.

It's probably the only one in existence!!

[Mark Schmieder]

I love love love flats on my Danelectro models (reissues all), and it really made them blossom as well as sound more balanced.

 

Good advice altogether; I'll leave this guitar as-is and send it back (most likely), but I can't afford both the Johnny Marr and the Supro amp so soon unless I'm confident I'll stay employed for six more months at least and that I'll stay in NC that long and thus make it worth it to do now vs. later once back in CA. I thought about Orange Micro Terror head and some cheaper speaker cab as a placeholder vs. the Supro, but doubt that's worth bothering with.

 

I'll check the D'addario site for the tensions of all sets, as JustStrings is getting sloppy lately with underspecified product pages and most other sites don't list tensions anyway (more important than gauge).

 

But that's solely for choosing which set to buy for the Johnny Marr's, which ship with .010 rounds. I'd probably still start with the .011 ECG25 flat-wound set (with wound "G"), then maybe consider bumping to 12's later on.

 

I got a flat tire on the way home from work Wednesday night and have to wait until Monday for replacement tires to arrive, so I'm kind of stuck on doing anything regarding shipping at the moment, and have to cancel rehearsals too. This area is 100% car-dependent and is grossly unfriendly to walking either, so I'm gaining weight. Not sure a set-up can take care of that though.

[KuruPrionz]

I love love love flats on my Danelectro models (reissues all), and it really made them blossom as well as sound more balanced.

 

Good advice altogether; I'll leave this guitar as-is and send it back (most likely), but I can't afford both the Johnny Marr and the Supro amp so soon unless I'm confident I'll stay employed for six more months at least and that I'll stay in NC that long and thus make it worth it to do now vs. later once back in CA. I thought about Orange Micro Terror head and some cheaper speaker cab as a placeholder vs. the Supro, but doubt that's worth bothering with.

 

I'll check the D'addario site for the tensions of all sets, as JustStrings is getting sloppy lately with underspecified product pages and most other sites don't list tensions anyway (more important than gauge).

 

But that's solely for choosing which set to buy for the Johnny Marr's, which ship with .010 rounds. I'd probably still start with the .011 ECG25 flat-wound set (with wound "G"), then maybe consider bumping to 12's later on.

 

I got a flat tire on the way home from work Wednesday night and have to wait until Monday for replacement tires to arrive, so I'm kind of stuck on doing anything regarding shipping at the moment, and have to cancel rehearsals too. This area is 100% car-dependent and is grossly unfriendly to walking either, so I'm gaining weight. Not sure a set-up can take care of that though.

 

Consider looking locally for a used Squier or Epiphone anything that plays good and is cheap enough that you can flip it quickly at break-even or better. Sort of like renting a guitar except it will only cost you a little time.

That will give you something to put through the Supro and while none of them may sound like you want, all of them will sound good in their own way, keep your fingers active and provide a way to express music (saved the best for last).

 

Try the pawn shops and antique stores, keep an eye on craigslist and remember it belongs to the swift. The indecisive will have their decisions made for them.

I will say that I LOVE using cheap beaters for gigs but I do the full setup including fret work to be able to do that. Squiers can play great if they're set up well and it took away all the pressure of worrying about my guitar on break.

[Larryz]

I had both a 62 reissue Jazzmaster and a matching 62 reissue Jaguar (white with red tortoise shell pickguards). This past year, I sold the Jag to my old buddy that I have played with since 1965 and gave my Jazzmaster to my Son-n-law. They both love them. I was never to hot on the neck radius but both were easy to play. The only other thing I didn't care for was the screw style saddles on the bridges. If I had kept them, I would have put a Mustang bridge on both with rounded saddles to keep strings from jumping a thread when played to hard on the rhythm playing. They both came strung with flatwound 10's (and other original equipment from 62 i.e. strap, cord and bridge covers). Roundwound 9's would not be a great choice IMHO as I tried them and went back to the original 10's. However, like most players I also swapped out the flats but kept them in the cases in case someone wanted to get back to the stock setup. I run GHS "Rollerwound" 10-50s with a wound 18 gauge 3rd and made up a set for my Son-n-Law. They are considered halfway between a flatwound and a roundwound or "Semi-Fat". I use them on all my guitars and my Son-n-Law really likes them on the Jazzmaster.

 

Just Strings has a set of GHS "Rollerwound" 10-50's with a plain 3rd and you can buy a single wound 3rd. Or you can buy the 11-50's that come with a wound 3rd and buy a single plain 10 if you want 10-50's. I run "Ro'slerwound" 10-50s on all my guitars now. I buy the 11-50's and buy singles for the 1st and 2nd strings (Elixirs). The Elixir plain strings have an anti-rust alloy which I like having to do battle with my acid hands LOL! If you keep the Jag, give the "Rollerwounds" a try...less finger squeak and they let the bass sing out without being dull. I ran flats for a long time before switching...

[Mark Schmieder]

Both my American Professional Jazzmaster (rev I, which has non-standard controls, and I prefer that to the original setup -- rev II went back to original control layout), and my new (or rather used) Squier '70s Classic Vibe Jag, have Mustang bridges. My AVRI Jag that I had a few years ago was bought used and had rounds; I didn't know they were originally shipped with flats. That model is no longer made. The AVRI series was poorly executed and overpriced.

 

I'm lucky that I don't sweat at all, so the only age factor my strings ever experience is oxidation, and of course that mostly affects certain(but not all) acoustic strings.

 

I hate "bass", being a bassist -- even on bass guitar! The bass frequencies are mostly for kick drum, excepting a few specific genres and styles. So I am overjoyed when the low (below 80 Hz or 90Hz or even below 110 Hz or 120 Hz) are perceived as "weak". I like it best when the HPF is built into the sound to start with. :-) That gives me more headroom and quality for the frequency ranges I deem important for the instrument at hand.

 

In the studio, I cut 160 Hz and below for guitars, and trim significantly below 250 Hz.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Thomastik-Infeld Swing Flatwounds are the finest flats I've had the pleasure of; their Swing Extra Light JS110, .010" - .044", or their Swing Light JS111, .011" - .047", should suit you VERY well. You might have to tweak the heights of the pickups (and/or polepieces, if they're adjustable), as these are pure/solid-nickel wrap on round-core flatwound stings. They are the smoothest, clearest, warmest, best balanced flatwound strings, and they're much more flexible and bendable than the same gauges from other makers. Seriously. They feel great! HIGHLY recommended.

 

Now, they're expensive, but they last and last and last, holding their tone and feel for an exceptionally, unusually long time; they don't need changing nearly as often as usual.

 

Strings and Beyond has them for $24.99 (tax?) plus shipping, free shipping within the US if your total order is $35.00 or more.

 

Sweetwater Sound has them for $29.95 (plus tax) with free shipping.

[Mark Schmieder]

I actually do use the T-I flats on my arch-tops but wasn't sure if they're OK on solid bodies.

[Mark Schmieder]

I found someone in Raleigh who's selling a Johnny Marr in Olympic White (which I now prefer after noticing in real-world vs. marketing photos that the orange one is metallic and overly reflective), and have contacted them for the model year and whether they allow direct pickup.

 

I also found a more detailed product spec sheet that says it originally ships with .010 rounds, and .011 flats in the case. I can't remember if that is how my American Professional Jazzmaster was handled, but I think not, and I did decide to stick with rounds on that one but switched to TI Power Brights.

 

Anyway, I have a feeling that no major setup work is needed to accommodate .011 flats on either Jaguar, but probably the Johnny Marr has a non-wound G string on its flat set. I think they use D'addario there, whereas the Squier comes with Fender's NPS rounds.

[Larryz]

Mark, how did you like the Mustang bridge on your Jag? Did it help keep it in tune? My buddy had a Fender Mustang back in '65 when we formed our 1st band with another buddy drummer and a bass player. His Mustang was white with the red pickguard which I always remembered for several decades. That's why I bought my Jag and Jaguar in that color scheme. It's probably why he bought my Jag last year LOL!

 

+1 on T-I Flats that Caevan recommends. Great strings. They just got too expensive for my budget and I switched to D'Addario Chromes. They worked just fine at less than half the price. I switched back to round wounds after a few comparisons with the bass flat strings having more of a dull thump sound than the bright rounds. Jazzers like that mellow bass sound for their little bass runs to sound like more of a standup bass vibe. They like the wooden bridges too as they sound more mellow than the TOM saddles. I liked the flat sets as they always have a wound 3rd. Most of them are 22's but I prefer 18's for a little more flex ability. I run a wound 3rd on all my guitars to include my Strats. Plain 3rd strings sound tinny to me in the open string position. As you go up the neck they sound fine. 10's or 11's should sound fine on the Jag. I like a 50 on the low E instead of 48's or less. The GHS "RollerWounds" are a great compromise between Flats and Rounds IMHO.

[Mark Schmieder]

Yeah, I've often swapped a .022 wound 3rd for a .018 wound string. And I will use wound 3rd with round wound sets too; not just flat wounds. I never understood why they are plain on so many sets; perhaps due to a longstanding bias by a lot of rock players (not so much true today) for super-light gauges like .008 and .009?

 

The Jag won't tune to start with, much less stay in tune, but I think this may be because I didn't install the whammy bar, as I now recall that it has to be installed (and put into a tight position) for the string intonation to hold. There are no neck problems, so even though it's a crappy and partially damaged nut, I was fairly certain that the overly-light gauge on the default Fender strings was probably at fault. I'd never put lighter than .011 on a 24" neck!

 

I briefly had a Mustang a number of years ago, and thought the phase switch was kind of cool but otherwise didn't like its feel or sound. So I'm glad the Johnny Marr Jag (once I buy it) has that as an added feature.

 

Good points about the low "E" string. I may reach a similar conclusion regarding the G&L 5-string Kiloton bass that I bought used, where I will swap its GHS Precision Flats for Chromes once they arrive. And if that doesn't improve the body of the lower two strings and the balance of the upper two, I may go to rounds at that point. But I hadn't thought about there possibly being a similar impact on the lowest string of a standard guitar.

 

I haven't heard back yet from the seller in Raleigh who has a used Johnny Marr in Olympic White. The Squier was so cheap though, that I probably should just go ahead and work with it a bit vs. sending it back to Sweetwater, given that I'd probably have to pay for shipping (in both directions) anyway and that I already ordered a quality gig bag for it (which could be reused later on in CA on a world instrument that shipped with a bad bag).

[Mark Schmieder]

As luck would have it, due to my flat tire and no repairs until MON, a bandmate is picking me up for rehearsal tonight vs. suffering my absence, and we have to stop bi his guitar tech on the way so we can pick up an instrument he had worked on. I'll use the opportunity to get an assessment of the Squier Jaguar and what my best course of action is.

 

The used Olympia White Johnny Marr in Raleigh can't be picked up in person (likely this is a Reverb policy due to need for proof of tracking), and that plus tax brings it up to a high price for a used guitar compared to buying new, being within $150 of street price for a new one. So I'll skip it and wait for new ones to come back in stock in early FEB. What I do in the meantime (send back the Squier or have it worked on) will likely be known later tonight.

[Larryz]

I'm sure the tech will eyeball the Jag for free. If there is something wrong with the nut (or anything else is discovered), I think SW will credit the cost of shipping the guitar back if it has a flaw (i.e. like a bad nut, frets, neck, etc.). Worth a call.

 

I had not heard that you had to have the whammy bar on the Jag or Jazzmaster in place and locked, to keep the intonation set even when not using the whammy? If so, I'll suggest it to my buddy.

 

I have heard from a Jazz super pro, not to use a heavy bass string (like a 52) on a one piece solid spruce top arch top. They were originally designed acoustically to increase volume and a heavy bass string can cause the top to vibrate enough to cause feedback...worth checking into.

 

[Mark Schmieder]

My bandmate uses a well-known techie who is originally from CA; you might have heard of him. he's also a jazz and world musician and like me he collects unusual instruments. I dropped it off at his house last night on our way to pick up the guitarist's Les Paul neck repair and he'll inspect it for free (as did my techie in Berkeley). Ever heard of Christopher Royce? he doesn't have flats on him but does have D'addario half-rounds or ground-rounds or whatever they call their hybrids (though they're 12's, which might be too heavy), but he won't do any work unless I authorize it, and that will be based on his assessment of the Squier and whether I send it back to Sweetwater and remain patient on the Johnny Marr guitar coming back into stock.

 

Thanks for the hint on heavy bass strings on spruce top jazzers; all of my arch-top models are laminates or "pressed" (which is a fancy word to make people think they have a single carved piece), and .052" is the LIGHTEST gauge I have on ANY of them for the low E string! Not sure how I could go lighter than that, but I guess it's irrelevant for the laminate tops.

 

I may have my tech notes with me here in NC, as I did bring at least some of them with me, so somewhere I probably wrote down my techie's statements about whammy bars and it may have pertained to Strats instead and/or to specific design variants (some have "locked" designs).

[Mark Schmieder]

The techie got back to me just now and says there's nothing structurally wrong with the Squier Jag, so I'll go ahead and re-string it with setup work rather than send it back to Sweetwater, and then I can judge how long I'll keep it as a placeholder, knowing that the Johnny Marr Jaguars won't be available again until at least the end of February anyway.

 

He'll put the D'addario half-round set on it, that goes from .012" to .052" and has a wound third. I forget whether he said he's going to swap the wound third for a plain third, but it's irrelevant as I won't have this one forever and I'll have a chance to judge whether I'd want to go all the way to flats (which he doesn't have in stock, and I see no point in waiting a week or two).

 

If I'm lucky, there'll be a custom colour for 2021 that gets added to the Johnny Marr edition at Winter NAMM in January -- though I think those only come in even numbered years. Most of the custom colours so far have been quite attractive, but the Olympia White is fine otherwise, and I still hear mixed reports on whether the Metallic Orange is subtle or gaudy and reflective.

 

My Squier is a gorgeous Surf Green, but it's more like Key Lime to my eyes.

[Larryz]

If you prefer heavy strings the 12's will suit you. Me, I wouldn't have it set up for anything heavier than 11-50's or my preferred 10-50's. The heavier the string the harder it is to bend. That's why I don't go heavier than a wound 18 on the 3rd string and I only bend strings a half step LOL! But, glad to hear the Jag has no issues and it will be a good axe till your Marr is back in stock. Surf's UP! Congrats!

[Mark Schmieder]

Do you bend your chords? I think of the Jag as almost strictly a rhythm guitar. At any rate, flats and half-rounds are more flexible than rounds; I've generally considered .010 rounds to be equivalent to .011 flats.

 

The thing is, I've never had a chance to try .012's on a 24" scale in strument before, but as I love having .011's on the similar long-scale Jazzmaster, it won't surprise me if I find this a great match. No loss otherwise.

 

yeah, it's a big jump going from the ill-informed .009 rounds that came with it, but my similar trepidation about a big jump on my Danelectro's vs. what was installed, evaporated once I got the setup jobs done (flats).

 

Back to the bending thing though, I would think the unique whammy bar would be all I would use on chords, with or without a tremolo pedal, but we'll see if it's too stuff. Some people put 13's or 14's on their Jags!

[Larryz]

Nope, I don't bend chords. I will raise and lower the whole chord a half step up and back down now and then. I never thought of the Jag as a rhythm guitar. Leo, from what I have read, developed the Jag with the shorter neck for those blistering surf leads that the Jazzmaster's neck was a little too long for. He also put on the failed string mute device on the Jag for that muted surf sound (but nobody ever uses it and just uses their palm instead). I found one song while using the device for rhythm that it seemed to work for: Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter by Herman's Hermits LOL! Both the Ventures and the Beachboys found the Jazzmaster and the Jag useful for lead guitar work. +1 the whammy is a good way to bend chords. For whole-step and one and a half step single note bends, many players like the lighter gauge 9's. We have had guys on the forum that use 8's LOL! SRV used 13's but he also detuned a half step on his Strat.

 

Anyway, let us know how those 12's work out for you on the Jag? Looking forward to your review on how the guitar comes out, once your tech gets it set up...

[Mark Schmieder]

Interesting; good to know. I was thinking of it more as a Danelectro variant, and I generally view those as rhythm guitars. It's harder to find Jag clips than JM clips on-line; I think it's a much less popular model. So I've never really been clear on how it was meant to be used (not that it matters that much) and/or what have been the most prevalent styles that it inspired.

 

I'll check out the refs you cite as I wasn't aware of them. I didn't get into rock music until much later as it was forbidden in my family as "Satan's music" on account of Elvis sensually swinging his hips back in the day.

 

Of course, a huge advantage of having this Squier Jag at the moment, is that it's less risky to experiment on. So by the time I have the Johnny Marr, I'll be VERY clear on how I want it set up! When I finally got back in to guitar (a bit; still not deeply) a few years ago, I took a similar approach with Teles and Strats, starting with Squier Classic Vibes.

[Larryz]

 

Here's a clip of the Beachboys using a Jag and playing a little lead at 0:45...

 

The Ventures used a Strat, a Tele and a Jazzmaster, The Beach Boys used a Strat and a Jag for the most part...

 

But many players doing covers of Beach Boys and Ventures use a Jag or a Jazzmaster for Ventures and a Jag for Beach Boys

[Caevan O’Shite]

Do you bend your chords? I think of the Jag as almost strictly a rhythm guitar. At any rate, flats and half-rounds are more flexible than rounds; I've generally considered .010 rounds to be equivalent to .011 flats.

 

The thing is, I've never had a chance to try .012's on a 24" scale in strument before, but as I love having .011's on the similar long-scale Jazzmaster, it won't surprise me if I find this a great match. No loss otherwise.

 

yeah, it's a big jump going from the ill-informed .009 rounds that came with it, but my similar trepidation about a big jump on my Danelectro's vs. what was installed, evaporated once I got the setup jobs done (flats).

 

Back to the bending thing though, I would think the unique whammy bar would be all I would use on chords, with or without a tremolo pedal, but we'll see if it's too stuff. Some people put 13's or 14's on their Jags!

 

You would absolutely LOVE those T-I Swing Flat Wounds... Particularly, surprisingly flexy and kinda-sorta 'squishy', in a very good way.

[Mark Schmieder]

Interesting. And of course there's nothing that says I have to sell the Squier once I get the Fender. Depending on how long I'm in Durham NC, it might make sense to string one up for rhythm work and the other for lead.

 

I do love the T-I Swing set on arch-top. And I'll have more time on my hands to order the strings I want, for the Fender model as I will at least have one functioning guitar vs. zero at that point.

[Mark Schmieder]

OMG is this ever uncomfortable to watch, as the mannerisms are so self-conscious and unnatural:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyIlFsQgRvY

 

The Hermits had an early Gibson Firebird on stage at that point, but no Jaguar in sight. Early adopters of the Firebird?

[Mark Schmieder]

They must've switched gear a lot, as it appears they mostly have Rickenbackers on stage in this likely-earlier clip:

 

 

Not as awkward to watch at least!

[Larryz]

I did not mean to suggest that Herman's Hermits used a Jaguar. But glad you gave a listen to the tune so you could hear what I was referring to. I was saying that the mute device that came stock on my '62 re-issue Fender Jag was useless for most players and Leo's idea didn't catch on. The only tune I found for using the device that came to mind was Mrs. Brown. It was a joke when I played the tune long enough to show what the device may have been useful for...I never really played the whole tune for anyone LOL! The bridge cover was also useless and got left in the case. Most players threw it away back in the day. It was much like the Tele ash tray bridge cover (so named as that's all it was good for LOL! )

[Mark Schmieder]

I completely agree about those "devices" and laugh when I see tribute Teles that include the ashtray! :-)

[Mark Schmieder]

Wow, the Jag sounds AWESOME with the half-round 12's! I let the bandleader use it tonight in place of his Strat and it worked much better in the context of our original music that is heavily influenced by Echo & the Bunnymen, with 1-½ guitarists (everyone is a multi-instrumentalists) on Les Pauls.

 

It really cut through, even with delay and reverb. Very articulate, warm, balanced, not harsh, just a shade bright but not overly so.

[Larryz]

Congrats Mark! It sounds like you have found a winner in that Jag! "Just a shade bright" is a good thing when using the half-rounds, as compared to flat-wounds. That's the same reason I like my Roller-wounds with less squeak than round-wounds, and they are brighter than flat-wounds as a bonus! The great thing about flat-wounds is they run silent with no string squeak and have a smooth feel. Flats are just a little dull on the wound bass strings though IMHO...

[Caevan O’Shite]

Wow, the Jag sounds AWESOME with the half-round 12's! I let the bandleader use it tonight in place of his Strat and it worked much better in the context of our original music that is heavily influenced by Echo & the Bunnymen, with 1-½ guitarists (everyone is a multi-instrumentalists) on Les Pauls.

 

It really cut through, even with delay and reverb. Very articulate, warm, balanced, not harsh, just a shade bright but not overly so.

Glad to hear it! I love finding just the right brand, type, and gauges of strings for a given guitar and application!

[Mark Schmieder]

Not sure I need the Johnny Marr now, although it'll have a much better neck and of course different electronics due to the two high pass filters in place of the rhythm/lead switching circuit of the original design.