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Trying to decide between getting either an AVRI in white for £1200 or a Johnny Marr Jaguar in white for £1900. On the face of it the JM is just a slightly fettled AVRI, so is it worth spending the £700 extra and getting the AVRI + some slightly nice parts or going up into the Johnny Marr. What are the necks like? Do the finishes wear the same or does the polycoat under the AVRI nitro affect how quickly it comes off?

Cheers !

You're in luck - I guess like a few people here I've played both, definitely a couple of Marr Jags at this point and at least one '62 AVRI Jag (the best one was in seafoam green even though one of the rhythm circuit rollers was stuck or broken or something) so there should be enough people to chip in and give you an opinion.

I was thinking AVRI is the pick before I came into the thread, and now seeing the price difference is that large I'm doubling down on it.

A good Johnny Marr Jag feature to me, is the improved vibrato system where you press fit it rather than it just hang inside like on vintage/vintage repro. Because I tape mine on my Jag and that bothers me, partly to sit higher sure, but it used to fall out at gigs all the time. The BK pickups I flat out don't like - the marketing bumph makes out they're a lot hotter than vintage, but to my ears and taste they're really not much hotter at all and if anything I'd prefer Fender vintage or repro Fender vintage over those. They're fine, but on a guitar that expensive fine really isn't good enough. The sacrificing of the rhythm circuit I actually don't mind, but I think I'd still rather have the rhythm circuit.

Both of them have a 7.25" radius neck which to me is one of the most important things on a Jag - as soon as you go above that and flatten it to 9.5" or whatever, they don't feel like Jags any more. Personal preference in the extreme but as someone who owns another Fender that has a 12" radius plus had a ton of Gibsons when younger, that radius and the vintage neck profile in general are why I can play it 6-8 hours at a time unlike most guitars, and to be honest sometimes I need to be able to play that long so yeah, that's important.

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I would absolutely 100% no question no doubt in my mind go for the AVRI and then customise it to your tastes. My tastes would be change the pickups and add a Mastery bridge to begin with, but YMMV. Plenty of people are fine with the vintage pickups and as I mentioned, they do sound better than the BKs to me but I need higher output to tame the Jag attack and twang a bit - style thing.

The Marr is my favorite Jaguar (and maybe favorite guitar) but I’d go for the AVRI for that price difference. (£1900 for a Marr seems kinda steep? But £1200 for an AVRI seems like a great deal).

Neck: the Marr will probably have a slightly different (more tapered) neck. Not radically different though. The Marr neck is great but not £700 extra great. (Note the AV65 will have a chunkier neck - also good. And binding is classy).

Finish: both will wear but the Achilles heel of the Marr is that the finish chips really easily. (I got my 4.5 years ago used with one big chip. I’ve since added 17 (!) little ones from what I’d consider normal use).

You may want to replace the bridge (staytrem, mastery, mustang), you may want to replace the trem (or staytrem arm) but neither is mandatory.

The case on the Marr is way better looking than the brown G&G ones.

I happen to like the bare knuckle pickups (especially with a little compression). The extra switching / filters are nice but not essential, and don’t outweigh having the rhythm circuit.

My vote: AVRI

Avri 62 or av65?

Currently own both a Marr and an AV65:

My observation - some obvious some just my .02c:

Pickups are different - the 65's being brighter
Neck profiles are... similar (av62 is thinner than both)
Switching - ehhhhhh different end goals. I do like the Marr switching on the BK pickups but the "standard" switching does give a lot of options and the av65 pickups do start out brighter so that may be a taste thing.
Marr comes with the Staytrem 'bridge' (or the fender equiv) and collete but... 700 pounds covers a lot of staytrem parts

So IMHO - it depends on if you really want the Bare Knuckles or not but if it were me I would AV/AVRI based on cost unless I really hated the neck*.

I have played both an AV jag where i didnt like the neck.

There's a Johny Marr Jag listed on the Dutch Craigslist - Marktplaats. It was listed three weeks ago, still there.

I’d wait for a deal to come up on a Marr.

cestlamort wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 6:39 am

Rhe extra switching / filters are nice but not essential, and don’t outweigh having the rhythm circuit.

Right? Underrated feature. Got a super bright fuzz? Rhythm circuit and roll the tone down even more, you can get stuff that most other guitars can't do without killing your ears.

crazyzeke wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 10, 2024 3:36 am

The Johnny Marr Jag's standout feature, to me, is the improved vibrato system where you screw the arm into it.

The Marrguar arm has a nylon bushing and presses in, like Staytrem.

I’m guessing it’s a ‘62 because I came across that one too. A few little battle scars, big old chunk of lacquer missing on the bottom of the headstock, Stay Trem arm, extra Mustang bridge, original case, had a refret and a pickup replacement (still an AV ‘62). Slim neck. Body starting to yellow ever-so-slightly. That the one?

No experience with them, but for what it’s worth, it looks pretty decent to me for the price.

I like my Marr a little better than the AVRI62 I had, but that's mainly due to the pickups and series position. For the price difference I'd definitely go with the AVRI62.

GilmourD wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 11, 2024 10:59 am

The Marrguar arm has a nylon bushing and presses in, like Staytrem.

Ah okay, I'll correct that in the original post, but for me, that's one of the good features gone then because I imagined it

sunburster wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 11, 2024 4:27 pm

I like my Marr a little better than the AVRI62 I had, but that's mainly due to the pickups and series position. For the price difference I'd definitely go with the AVRI62.

Exactly. The price difference covers new pickups, a Mastery bridge, a few other upgrades if wanted/needed or pocket the difference if not. AVRIs are nice guitars too, as mentioned I've played some including one Jag and my friend has a AVRI white Tele which has been refretted recently and plays like butter.

crazyzeke wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 12, 2024 2:53 am

GilmourD wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 11, 2024 10:59 am

The Marrguar arm has a nylon bushing and presses in, like Staytrem.

Ah okay, I'll correct that in the original post, but for me, that's one of the good features gone then because I imagined it

Honestly, I'd rather have the Marrguar/Staytrem bar on an offset. I can put the bar wherever I want it and it'll stay. A screw-in bar has limits.

AVRI trem is pop in (push in).

Try them both if you can.

Maybe the stock Marr is what you want and getting the AVRI and doing upgrades will always make you wonder… I loved how my AVRI jaguar sounded (and looked! Shoreline thin skin - huge frets were awful though). The Marr feels better and sounds better to me but I’d have been as happy (or close) if the other one had vintage frets.

It’s super easy to change the bridge and trem. Not too difficult to change the pickups. Go with whichever has the good bones.

Make shure you check the weight of both guitars.
Some Jaguars can be really heavy, almost too heavy.