Rowland S. Howard

"Armed with little more than a Fender Jaguar, an MXR Distortion +, a reputably broken MXR Blue Box, and a Fender Twin, Howard strangled sounds out of his guitar that few listeners had heard before, both as a solo artist, and with his Birthday partner in crime, Nick Cave." - Alex Maiolo, premierguitar.com

Rowland used this Jag almost exclusively throughout his career. His brother, Harry, writes: "...he had always been impressed with an old Fender Jaguar that Ollie Olsen had briefly owned. Rowland found his Jaguar in a shop in the centre of Melbourne. When he asked to see it, he was informed by the shop owner that if he expected him to get it down from the wall, then he would have to buy it. I saw it at his house the next day. My request to have a turn wasn't overly welcome and I felt like a crippled gorilla as I delicately raised it from its case to place on my knee."

At least one site refers to the Jaguar as a '63. This cannot be the case; as Harry notes, while the date of the guitar is probably not going to become apparent any time soon, the block inlays and bound fretboard place it after the 1965 CBS takeover of Fender, as these features were introduced by the new management in '66. Additionally, since the Jaguar's original production run ended in '75, there's approximately a 9 year window in which the instrument's year of production lies.

The instrument seems to have retained its original bridge (Jaguars frequently have this part replaced with that of a Fender Mustang, a Gibson Tune-O-Matic or one of a few aftermarket alternatives) and at some point between 2002 and 2005 (using dated photos from Rowland's tribute site rowland-s-howard.com) he made the addition of a sticker/decal of what appear to be some roses just behind the control plate that bears the lead circuit controls and output jack.

Close-ups appear at various points in the "Autoluminescent" documentary.

A tumblr post copied from Australian Guitar magazine (also the article calling the Jag a '63) states that Rowland bought the Jag in '78 and quotes him as saying: “They’re such incredibly idiosyncratic guitars and they’re far from perfect, but for some reason it fits me. I used to have a Firebird before I had the Jaguar, but anything else you’ve seen me holding would have been borrowed for some reason or another. I don’t have a spare, so when things go wrong you tend to have to borrow things from support bands, with disastrous results. Particularly in Europe, the support bands can have four or five guitars… and it almost seems to be in direct ratio to how bad they are.”

"Armed with little more than a Fender Jaguar, an MXR Distortion +, a reputably broken MXR Blue Box, and a Fender Twin, Howard strangled sounds out of his guitar that few listeners had heard before, both as a solo artist, and with his Birthday partner in crime, Nick Cave." - Alex Maiolo, premierguitar.com

This instrument isn't very well documented, since Rowland seems to have stopped using it after acquiring his more famous Jaguar, but there are a few allusions to it and a handful of photos of him with the instrument. Rowland is quoted as saying that it's the only guitar he's owned besides the Jaguar: "I used to have a Firebird before I had the Jaguar, but anything else you’ve seen me holding would have been borrowed for some reason or another." This also implies that after he bought the Jaguar he sold or otherwise got rid of the Ibanez.

His brother, Harry, also refers to it as Rowland's first guitar in his biography written for rowland-s-howard.com "Rowland's first guitar of note was an Ibanez Fyrebird copy."

The model number is from his Wikipedia page, which unfortunately cites a dead link, but the 2348 seems to be the sole lawsuit-era Ibanez Firebird copy, so there's no reason to assume this is incorrect.

"Armed with little more than a Fender Jaguar, an MXR Distortion +, a reputably broken MXR Blue Box, and a Fender Twin, Howard strangled sounds out of his guitar that few listeners had heard before, both as a solo artist, and with his Birthday partner in crime, Nick Cave." - Alex Maiolo, premierguitar.com

The Australian Performing Arts Collection houses an exhibit featuring a Fender Twin Reverb Silverface amplifier, which belonged to guitarist Rowland S. Howard, indicating his use of this specific gear. The exhibit's documentation suggests that the amplifier in question is a 1979 135w Twin Reverb model, providing concrete proof of Howard's preference for this equipment in his musical endeavors.

Rowland S. Howard is known for using a 1966 Fender Jaguar in Olympic White, as detailed in Mixdown Magazine's "Gear Rundown: Rowland S. Howard." This vintage model, distinguished by its chrome accents and comfortable neck, was the most expensive Fender guitar of its time and remains in excellent condition, with only minor wear.