What is this Mojo, what is that then?

mrkb

It stands for Man Oil Jizzed Over - so I keep away from anything with added “mojo”. You should only add mojo to your own gear.

Chalky

I have owned almost 200 guitars and have never found this mojo thingy.  Maybe it only visits itself upon "special people"

Schnozz

WezV said:

ICBM said:

Schnozz said:

A Pre-Production Charvel Star has 'mojo' (historical significance and a sense of awe)...

Whereas a Fender Production Line Pro-Mod has no 'mojo' (literally fuck all going for it and perfect for suckers that haven't tried a gun oiled neck)...

Apart from the fact that one is a great guitar and the other is a ridiculous shape that most people wouldn't be seen dead with, anyway.

It’s not that bad, just a strat

Agree - Shame it doesn't have a proper Floyd Rose either...One of the few reasons to buy it.

Winny_Pooh

Chalky said:

I have owned almost 200 guitars and have never found this mojo thingy.  Maybe it only visits itself upon "special people"

You kept looking tho dinja

Voxman

Lewy said:

Music of jewish origin?

Nah Israeli music has no mojo whatsoever. Actually it hasn't got much music. 

JerkMoans

Voxman said:

Lewy said:

Music of jewish origin?

Nah Israeli music has no mojo whatsoever. Actually it hasn't got much music. 

Klezmer always sounds fun.

Three-ColourSunburst

'Mojo' is an intangible quality that exists only in the mind of the observer. A product of irrational, magical thinking it is often derived from a particular instrument being associated with a certain player, its age, place of manufacture, branding, shape, or even the specific type of plastic used to make the pick-guard or pick-up surrounds, or the glue used to stick the neck on. Here is an academic paper on the topic.

https://www.business.uq.edu.au/sites/default/files/events/files/karen-fernandez-paper.pdf

pintspiller

I remember reading in Guitarist about a certain Strat being reviewed as playing like butter. So I liberally applied some to my Encore fingerboard and found that I preferred to use Fast Fret in the end.

kt66

Chord Mojo, incredible portable Headphone DAC and amp,  magnificent little box made in Maidstone.
Also works superbly as a desktop DAC. 

robgilmo

richardhomer said:

It’s something we seem to have imported from The Gear Page, unfortunately. I know Muddy Waters’s Telecaster had it because after he repaired it, he wrote ‘Got My Mojo Working’....

I don’t actually know what it is though - a bit like gun ownership - you probably need to be American to fully understand it....

Ah but he didn't, clearly MW thought he could steal someone else's Mojo and as a result of such an atrocity he was destined to spend most of his career performing while sitting down. The real Mojo's owner was Preston Foster, 

 

even Ann Cole thought she could steal Prestons Mojo for her own personal gain , again , Mojo being quite relentless when it comes to being stolen inflicted Cole with a side parting that even Moses would be proud of.

Skipped

It can be annoying. Guitars with Mojo are generally not for sale. (See Keeper).

I think that good  guitars - possibly made during a period when the guitar  maker  was well run/well managed  - can become great guitars if they are played for a long time by an inspirational player. This also applies to other stringed instruments. IMO this is not even a controversial claim.

The following is not proof, but some of you may have encountered "good" guitars that were made 60 years ago that have hardly been played (for a variety of reasons). Even if you consider yourself to be an average player you may have noticed that such a  guitar responds to daily use in a surprising, and sometimes stunning way.  So try to imagine how the guitar might respond if it becomes Matt Schofield's number one/go to guitar.

Guitars that have been played for a long time are  - by definition - old guitars, so unfortunately the stereotyping is hard to avoid. I realise that many of you don't want to take Mojo seriously (and that may be very sensible) but I would suggest that when you find "it" there will be a need to define it, and Mojo is handy.

Garthy

Mojo = a total lack of articulation to express oneself fully.

WezV

Garthy said:

Mojo = a total lack of articulation to express oneself fully.

I don’t know, people using language to try and express themselves.  Such simpletons

what qualities do you think people are trying to articulate when they use the term?

bluechargeboy

Glassy yet woody. With bite, and bloom. With sizzle, spank and shimmer. Maybe some snarl.

Three-ColourSunburst

Skipped said:

Even if you consider yourself to be an average player you may have noticed that such a  guitar responds to daily use in a surprising, and sometimes stunning way.  So try to imagine how the guitar might respond if it becomes Matt Schofield's number one/go to guitar. 

Without resorting to magical thinking (such as that illustrated below)  how does that work then?

We asked our informants to assume they had a choice between an old, “beat up” guitar that their most admired star performer had owned and played and a perfect example of that identical guitar when it was new—and each and everyone unequivocably chose the old, used possession. For example, aspiring performer Artie [WM24, unemployed punk ock musician] explained, if he could have any guitar in the world, he would want “the one Billy Corgan [lead guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins] played . . . maybe his genes rubbed off on the fingerboard [of the guitar] and I might pick them up a bit? . . . I don’t know, just because it was his.”

Artie’s comment indicates that Artie believes that Billy Corgan’s personal guitar has the power to improve Artie’s own performance. Artie’s speculation that he could become contaminated with Corgan’s essence via the intermediary of Corgan’s guitar suggests that Artie views that the essence of Corgan’s “star power” as having been transferred to Corgan’s guitar and that further transference to Artie may take place. Artie’s belief is based on contagious magic—because he believes that Corgan’s guitar is permanently influenced by its prior contact with Corgan and could, in turn, influence its next owner.

https://www.business.uq.edu.au/sites/default/files/events/files/karen-fernandez-paper.pdf

Alnico

bluechargeboy said:

Glassy yet woody. With bite, and bloom. With sizzle, spank and shimmer. Maybe some snarl.

You forgot earthy and chewy.

WezV

Three-ColourSunburst said:

Skipped said:

Even if you consider yourself to be an average player you may have noticed that such a  guitar responds to daily use in a surprising, and sometimes stunning way.  So try to imagine how the guitar might respond if it becomes Matt Schofield's number one/go to guitar. 

Without resorting to magical thinking (such as that illustrated below)  how does that work then?

We asked our informants to assume they had a choice between an old, “beat up” guitar that their most admired star performer had owned and played and a perfect example of that identical guitar when it was new—and each and everyone unequivocably chose the old, used possession. For example, aspiring performer Artie [WM24, unemployed punk ock musician] explained, if he could have any guitar in the world, he would want “the one Billy Corgan [lead guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins] played . . . maybe his genes rubbed off on the fingerboard [of the guitar] and I might pick them up a bit? . . . I don’t know, just because it was his.”

Artie’s comment indicates that Artie believes that Billy Corgan’s personal guitar has the power to improve Artie’s own performance. Artie’s speculation that he could become contaminated with Corgan’s essence via the intermediary of Corgan’s guitar suggests that Artie views that the essence of Corgan’s “star power” as having been transferred to Corgan’s guitar and that further transference to Artie may take place. Artie’s belief is based on contagious magic—because he believes that Corgan’s guitar is permanently influenced by its prior contact with Corgan and could, in turn, influence its next owner.

https://www.business.uq.edu.au/sites/default/files/events/files/karen-fernandez-paper.pdf

Well played old guitars always seem to burst into life as they reach pitch.   My80 yr old resonator got noticeably louder as it reached standard pitch and it’s something I have observed in the acoustic tone of old well played electrics and acoustics time and time again.

my assumption is the vibrating mass of a guitar body gets used to the frequencies it is used for most.    Part bedding in, part ageing of the materials.  Wood, glue and lacquer all become more brittle as they age... I assume use will affect that process.

Skipped

Three-ColourSunburst said:

Without resorting to magical thinking (such as that illustrated below)  how does that work then?

We asked our informants to assume they had a choice between an old, “beat up” guitar that their most admired star performer had owned and played and a perfect example of that identical guitar when it was new—and each and everyone unequivocably chose the old, used possession. For example, aspiring performer Artie [WM24, unemployed punk ock musician] explained, if he could have any guitar in the world, he would want “the one Billy Corgan [lead guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins] played . . . maybe his genes rubbed off on the fingerboard [of the guitar] and I might pick them up a bit? . . . I don’t know, just because it was his.”

Artie’s comment indicates that Artie believes that Billy Corgan’s personal guitar has the power to improve Artie’s own performance. Artie’s speculation that he could become contaminated with Corgan’s essence via the intermediary of Corgan’s guitar suggests that Artie views that the essence of Corgan’s “star power” as having been transferred to Corgan’s guitar and that further transference to Artie may take place. Artie’s belief is based on contagious magic—because he believes that Corgan’s guitar is permanently influenced by its prior contact with Corgan and could, in turn, influence its next owner.

https://www.business.uq.edu.au/sites/default/files/events/files/karen-fernandez-paper.pdf

I don't recognise this example of the term Mojo.

But if you do......maybe that explains why you shop at Wickes/Home Depot when you are building a guitar.

robgilmo

You know when you are playing and every thing feeld and sounds just right? Usually while improvising, then you just flow with it, I alwaus thought that was it.

robgilmo

My fucking pgone keypad needs a mojo rocket put up its arse!