shoegaze

I have been listening to the Brian Jonestown Massacre lately and have noticed in their videos they almost exclusively use hollow body guitars. Is this what gives them their jangly sound?

I have a "poor mans jazzmaster" - actually, its a Jagmaster. Can I get that jangly sound with the guitar I have. I know I probably couldn't get that sound of a hollow body, but can I come close to it?

Thanks!

Probably helps but don't forget that they also have a shitload of guitar players, at least one of which plays a 12 string.

If a 12-string Rickenbacker is out of your reach this Danelectro 12-string will give you all kinds of bright jangly goodness for $450USD.

Pickups are probably the least important part of any tone. Jangle comes from your amp

I've been drooling over these for a while, since the Vox's are so hard to come by (and expensive).

http://www.phantomguitars.com/

Hi Andrew, if you're looking for that jangly sound, it might be worth investing in a compressor pedal. Certainly Roger McGuinn used lots of compression on his 12-string Rickenbackers (his signature model even has one built in). The Janglebox compressor is perfect for this sound, but it pretty expensive. You can get a similar sound with more or less any compressor though, just whack the level knob up, while making sure the amp doesn't overdrive too much. Obviously, the more time you spend twiddling the knobs, the more you'll understand what's going on. Even my cheap DOD compressor can get a great jangly sound.
Peter Buck used a Twin Reverb in the early days. Those Fender tube amps are great for jangle, just go easy on the overdrive. Earlier software simulations of guitar amps have been less than perfect for getting that tube amp on the edge of breakup sound, but some of the recent ones have been really good. Amp Designer in Logic 9 is great!
You can get humbucker equipped guitars to jangle. Teenage Fanclub use Gibson ES335s and Les Pauls (amongst others) and IMHO have some of the most gorgeous jangly tones ever commited to tape.
Using open chords and clusters (partial chords against open strings) will definitely give you a more jangly sound. Not in the right key? Just use a capo!
Once you've been playing a while, you'll find it easier to work out what the guitars on the recordings you like are doing. The early REM stuff is not technically difficult, but is very effective. Try to separate the different guitar parts and then see how they work together.

Good luck!