Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've been listening to a lot of Paul Weller's guitar playing during the Jam years. I'd have to say its pretty damn good too. We've come to some sort of conclusion that he used a 330 cranked through a Vox Ac30...but I'd like to get a little deeper and find out what kind of strings he was using on his 330s...and possibly his set-up as in string height and pickup height. Did he have a guitar tech in those years that might be able to answer those questions? What about the guy who bought and played Weller's fireglo, and WHAM!!! 330...I'd like to figure this out.

Im very into the jam, and as far as i know (from watching the "Complete Jam" DVD), Weller simply played a 330 with a AC30. Thats it, no tricks. That was during the early period when both Weller and Bruce foxton had matchimg red ricks.

Later on (i guess as the jam got bigger) he used marshall stacks.

Strings? Most probably Rotosound, as they are a british company, and over here they have always been the most common.

string height? what? who cares.....

string height? what? who cares.....

I have always loved The Jam but living in the US, my access to Jam video has always been limited. The new DVD is great! Lots of Ric guitars and basses. Also check out the Jam box-set for nice shots of PW's Rics.

Nigel

6120anniversary, lol all i meant by who cares is that it could have been anything. String height was probably just the norm, same with pickups, and those kinda things would not affect the sound anyhow.

Personally i have tweaked such things on my guitars so many times - probably the same with weller , and everyone come to think of it

while on the topic of The Jam - Bruce Foxton - what a fantastic bass sound

Owen,

I know what you meant...I simply wondered if anyone had spcs on his set-up. I play a lot of guitar and anyone else who does knows that a good set-up can make for a different sound or feel. Weller being my favorite 330 player, and seeing that I have the same guitar I wondered how his was set up...

6129anniversary: Perhaps some of these photos of Paul Weller and accompanying anecdotes may help in your quest. At the very least, I hope you enjoy them. Break out the magnifying glass. I do it all the time.

Ok, I'm going to admit something. I don't think I know any of the Jam's music. I'm sure I must have heard it and not known who it is.

Now I feel compelled to buy at least on cd immediately. So what would all of you recommend? I want to buy the best one first!

There are "Hits" collections available, but as far as definitive Jam albums, I'd suggest "In The City", "All Mod Cons", or "Sound Affects".
Bruce was a HUGE influence on my bass playing. I was just starting out in the late '70s/early '80s, and couldn't wait for the next Jam album to come out. Even today my band reminds some of The Jam.

I second the recommendation of "All Mod Cons" - IMO their most consistent album.

I third the recommendation, and if you end up saying "this is great", I suggest "Setting Sons" and "Sound Affects" to follow. In fact I think there's a two-fer of All Mod Cons and Sound Affects on Amazon.com.

Great Jam photos, Mr. McCormack. AHA! A 3 PLY PICK GUARD! I bet P. Weller was bummed when (George Micheal's project) WHAM! came out. Who'd want a guitar with THEIR name on it!

Weller's standard set up was the 330 (with rotosounds) through an AC30 (Marshalls in 1979)but did you know that alot of the recordings where done using a peavey amp ! I think alot of All Mod Cons was recorded through a peavey. In fact, if you get the Jam DVD, you can actually see that it's the little Peavey that's miked up instead of his Marshall on one of the live recordings.

I've seen the Jam live many times and he used to play a Gibson SG on Start, a telecaster on Precious. On "dreams of children" he played a guitar made by a chap called Chris Eccelshal - sort of a Les Paul Junior type guitar.

Have a look at my site - www.smallworldnet.co.uk - it's got some pictures of my Rickenbacker that I bought off of Weller in 1980. I've still got it. It's also got some pictures of me playing the Whaam Ricky !

Dude. You are too cool. How much did you pay for Paul's Ric? I'm heading to London this weekend. Are you guys playing anywhere?