Jimmy Eat World Rig Rundown Guitar Gear Tour

Article & photos: bit.ly/JimmyEatWorldRR
PG’s Perry Bean met up with Jim Adkins and Tom Linton from Jimmy Eat World before their Birmingham show at Iron City. The guitar duo describes the evolution of their gear from their simple guitar-into-tube-amp beginnings to embracing the 21st century on this tour.
Jim Adkins primarily plays his Fender signature telecasters. His No. 1 is this JA90 signature Tele, featuring a semi-hollow ash body with matching headstock, 9.5”-radius rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets, and two Seymour Duncan SP90 pickups. He keeps this short-scale beauty strung with finger-straining .013 gauge strings.
Linton’s No. 1 is this all stock ’93 Gibson SG-a replacement for another ’93 he had back in the day that broke.
Continue learning about the band's gear: bit.ly/JimmyEatWorldRR

[@lukebogartmix]

This is how a Rig Rundown should ALWAYS be. Kudos to Jim and Tom for talking about the background and reasoning to all their gear, the AxeFXs, the engineering aspect, the RJM, etc. all by themselves, and knew exactly what they wanted to say.

[@maxstatic]

His reasons for going Fractal are the most honorable and respectful I've ever heard. These dudes are cool AF.

[@GuitarStu]

It's actually very interesting to hear a band that have toured with amps for decades talk about the switch to digital.

[@dantboden]

I scored a JA90 in a guitar trade, didn't know who he was so I got to you tubing. Couldnt be more proud to own his signature guitar he's such a solid dude, and the guitar really speaks for itself I collect and only play at home but it absolutely gets its fair share of me time.

[@ConnorLordBassist]

I will say I saw them on this tour and it the greatest sounding highest fidelity concert I have ever seen. To the point it was kind of eerie. It's hard to explain. It's almost too perfect.

[@bradadams8177]

Same

[@albertoramirez5977]

Connor Lord yea it doesn’t seem right. It’s like they are lip syncing it kind of ruins it if you ask me! Half of what drew me to Jew was the crazy feedback and awesome sounds they would get out of RIGS. JIM you are not a DJ you are a indie rock legend

[@MatthewHyatt]

AGREED.

[@NoCoverCharge]

I agree I recently saw a band I love and they sounded too perfect like you were listening to the album…kinda ruined it for me

[@donut_lyfe]

I love how concerned they are for the fans at the concerts and wanting to hear the parts correctly!

[@yankee8seven]

Jim is aging extremely well.

[@shaneharrington3655]

It's cause he eats the world. Pretty nutritious.

[@whaleofajob]

Literally like a fine wine. I've been saying it since 2016

[@FriendOfTheNight24]

Thats cause he’s been looking 40 for the past 20 years

[@jbknight]

Tom too

[@Swithyyyy]

This is how rumors like “Avril Lavigne is a vampire” get started. However, you are correct. He looks the same as when I first saw The Middle music video on MTV. I’ll have what he’s having.

[@peterw2880]

These guys seem so genuine and humble. I love how much effort they put into making their shows the best they possibly can be. Very cool to see

[@nathankettle357]

Jim is very genuine and humble. i saw him in Phoenix playing guitar for Daniel Johnston in 2017. It was a smallish club and after he was done he just walked around and hung out with everyone. I had a conversation with him and told him how much I appreciated him and he was so nice and mellow.

[@steelerfan792]

both times I saw them they played 25ish songs which is so much more than most bands do these days. Appreciated them really giving the fans their money’s worth

[@mickeyhynes]

I have a JA90 natural finish. Fantastic guitar. Easy to play, great tone range, and nice and light. I have Ernie Ball Power Slinky's, so not as heavy as 13's, but gives a good smooth twang on the lower strings, and little bit of response on the higher strings. I don't buy super expensive guitars, but for a mid-range factory guitar, you can't get much better.

[@nw379]

13 gauge strings....mind blown! Never knew....

[@staygood249]

JEW has been one of my favs for so many years

[@paulvandergriff1746]

Hagood Martin not Hitler’s though

[@nathanevans2755]

@@paulvandergriff1746 nope definitely didn't like JEW. Hah Hah nazi jokes.

[@toolist20]

Awesome hearing the guys talk in depth about their introduction and approach to the AxeFX...most RigRundowns with that piece of gear start and end with "Oh ya, and we're using AxeFX...so...it's neat."

[@indigos290]

This is perhaps the most informative and instructive rundown I've ever seen!

[@Avalenor]

these guys seem so cool to hang out with!

[@DanTheHobbit]

By all accounts, they are.

[@lemonpi3386]

Holy shizzle.... he plays 13s on Gibson standard scale length.... dam nice job

[@andrewpappas9311]

I remember these guys, the first song I ever heard from them was _The Middle_ while playing _Guitar Hero: World Tour_ and _Rock Band 2_, it's such an awesome song and it's my favourite by them to be honest

[@JoshSullivan1986]

Of course you remember them, they haven't gone anywhere

[@robinfrench1]

I have owned a Jim Adkins tele natural finish for around four years, and for the money its one of the best guitars I have in my collection it sits alongside my Gibson, Fender and Prs custom 24 guitars comfortable its a superb guitar....!

[@neil2550]

Do you recall what you paid$? At all,,,I just picked up a natural 2020,I think Aud$900.. feels n sounds great,I'm impresssed

[@robinfrench1]

@@neil2550 Hi I paid £350 for my one that was when they first hit the stores...!

[@neil2550]

@@robinfrench1 ok,think their 1300_1500 $ AUD atm new

[@jefflikeusual20]

This was absolutely amazing to see both Jim and Tom do a rig rundown. Thank you!

[@MrRobhadfield]

Ouch! Left hanging for that handshake... 27:04

[@JenjuroX]

I thought the same thing but I think it's because he wasn't expecting a handshake so he didn't look as Tom's interview was just beginning.

[@Jeepjones85]

You can tell he is an amp guy because he really was reluctant to say he is using Axfx lol And I understand where he is coming from. But real tube amps you can't beat

[@pronginator]

I noticed that too!

[@T0bh]

You can tell that he is kinda embarrased by not using amps as well

[@stereovox5]

I get it. I am a valve disciple, love my AC30. But on the road, we have fully switched to Line 6 processors. We have dummy AC30 cabs, and always ALWAYS when asked admit that we run direct. We've been IEM for 7 years, and slowly found that consistency venue to venue was more important than feeling the air move when you throttle a power chord. We still get folks in the audience complimenting us on the guitar tones... so it must not be too bad! I can tell that there isn't quite the top end sparkle... but I guess pushed through the mains, after FoH EQ... it's hard to tell.

[@spark300c]

these days high end analog ss amps sound so very close. the modeling software like amplitube get close but not as close as analog ss. now con being weight the pro for people like me that tube amp have high cost to watt ratio compare to ss amps and require maintenance and less reliable. In fact some high gain tube amps design clip like solid state amps by driving power tube into clipping. the power tube clip just as hard as diodes.home.polstra.com/amps/wreck1/scope/

[@marknason4572]

Another great one! As much as the gear-nerd in me would love to see pedalboards and amps, it's really amazing to see them toggle through sounds so quickly and nail the sound of the original recordings.

[@washywashie]

His signature guitar is the only signature guitar I’d consider buying. It’s a good price and the specs are equal to other guitars of the same price. Very rare to find that in signature models nowadays

[@himynameis77]

This is upload couldn't be better timed. Thank you!

[@1thess523]

I actually enjoyed this episode ! I've never seen Jimmy Eat World but i listen to their early stuff , my old band after I left it in the mid 90's I believe opened up for them.

[@fendercuber]

1thess523 dude that's awesome. what was your band called.

[@oddioblinker]

I just saw them a week ago in Corpus Christi TX and I noticed they had no cabs but it was loud and clear emphasis on the loud part.

[@samhillier8637]

I saw them on this tour. They sounded amazing!

[@clintonsummers85]

hell yeah! Jimmy is so amazing, I loved this episode.

[@markgueren9633]

I've seen them.many times live!! Amazing band..amazing sound!! CHEERS!

[@cc_1983]

Best reason and explanation for going fractal ever. Also his pre fractal info was informative too

[@scarymike51]

THANK YOU so much for this. Such a special band to me. Really grateful.

[@fonzybrookestone727]

Really cool fellas. Another good RR! Thanks for the video!!!!!

[@XxDirtyXxXSanchezxX]

Great band. Some of my favorites in my younger years. Still great.

[@JoshFryer]

Great video guys! Love Jimmy Eat World too! Thanks for another great rundown!

[@sn95_mustang_garage]

My kind of Rig Rundown, I'm all digital in my studio so geeky digital stuff I love. Open palette is the correct term, I've gotten lost and love it.

[@theplourde]

I don't see anything wrong with using axefx for the simplicity, considering these guys are still playing gigs with a variety of tones under their belts now...it works for them

[@Nothinglastsforever]

Jim, was awesome to meet you in 03 at BDO Perth and hoped you enjoyed the boiler room we gave you directions to. Haven't seen them live since 2010 but I've seen them 3x and they're the best sounding, vocally, band I've ever watched. Digital is the future. Don't apologise, Jim.

[@aplaguedoctor406]

Is it me or does Jim Adkins look like Wilson from House M.D.?

[@TimKollat]

Early Jimmy Eat World and Christy Front Drive were great. Good ol AZ boys

[@bastianbesenbeck4209]

Awesome! Thanks guys :)

[@prisonmike4971]

13:40 When I saw Pierce the Veil in Boston on Saturday, they did the dummy cabs. Hollowed out white mesa boogie 412 cabs, about six of them on either side, and ive never seen these but 2 white mesag 812 cab. They used them for lighting fx.

[@tazmon122]

Jim trying to rip the band-aid off that he's gone to digital rack gear is so punk rock. he feels so much shame for downsizing the gear for production, even tho not a soul is gonna fault him for it. like what, maybe 1-2 gatekeeping trolls calling him the s-word....not even realizing the hypocrisy that they would absolutely pay $40 for a ticket without blinking an eye. it doesn't matter what type the gear is, so long as the performance doesn't suffer. and end all be all, just remember that Far From Finished quote "when my only motivations are other's expectations....what kinda punk would i be if i took shit for being me?"

[@MrCornelius234]

You know, I'd love to see a snarky puppy rig rundown

[@ChrisRozwod]

Awesome!

[@nhudson78]

Great rundown. But for the love of God...use the noise gates in the Axe Fx II! You have 2 of them to utilize and they make things silent as a mouse with no tone of sustain loss.

[@heythere6983]

this was super interesting

[@tlkshowhst]

Great Great band.

[@brunomeneghel5586]

great!

[@toadetteremotewithwiimotio3330]

2:06 for a second i thought he‘s wearing his guitar that high XD

[@lessthanpinochet]

Holy shit, Failure is one of the best bands of all time. I didn't know Ken Andrews produced one of Jimmy Eat World's records.

[@wojak101]

Jim is like a well preserved dinosaur from my youth

[@master_letus1824]

It'd be awesome to see Trent Reznor and Robin Finck's rig from Nine Inch Nails!

[@lueyteledeluxe7457]

I totally agree! But you know, the target demographic of "Rig Rundown" would be 99% guitarists. Hell, might as well just say 100%, cos who cares about what the few non-guitarists think and what dumb reasons they might have for watching to begin with! So all these guitarists, in an era where we have gone from hero to zero (as guitarists - we were God's in the 80's, cool in the 90's, an outright embarrassment in the naughties, to the present, where we are tolerated, but still evoke periodic cringes from Johnny Everyman) , in no small way because of techno and synthesizer generated melody makers, not to mention autotune!....are usually kind of touchy about new technology, making anything about what we know and love about electric guitar and RocknRoll, obsolete. *Sorry that sentence was poor, grammatically speaking. It was way too long, it meandered through too many different points, and I'm not changing it now! This is anonymous (well, kinda...) utube, not a Fricken essay for Uni!

[@CatastrophicG]

There's one with Robin Finck but it's very slow. Really like more Perry's pace of gear chat here! Brilliant! 👍👍

[@oh033]

Arizona pride!

[@michaeltyers7336]

Good on them for using the tech available instead of following the usual hearing-loss inducing method.

[@saulgoodeguitars]

maton guitars are great. most know for the acoustics but the electrics are awesome

[@Nwidmann]

Genius Jim

[@RockBassTv]

I like this video a lot, been waiting for it a long time. Could you catch up with Rancid (especially Matt Freeman) or Sum41? if they're in town.

[@theKing0fN0thing]

RockBassTv Matt Freeman!

[@evanstanek5838]

after watching the Phoenix sessions, I want more info on the bass rig rundown!

[@MetalGroundMotoVlogs]

13 gauge strings on a telecaster? Wow

[@EdBuGMEnRRB]

I love watching these rig rundowns. The hosts asking the questions seem so awkward and nervous most of the time tho. Take a chill pill.

[@marcobarusso2485]

The only minus of the JA Telecaster is the Gibson neck scale, I've bought one and I love the sound, but once I got it I've been very disappointed about the scale, I like more the feeling of the lower strings on the Fender scale, especially when using drop tunings. Of course you need to use bigger strings because they're too loose!

[@starfox878]

I would hang out with both tom and jim

[@bobjob66]

This was my band in middle school...also The lighting fits the emo atheistic.

[@ericmsandoval]

I think you meant.... * aesthetic * lol

[@Les537]

I wonder if that 93 special came with p100s. I know my 97 special that looks just like it did.

[@noiseannoys_]

I’ve been the same exact high as Jim is.

[@wilydevios601]

20: 44 that guitar sounds really good

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Since I'm not rich or fully professional (weekend bar cover band), I'm still on Line 6 HD. I used to have different presets for different songs to mimic closer to what was on the records, but I found that when the main mix was set for one preset, the different presets (even if at the same volume) would sit in the mix different. It's definitely way easier to just have a base tone through the night. Unless you have a professional sound guy, then go for it lol.

[@lorenzmuller3542]

Please do one with MIKE LANDAU!

[@LaTigerGenesis]

Could you guys try to catch White Denim for a Rig Rundown?

[@nickycasales]

Daniel Stern on guitar

[@jackelmax1953]

Intro song?? sounds like an amazing Jimmy eat tune

[@YumeBasil]

What song is that at the beginning?

[@BoneCK15]

Sure and Certain

[@lauriboitsu]

3:18 wow look at that E-string!

[@cameronnorman291]

Is the Jim Adkins signature telecaster good for blues and country or not.

[@theKing0fN0thing]

Steamboat Willie I mean it is like a Les Paul Special in scale length and the P90s, so I would think so

[@djefferson5669]

Anyone know if they made a Gibson Challenger with a stop tail piece or is this one modified??

[@yrmthr]

If it sounds good, it sounds good. Nevermind if there's a tube amp behind you OR not. Jim comes across as sort of betraying his inner self for using Fractal. Leave the boutique stuff for the studio.

[@stanknugget]

Son Of Life Yeah, because tube amps are so boutique.

[@Mooseboy08]

I bought a JA-90 without even knowing who Jim Adkins was. I just liked the idea of half LP, half Tele. I love the damn thing! It's pretty cool hearing him talk about it, and I wasn't even aware that JEW did the song "The Middle" that I'd heard on the radio and liked quite a lot. Here's my review in case you want to see a not-even-close-to-rockstar demoing a lot of different tones: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGHCqoKGipaXebs

[@jaclob_]

what’s the song being played at the beginning of video?

[@shinystarshine]

Sure and Certain off Integrity Blues album

[@JacobAndersonLives]

did that Tele have an XLR jack?

[@Jcaburianhimself]

Could you guys do a Rig Rundown with Jake E Lee?

[@Nickgiv]

I want a Marcus King Band rig rundown!

[@premierguitar]

next month!

[@Nickgiv]

Balla balla!

[@prisonmike4971]

No hate for Jimmy Adkins, but I will gladly and excitedly riverdance on my pedal board til I die. I do get what he's saying. But still, I need a tuner, compressor, volume pedal, reverb, OD, digital delay, and a looper (not needed for shows, but still super important when trying to write two parts.

[@jus10_lee]

Jim would've made a good replacement for Tom in Blink. More so than Skiba imo.

[@willyorkmusic467]

I know you guys probably don't give a rat's ass about what I have to say, but Blink-182 are on tour now, and I think it'd be cool if you guys could do a Rig Rundown for Mark Hoppus and Matt Skiba

[@zachparker3994]

I strongly agree

[@nextyearofficial]

We can only wish

[@AlexFarleyMusic]

As much as I love blink, Matt's live guitar sound is pretty bad compared to other bands in their genre and even blink's past live sound. I think they strictly use amp modeling now, which is fine with me, but it's like they just went with whatever tone they dialed in first for Matt. Not a fan. However, I'd LOVE to see Mark's gear rundown.

[@jonduke3919]

I just got the natural colored one..it’s so bad ass..🇺🇸🎸🎼🎶🎶🎶🎶

[@billyrouse4813]

Telecasters are actually single cutaway guitars. Stratocasters are double cutaways

[@samuelemeryjiujitsu]

I fricken like these guys. Lol

[@SamuelAMathias]

I want to know what kind of shoes Jim has! They didn’t cover that.

[@prisonmike4971]

13 gauge strings eh? That's pretty gnarly...but if you do this at home, you can end up bowing your neck from the tension. So I would recommend slapping them on and bringing it to a shop to get set up- or you can watch youtube videos that break down how to do a proper set up, it's not that tricky, but can be time consuming. What I used to do what use .12's but I would use .48 for low E, .38 for A (or .48 again), swap the G for a D string- it fixed the issue I had with the dreaded slipping G string. Then I used two B strings for the B and high E. So the gauges were like- .48/.38/.28/.28/.18/.18 I use a tweaked midwest emo tuning to DAEAC#C#..gives it a solid 12 string vibe.

[@ericmsandoval]

Jim DOES NOT age. Neither do his vocals.

[@jman9082]

Was this the tour with AJJ?

[@MatthewHyatt]

For some reason, I thought they were all Mesa Boogie up until AxeFx.

[@timlint8893]

Thank you so much for this! Any chance you'll get Yellowcard before they break up??

[@evanwelch3235]

hey, are you guys going to do a RR on Green Day since they went on tour again?

[@premierguitar]

We tried, but the band wasn't up for any sort of gear videos. Sorry!

[@evanwelch3235]

k

[@evanwelch3235]

thanks

[@MrRich6505]

You're Welcome

[@rh-paving4642]

I'm gonna go put on my granny sweater now

[@FlyingV555]

This video’s comments seem to be about one of 3 things: 1. Jim’s Sig 2. The real amp crowd and modeling amp crowd going to war 3. Just regular comments thinking the gear is cool. Where I stand in all 3: 1. Cool guitar. Definitely kind of an unorthodox idea, combing a Tele and Les Paul, and then putting P90s in it. Also, Jim is hard core using 13s. 2. These comments make me mad. Personally. I lean more towards the real amps than the modeling stuff, but to each their own. 3. Another awesome rig rundown. Also, Perry needs to shut up and lets these gentlemen talk about their toys Jesus Christ.

[@matchboxschrieverpetersonl7]

What do you need? #twilightzone

[@lit3229]

Would have been nice if Jim had allowed Tom to say something about the Axe . . .

[@pronginator]

Every time...AXE...AXE....AXE EFX...The problem with AXE is that you can drown in opportunity. I could spend 3 years on swapping out transformers, changing plate voltage and speakers, and moving microphones 2.3 degrees off axis that I could never afford in real life, looking for that 'tone'. I suggest all unsigned players find their tone the old fashioned way. Use the AXE for duplicating the albums tones on tour. Either way, you'll never be happy, once you crank the first 8 seconds of Van Halen's UNCHAINED on vinyl.

[@halbprofi2217]

Yeah....You are sooooooo true. Not.

[@robguffanti]

If you are changing plate voltage and swapping transformers, maybe you're on the wrong amp model. I grew up the "old fashioned" way. Peavey, Ampeg, Marshall...valves going bad, grounding issues, oops, banged it around in the trunk and now it sounds different...I'll keep my Fractal, thanks.

[@secondtosafety1024]

You can tell it wasn't his decision to use the fractal lol

[@cigarettesmokingman9471]

I can't imagine playing without any cabinet to react with my guitar. That is so important to me, the amp is an instrument in its self. Theres nothing worse than seeing a great band but the sound is terrible because they think a rock band needs the subs blasting. Best show I've seen (sound wise) was Don Caballero in a small room with no PA at all (wouldn't be possible with a singer). I mean acoustic drums are really loud without being mic'd.