I wish young people these days would be attracted to that vibe as we were then.Īccording to bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler in 'Our Story,' Weller loved his Rickenbackers but often grew frustrated, even enraged, by their quirks. The Jam were an artschool band in the best way - very intellectually engaged and critical, contextually reflexive and resourceful in multimedia. Even political, if I may mention it here. He as incredibly articulate and right about a lot of things musical, cultural and social. His very serious mien had something to do with it. I love the way they (well, Weller mostly) took the best of mid-60s hard British pop, R&B and Mod pop art and reiterated it in a way that was not the least corny or dated but totally authentic and in the moment. It didn't dampen my enthusiasm for the sound and look of the band and I still admire them greatly. I read later that Weller and the band hated touring America altogether. It's really too bad because we invited them into our hearts and they pretty much rejected us because we were Americans. It was very exciting for us in the audience but it was obvious the band were bugged by something, not responding to our enthusiasm and acting kind of disdainful. They played SF's Waldorf Theatre in 1981 I think (I recall I was 17) and the crowd went wild for them - SF had a big Mod scene. I loved The Jam when I was a Mod-influenced teen in their heyday. They wrote of one incident where Weller sat down to tune.they looked up to see a Rickenbacker flying through the air as Weller angrily chucked it across the studio! The smallish Peavey is visible offstage to Weller's right in a few shots from live footage from 1980 gigs although they kept a Marshall and/or Vox backline onstage.Īccording to bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler in 'Our Story,' Weller loved his Rickenbackers but often grew frustrated, even enraged, by their quirks. Weller loved the Vox for its 60s connotations but experienced the same lottery re: quality and maintenance issues that legions of others did! He gave an interview or two around the time that Vox (or their parent company) supplied him with two AC30s - he was excited, as you might guess, to be given free gear!Īs time progressed Weller moved to Marshalls and - dirty little secret - he used a Peavey solid state amp. Corrugated metal sheets were placed on either side of the Vox amp to give it that especially aggressive tone that the mics picked up. The guitar is so highly regarded almost 60 years after its birth that not even Pete Townshend smashes them up anymore.It's funny you say 'metallic' because according to their producer that's exactly what they used. Rickenbacker 330s are flawlessly finished, playable works of art that still cost less than two grand that’s about a third of the lolly required for a restored 60s Lambretta SX200 mod scooter. No other guitar sounds like a 330 - although a sorted Fender Tele can get reasonably close - and nothing is quite so evocative of various eras of classic power pop from The Who to The Smiths. Why is the model still so popular? Well, history was made on these things. On occasion, Rickenbacker produce limited runs of the Rose Morris style guitars they flogged to Pete Townshend back in the day, the ones with the lower output “Toasters”. It’s essentially the same guitar that Weller played in The Jam days. The 330 is still in production today, in six and 12-string formats. The Guitars That Built Rock: The Fender Telecaster. The Story Behind The Song: Jools And Jim by Pete Townshend.The Guitars That Built Rock: The Gibson ES-335.His rare white 330 went to Noel Gallagher. He eventually gifted his Jetglo Going Underground 330, with its custom black pickguards and Gibson-style stop tailpiece, to bandmate and Ocean Colour Scene guitarist Steve Cradock. When The Jam split in 1982, Paul Weller hung up his 330s.
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