Jimmy Eat World Rig Rundown

[philipacamaniac]

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/25470-rig-rundown-jimmy-eat-world

They recently switched to Axe-Fx II after years of touring with Orange and Vox amps. These guys are a huge tone influence for me personally, and throw a ton of credibility and weight into the non-metal non-heavy tube snob camp.

I just saw their recent show (in Tucson). Ironically, I wasn't super impressed, but the guitars sounded great. I've seen them 4 times, and it was more fun in the early 2000s (when everyone was younger, crowd surfing, and unaware of the impending hipster culture explosion).

The matching RJM controllers across the stage sure looked slick.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Weird vibe between those guys in the interview. Jim is kinda pissed off sounding.

 

[flump]

Weird vibe between those guys in the interview. Jim is kinda pissed off sounding.

I don't get pissed off. I get anxious and a little socially awkward.

It's funny that their choice for axe-fx's was based mostly on the idea of making OTHER parts of the show better.

 

[philipacamaniac]

I don't get pissed off. I get anxious and a little socially awkward.

It's funny that their choice for axe-fx's was based mostly on the idea of making OTHER parts of the show better.

I like it - a pragmatic approach that sits well with my own philosophy. Cart in 4-6 tube amps and cabs for a show, or cart in a couple racks that house every amp you'd ever need. The fact that they don't even care to run dummy cabs will probably help me with my eventual FRFR cab purchase (for gigs with no IEMS). I've been obsessed with finding the perfect FRFR cab that had a guitar cab look, but really, I should put my money where my mouth is and let the Fractal tone speak for itself.

 

[fizzoftheburn]

I don't get pissed off. I get anxious and a little socially awkward.

It's funny that their choice for axe-fx's was based mostly on the idea of making OTHER parts of the show better.

I'm sure another factor was to cut down on costs for traveling with/or shipping gear domestically and internationally for festivals and radio shows. As well as the consistency of their IEM's every night from show to show, and from venue to venue.

 

[Jarick]

I've been a huge JEW fan since 1999. They were my favorite band in high school, college, and for a while afterwards.

Got to see them live twice on the Bleed American tour and caught them again last December. I didn't know but had a feeling that they were running modelers live. The venue volume was oddly quiet at first, then the sound guys cranked it up after a few songs. To be honest I didn't love the guitars as they sounded a little bright and harsh to me but it is live so anything goes. Good show but I haven't loved their albums since Futures so I kind of tuned out for a lot of them.

I found it very interesting to hear Jim and Tom discussing their approach and it's a lot of what we talk about. Using the same tone for the majority of songs vs individual song patches. Complexity and how to dial in tones. Integrating multiple players with different tones. Stereo vs mono. Using scenes for song changes.

I really like those RJM controllers. Seems like a great idea for touring bands.

Last year I traded for a JA-90 and had it for a few months. I never quite bonded with it although I loved it on paper. Now I kind of wish I played with it some more. It hits a lot of cool spots (Tele, P90, chambered). I thought the stock pickups were way too hot and noisy, so I tried some noiseless Kent Armstrongs but those were too quiet and dark and weak. Then I tried some other Seymour Duncans which didn't really do it for me either. I also tried a GFS soapbar PAF but that was just muddy and bland. In the end I was tired of messing around with soapbars and found a Les Paul style guitar that worked better for me.

 

[philipacamaniac]

Good show but I haven't loved their albums since Futures so I kind of tuned out for a lot of them.

The crowds always go wild for the Clarity, Bleed American, and Futures tunes, and they always encore with something from one of those albums, so I consider it their golden age (99-04). I agree - I've never bonded with anything newer, but nostalgia and warm fuzzies keep me returning to the shows. Plus, they're semi-local (from Tempe, and Futures was recorded in Tucson) and you've got to support local music. =)

One thing I REALLY disliked at the show though was the hard panning of the guitars. The Rialto isn't a terribly wide venue, but wide enough that hard panned guitars in the arrays sound great at the mix position and nearly awful in every other seat.

Pretty cool that they've added an aux keys/guitarist, who plays synth stuff on all the new album songs, and fills in extra guitar chunk on the older songs. I love me some synthpop.

 

[Jarick]

They had a gal doing it for a while, although she didn't play guitar from what I remember. I thought that was neat, a different kind of vocal in the mix. The new utility guy had a surprisingly high voice.

I can't put my finger on what I haven't liked as much from their last decade of stuff. I can't decide if they need to be more straight up rock or more layered. Could just be me out of touch though. I really liked the Jim Adkins solo acoustic stuff I saw on YouTube a few years ago though.

 

[flump]

These guys are touring with Incubus this summer, and I'm pretty excited to see the show.

Side note I actually dig the clean stage look. Big fan of Muse, and while they have tons of visuals and theatrics, their stage is practically as barebones as it gets.