Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World & The VOX AC30 Custom Classic
(Vox | Posted 2006-08-13)
Jimmy Eat World entered the alt rock scene with a strong presence and a sure blend of punk and pop sensibilities. Consisting of Jim Adkins (vocals/guitar), Zach Lind (drums), Tom Linton (guitar) and Rick Burch (bass), Jimmy Eat World has been a touring staple with the likes of Weezer, Tenacious D and most recently, Green Day. The band is currently in the studio working on a fifth album, which will be released on Interscope Records.
Jim Adkins returns with his favorite gear for this effort, including his recent acquisition, the VOX AC30 Custom Classic. He compares it to his previous VOX AC30 experiences: “You know, the first thing I did was throw the Custom Classic up against my vintage reissue… On the Custom Classics you can combine the normal and top boost channels. This is nice because you can add in a level of body that’s different from just bass response. I like that. And I like that there’s a sweep; there’s more than just on or off. There is a wet-dry kind of balance that you could engage in the tremolo aspect of it. You don’t have to have it on a separate channel. I thought that was cool.” He adds, “Tone-wise it can do what the reissue does, but you could also boost it more so it gets a modern, saturated kind of distortion. Or you can back it off and have a true vintage, crunchy clean tone.”
On his settings of choice, Adkins comments, “I set it up mainly on the top boost channel, maybe a little bit of the normal channel. There’s not a whole lot of saturation. I like hearing individual notes over a chord. I can control the distortion and sustain by just dynamic playing, rather than stepping on a box for a boost.”
Get the latest band news at www.jimmyeatworld.com.
Jim Adkins has joined the expanding family of VOX endorsers, with other recent additions including Tom Keeley of Thursday; Joshua Cain and Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack; Nick Wheeler and Mike Kennerty of The All-American Rejects; Michael Zakarin and Sam Endicott of The Bravery.
