Paul Weller's amps with The Jam: some more potential insight

RandallFlagg

I continue my obsession with Paul Weller's tones and have some more potential insight on his revolving array of amps over the years with the Jam. Below are some pics showing use of Roland JC120s from early 1979 and use of what looks like a Vox V125 Lead from early 1981.

The use of JC120s has always been a bit of a mystery to me but he appears to haves used them in the early months of 1979 before Setting Sons tour in the Autumn/Winter of that year. In the pics below Weller is seen using the Rolands in the Strange Town video and also live on Belgian TV show Follies (the clip on Youtube is A Bomb in Wardour Street), which I place in March 1979. This isn't the heavily distorted tone that he used on the late 1979 gigs (which I guess must have been with a distortion pedal of some description?) but is a tone similar to the Strange Town record, a clipping/overdriven solid state sound. Not sure why Weller switched to the JC120s, it may have been reliability, maybe a quest to find a new sound after All Mod Cons. Who knows.

As for the Vox V125 Lead. These pics are from 1981, a mimed TV appearance of Absolute Beginners and a live appearance on A euro TV show which I place in 1981 also. Use of the Vox V125 Lead is interesting and not something I had noticed before. There are a few clips from 1981 where he may have been using this amp (dark lit stages makes it difficult to be sure), he also had a habit of filling the stage with Marshall amps and cabs, which in some clips are not mic'd or even switched on. However, the tone on a Live in capris gig from 1981 is very close to the Sound Affects studio tone, so could it be the case that Weller used the Vox V125 Lead on the Sound Affects record? Vox maybe pushed this new amp his way to try? The V125 Lead is interesting as it was released in 1980/81 and looks too have had a solid state pre-amp and valve power amp arrangement and had a master volume. It also makes me wonder what he used on The Gift album and subsequent 1982 gigs, he looks to be using the V125 lead cabs with what looks like AC30s on top but these may have been V125 combos?

Without speaking to Weller himself, and even he may not remember, it's hard to be sure on any of this but these are a couple of interesting further dimensions to his tone and amp use through the years. Some here's my timeline and suggested amps:

1977 - AC30
1978 - AC30
Late 78/Early 79 - Roland JC120s, Peavey Backstage (reported by Weller directly to me that he used in on All Mod Cons and Setting Sons)
Late 1979 - ?? (heavy distorted tone)
1980 - Marshall JMP (for the Sound Affects tour)
1981 - Vox V125 Lead
Late 1981/1982 - Vox ?? plus effects: Chorus, Auto Wah, Delay, Overdrive (?)

A couple of other interesting (to me anyway) things I noticed. The Butterscotch Tele, not seen that used anywhere else, it's not a 52 or a reissue but looks like a 70s/Early 80s model. The Wham Ric 330 had a clear back, you can see the back of it in one of the clips and it's clear coat. The headstock is black suggesting that it may have been a Jetglo originally.

Glooper

Great info.  I thought he moved to using marshalls as his main amp, hadnt noticed him using vox v125's before.

impmann

Didn't he advertise Vox V125s in the music press back in the day... 

If you google (images) Weller Vox Advert, you'll find a pic of him bare chested with a Les Paul Special clone standing in front of the V125

ICBM

The V125 is actually all-valve, but it has a totally different circuit and doesn't sound anything like a normal Vox. It has a complex five-band EQ section, gain, sensitivity and master volume controls. They also ran rather hot and tended not to be completely reliable, which is at least like a vintage Vox .

There's one of the ported 2x12" cabs that came with them in the shop I work for if anyone's interested.

RandallFlagg

impmann said:

Didn't he advertise Vox V125s in the music press back in the day... 

If you google (images) Weller Vox Advert, you'll find a pic of him bare chested with a Les Paul Special clone standing in front of the V125

You mean this one:

RandallFlagg

ICBM said:

The V125 is actually all-valve, but it has a totally different circuit and doesn't sound anything like a normal Vox. It has a complex five-band EQ section, gain, sensitivity and master volume controls. They also ran rather hot and tended not to be completely reliable, which is at least like a vintage Vox .

There's one of the ported 2x12" cabs that came with them in the shop I work for if anyone's interested.

I am no expert but there is a suggestion here that the initial gain stage was transistor:

ICBM

Ah - yes, that's true. I forgot that. It has a single-transistor input buffer for each input channel - one for each. They're actually in a rather odd arrangement where they drive the first valve stage via the cathodes.

That does make it just about a 'hybrid' by the strictest definition, but the transistors add no distortion or any other characteristic of the sound really. The rest of it is all valve. The reason it doesn't sound like a normal Vox is nothing to do with it, it's the main circuit and in particular the EQ.

pintspiller

Interesting. I only remember see I g them on telly with Marshalls, but maybe that was the only brand I knew in those days!

RandallFlagg

I think Weller liked the Voxs but as the stages got bigger they didn't fill the stage enough and as top billing act at the gigs, the unwritten rule is that your amps must be bigger that the support act, so he fills the stage with Marshall amps and cabs to beef up the backline appearance.

That AC30 certainly looks a bit lonely here:

pintspiller

I assumed the Rics and Marshalls was inspired by his love/ influence of Townshend. I think I was a little blinkered. I'd have more more into early Who at this time and would not have seen the Sound City and Hiwatts at this time.

ThePrettyDamned

I always assumed he wasn't amp fussy - I've often thought his guitars and the way he plays makes more of a difference than the amps itself. 

So Rick - clear, cleanish amp with plenty of treble bite. 

I think he'd sound like him through a jcm800 into the low input. 

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

I always assumed he wasn't amp fussy - I've often thought his guitars and the way he plays makes more of a difference than the amps itself.

Given how little a V125 sounds like an AC30, and that he's known to have used a Peavey Backstage in the studio quite a lot, I agree.

RandallFlagg

ThePrettyDamned said:

I always assumed he wasn't amp fussy - I've often thought his guitars and the way he plays makes more of a difference than the amps itself. 

So Rick - clear, cleanish amp with plenty of treble bite. 

I think he'd sound like him through a jcm800 into the low input. 

But he doesn't sound like the young him now. I think it's the volume, amps would be turned up a lot louder back then than nowadays

pintspiller

Rics have a distinctive sound. They seem to sound much the same despite amps

ecc83

I also know "The Band" has a pair of Artisan 30 combos coz I went down to the Smoke and did the mods the early ones needed.

Dave.

ICBM

pintspiller said:

Rics have a distinctive sound. They seem to sound much the same despite amps

I could prove you wrong with my Rick and my Mesa - but I do know what you mean, and it's true up to a point. My other guitars (especially my Strat) are much more amp-affected.

impmann

ecc83 said:

I also know "The Band" has a pair of Artisan 30 combos coz I went down to the Smoke and did the mods the early ones needed.

Dave.

Yes, Craddock plays through those when he's playing with Weller.

Wazmeister

@RandallFlagg ;- Interesting about the JC120 mate... 

I thought initially that maybe with the forthcoming Canadian/USA tour, Weller may have hired a different rig for the French/Belgium early 1979 gigs.

However, clearly seen below is the JC again at the New York Palladium (14th April '79) gig...

Seems like he only used them for a short (6 month ??) period...

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q493/Warren3333/Screen Shot 2017-01-08 at 10.04.45.png

Gassage

Never understood this fascination with disecting famous players gear and then basing your rig upon it.

I don't get it....I go my own way.

the_jaffa

Gassage said:

Never understood this fascination with disecting famous players gear and then basing your rig upon it.

I don't get it....I go my own way.

Lol awarded. I don't get it either, ahem

RandallFlagg

Wazmeister said:

@RandallFlagg ;- Interesting about the JC120 mate... 

I thought initially that maybe with the forthcoming Canadian/USA tour, Weller may have hired a different rig for the French/Belgium early 1979 gigs.

However, clearly seen below is the JC again at the New York Palladium (14th April '79) gig...

Seems like he only used them for a short (6 month ??) period...

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q493/Warren3333/Screen Shot 2017-01-08 at 10.04.45.png

Looks like the JC and the Marshall are plugged in and switched on as well.