He sold all his Rickenbackers when The Jam ended.
“I used to have loads and loads of Rickenbackers, from about 1975 to 1982,” he told Guitar World. “I got rid of most of them. But I’ve kept a couple. I kept the first Rickenbacker I ever got, a little short-scale John Lennon-type model. And I’ve got a couple of 12-string models, which are really nice, and I’ve got a Pete Townshend model, which Pete gave me a few years ago. But that’s about it.”
The Rickenbacker was The Jam. When The Jam ended, the Rickenbacker went. This is the clearest possible statement of how seriously Paul Weller takes musical identity: the guitar and the band are the same object. When the band is finished, the guitar goes with it.
He started with a Jedson Les Paul copy — the cheapest possible approximation of the guitar he couldn’t afford. He moved to Rickenbackers — the mod tradition, Pete Townshend’s guitar, John Lennon’s guitar, the sound of The Who and The Beatles filtered through Woking, Surrey. The Jam’s guitar sound: a black Rickenbacker 330 into walls of Vox AC30s, the distorted sound of “Eton Rifles” achieved by cranking the amp with no effects whatsoever. No pedals. Just volume.
Then he dissolved The Jam, formed The Style Council, put down the Rickenbacker entirely, and started making music that bore no relationship to what had come before. Then he dissolved The Style Council and had a solo career that started with acoustic folk-influenced music (Wild Wood, 1993) and has continued through fifteen albums of restless reinvention.
He has been called The Modfather. He would probably cringe at it. He has spent fifty years making music that refuses to be the thing people expect of him. The Rickenbacker was part of that — until it wasn’t.
Background: Woking, London, The Jam, The Council, and the Man
John William Weller was born May 25, 1958, in Woking, Surrey. His father John Weller — who would later become his manager — recognized his musical talent early and encouraged it. By his early teens Weller was playing in bands, absorbing the mod tradition through The Who and The Kinks, the British invasion through The Beatles, and soul through Motown and Stax.
The Jam formed in 1972 with Weller, Bruce Foxton on bass, and Rick Buckler on drums. After years on the Woking pub circuit, their timing into the punk era was fortunate — their energy and directness suited the punk moment even though their roots were in mod and R&B rather than in the nihilistic punk tradition. Their debut album In the City (1977) presented them as a punk band. Their subsequent evolution — toward the soul and R&B influences Weller had always carried — produced a body of work that is among the most respected in British pop history.
Weller disbanded The Jam at their commercial peak in 1982 — a decision that shocked the British music establishment and remains controversial. He formed The Style Council immediately, with keyboardist Mick Talbot, and began making sophisticated jazz-influenced soul-pop that bore almost no sonic relationship to The Jam. The Style Council dissolved in 1989 when their label rejected their dance-music album.
The solo career that followed — beginning with Stanley Road (1992) and continuing through the present — has been his most creatively expansive period. Albums ranging from the pastoral, acoustic Wild Wood (1993) to the psychedelic 22 Dreams (2008) to the raw rock of On Sunset (2020) demonstrate a guitarist and songwriter who continues to refuse repetition.
He received a CBE for services to music in 2006. He is widely considered one of the most important British musicians of the last fifty years, across three distinct phases of a career that has shown no signs of slowing.
Tone note: He dissolved The Jam at their commercial peak. He could have kept going — the money, the audiences, the recognition were all there. Instead he ended it, sold most of the Rickenbackers, and started something completely different. This pattern — voluntary discontinuation, deliberate reinvention — has repeated throughout his career. The Rickenbacker went with The Jam. The guitar and the identity are the same object.
The Rig: Paul Weller’s Guitars, Amps & Gear
Guitars: The Rickenbacker Era and Beyond
Rickenbacker 330 (Black, Jetglo) — The Jam Primary
Throughout his time in The Jam, Paul Weller played a black Rickenbacker 330 almost exclusively. 330’s have Rickenbacker’s own high output pickups, with independent volume and tone controls for both, and a three-way selector switch. What makes the Rick’s electronics unique is that they feature a pickup blend as well.
The Rickenbacker 330’s specific character: the high output toaster pickups produce a specific bright, present, slightly compressed sound that is distinctive from either Fender single coils or Gibson humbuckers. The semi-hollow body adds resonance and a slight acoustic quality. The 25-inch scale length (shorter than the Stratocaster’s 25.5 inches) provides a specific string tension feel.
Weller used multiple Rickenbackers across The Jam years — beginning with a fireglo (red burst) model in the early period and transitioning to the black Jetglo 330 that became his most identified instrument. He also used the “WHAAM!” guitar — a custom-decorated Rickenbacker 330 painted with Roy Lichtenstein-inspired pop-art imagery — which became one of the most visually iconic instruments in British punk/mod history.
The Rickenbacker forum documentation traced his setup evolution: very early The Jam used a Rickenbacker 1997 (the short-scale model he later described keeping); by In the City he was using the 330 in Ruby through Vox AC30s; by the second album he added a Fireglo 335 alongside Marshalls; by the later years the black Jetglo 330 was primary.
Tone note: The distorted sound on “Eton Rifles” and “Going Underground,” when played live, was nothing other than the amp cranked all the way up with no effects. No pedals. No distortion box. Just a Rickenbacker 330 and a Vox AC30 at maximum volume. The distortion came from the amp’s natural saturation at extreme output. This is the purest possible approach to heavy guitar tone — no box, no processing, just the inherent character of a tube amp pushed beyond its clean operating range.
The “WHAAM!” Rickenbacker 330 — The Pop-Art Guitar
Crafted using a beautiful Rickenbacker 330, the guitar was custom modified with a Gibson Humbucker in the neck position to create a far more versatile guitar for Weller to use in the studio and on stage. Despite these custom modifications however, it is of course the amazing artwork inspired by pop-artist Roy Lichtenstein that will always allow this classic guitar to endure.
The WHAAM! name references Roy Lichtenstein’s 1963 pop-art painting, which itself referenced a comic book image. Weller — whose mod identity connected to the visual culture of the 1960s as much as to the music — applied pop-art decoration to his guitar in the same tradition that John Squire applied Jackson Pollock technique to his. The guitar as canvas. The canvas as political and aesthetic statement.
The Gibson humbucker in the neck position provided the warmth and thickness that the Rickenbacker’s original toaster pickup didn’t. Combined with the Rickenbacker bridge pickup’s brightness, the custom configuration gave Weller more tonal range than the stock guitar provided.
Fender Telecaster — The Solo Career Primary
After The Jam ended and The Style Council period passed, Paul Weller’s primary electric guitar shifted to the Fender Telecaster. In a live performance, Paul Weller can be seen playing a Fender Telecaster 1959. Guitar World confirmed his use of a Telecaster alongside a Danelectro for the Sonik Kicks album recordings.
The Telecaster represents a different aesthetic from the Rickenbacker: where the Rickenbacker is specifically British, mod, and visually dramatic, the Telecaster is straightforwardly American, working-class, and tonally direct. The shift from Rickenbacker to Telecaster mirrors the shift from The Jam’s mod-punk identity to the more eclectic solo work.
He has also used a 1959 Telecaster (confirmed in the Equipboard documentation), suggesting vintage-voiced Fender single-coil character for the cleaner, more stripped-back solo material.
Other Key Guitars
- Jedson Les Paul copy — First guitar; used in earliest Jam days; visible in background of “Art School” promo video
- Rickenbacker 1997 (short-scale, Lennon model) — First Rickenbacker; kept when others were sold; “the first Rickenbacker I ever got, a little short-scale John Lennon-type model”
- Rickenbacker 330 (Fireglo/Ruby) — Early Jam primary; used on first and second albums
- Rickenbacker 330 (Jetglo/black) — Primary from “When You’re Young” onward through Jam’s end
- Rickenbacker 330 “WHAAM!” (pop-art custom) — Custom Gibson humbucker neck pickup; Lichtenstein-inspired artwork; iconic visual statement
- Rickenbacker 12-string (multiple) — “I’ve got a couple of 12-string models, which are really nice”
- Pete Townshend Rickenbacker model (gift) — “I’ve got a Pete Townshend model, which Pete gave me a few years ago”
- 1959 Fender Telecaster — Solo career primary electric
- Danelectro — Used on Sonik Kicks (2012): “I used that and an old Telecaster”
- Various Epiphone and Gibson semi-hollows — Style Council and solo work
- 12-string acoustic guitar — “That’s Entertainment” (1980) was played on a 12-string acoustic; one of The Jam’s most celebrated songs, a stark contrast to the electric work
- Guild Orpheum Series Jumbo acoustic — Seen in KEXP studio performance (2015)
Complete Guitar List (Key Instruments)
- Jedson Les Paul copy — Earliest Jam; first guitar
- Rickenbacker 330 (Fireglo) — Early Jam (In the City, This Is the Modern World)
- Rickenbacker 330 (Jetglo/black) — Late Jam primary; “Eton Rifles,” “Going Underground,” Setting Sons, Sound Affects, The Gift
- Rickenbacker 330 “WHAAM!” (custom) — Gibson neck humbucker; pop-art decoration; iconic
- Rickenbacker 1997 (short-scale, kept) — First Rickenbacker; still owned
- Pete Townshend Rickenbacker (gift) — Still owned
- 1959 Fender Telecaster — Solo career primary electric
- Danelectro — Sonik Kicks and various solo recordings
- 12-string acoustic — “That’s Entertainment”
- Guild Orpheum acoustic — Current acoustic performances
Amps: Walls of Vox, Walls of Marshall
Vox AC30 — The Jam’s Essential Amp
Walls of Vox amps often lined The Jam’s stages, Weller being featured in Vox AC-30 advertisements at different times throughout The Jam’s career as an active band. The Vox AC30 is one of the quintessential British amps, their chiming, bell-like quality spattered across decades of bands.
Weller’s use of the Vox AC30: primarily clean-to-lightly-driven, with the specific “Eton Rifles” distortion achieved by pushing the AC30 to its natural saturation point rather than using external distortion pedals. The AC30’s EL84 power tubes compress and saturate at lower volumes than the Marshall’s EL34s, giving the cranked AC30 a specific warm, harmonically complex distortion character.
For studio recording, the Rickresource forum documented that much of All Mod Cons was recorded through a Peavey amp — not the Vox or Marshall that dominated the live sound. The studio and live sounds were deliberately different, with the Peavey’s specific character suiting the recording context.
Marshall Plexi and JCM Series
Multiple Marshall Plexi amps also occupied a lot of stage space for Weller, their live shows often being amassed with amps and cabinets. The plexi Marshall Super Lead heads — alongside the Vox AC30s — provided the volume and power necessary for the larger venues The Jam played in their later years.
The Rickresource documentation traced the Marshall use: by the second album he was using Marshall 2203 or 2204 heads alongside the Vox AC30s.
Vox V125 Lead (Later Period)
The Vox V125 Lead stack — borrowed heavily from Marshall amps of the same era. Doing away with the classic brown, woven tolex in lieu of a darker weave with brighter accents — appeared in his later Jam period lineup, providing additional power and headroom for the biggest venues.
Current Solo Amps
For his solo career, Weller has used a broader range of amplification — the AC30 remaining a constant alongside various other vintage and boutique options appropriate to the specific album’s character. The Sonik Kicks sessions used studio amplification configured for the album’s more experimental character.
Pedals: The No-Pedals Era and After
The Early Jam Philosophy — Volume Over Effects
The early Jam period is essentially effects-free. Weller simply played a 330 with an AC30. That’s it, no tricks. The distorted sound on “Eton Rifles” and “Going Underground,” when played live, was nothing other than the amp cranked all the way up with no effects.
This minimal approach — no distortion pedals, no modulation, no delay, just guitar and cranked amp — is the purest expression of the mod tradition’s guitar aesthetic. The Who had operated on similar principles; the Rickenbacker into a Marshall at full volume was the sound of mod guitar aggression without technological mediation.
Later Additions
As The Jam’s career progressed and Weller’s musical ambitions expanded, effects were gradually introduced. The Rickresource documentation suggests a Roland JC-120 (used on “Mr Clean”) and various other studio amplification appeared for specific track requirements. A flanger effect is documented on “Carnation” from The Gift (1982).
For his solo career, Weller’s pedalboard expanded to accommodate the broader sonic palette:
- Wah pedal — Various models across different periods; documented in live performance footage
- Various studio effects — The solo career’s album-by-album variety required different effects for different recording contexts; specific pedal models vary by album
Strings & Setup
Strings: Rotosound strings — confirmed in the official The Jam gear documentation: Strings — Rotosound. Rotosound is the quintessential British string manufacturer, whose roundwound bass strings made Bruce Foxton’s bass sound as recognizable as Weller’s Rickenbacker guitar. Using a British string brand on a British guitar through British amplifiers is the complete British mod consistency.
The recording approach: Weller preferred a live, performance-oriented recording approach throughout The Jam years — the producer Simon Dawson described working out parts before coming in, doing three or four takes focused on feel. The goal was to capture performance rather than perfection. This philosophy — prioritizing feel over technical precision — is consistent with the mod and soul traditions Weller inhabited.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy: The Rhythm Guitarist Who Writes Songs
Paul Weller’s guitar playing is primarily a songwriting tool — like Noel Gallagher (who cites Weller as an influence), he is a songwriter who plays guitar rather than a guitarist who writes songs. The specific guitar choices and techniques serve the songs rather than demonstrating guitar skill for its own sake.
The Mod Tradition
Weller’s playing roots are in the mod tradition: The Who’s power chords, The Kinks’ riff-based approach, The Beatles’ melodic richness. The Rickenbacker was the specific instrument of this tradition — Pete Townshend’s instrument before it was Weller’s, John Lennon’s instrument in his late-Beatles period. Weller’s use of it was a deliberate historical statement as much as a tonal choice.
The mod approach to rhythm guitar: aggressive but precise, driving but melodic. Weller’s chord playing on songs like “In the City” and “The Eton Rifles” is rhythmically forceful without being sloppy — the discipline of the mod tradition, where presentation and precision matter alongside energy.
The Soul Influence
Running underneath The Jam’s mod-punk surface was a persistent soul influence — the Motown and Stax recordings that Weller had absorbed alongside The Who and The Beatles. Songs like “English Rose,” “Precious,” and the later Style Council work reflect this soul foundation. The guitar in the soul context is different from mod: more rhythmically precise, more supportive of the vocal, less aggressive.
The Reinvention Pattern
What distinguishes Weller from most guitarists in this series is his pattern of deliberate reinvention. Where most guitarists develop an identity and refine it, Weller has dissolved bands at their commercial peak and started something categorically different. The Jam’s mod-punk → The Style Council’s jazz-soul → solo acoustic folk → solo psychedelic rock → solo contemporary R&B. Each transition involved different guitars, different amps, different sonic philosophies.
Guitar World captured his approach: “during The Jam’s timeline as well — there’s been the theme of change from album to album, tied to the phases of your musical evolution.” He confirmed the philosophy: “I think it’s wide open, you know.”
How to Sound Like Paul Weller: The Jam Guitar Tone
The Guitar
Rickenbacker 330 (Jetglo black) for the most authentic Jam sound. The Rickenbacker’s specific toaster pickups and semi-hollow body are essential to the tone — no other guitar produces exactly the same sound.
- Rickenbacker 330 (Jetglo) — The authentic choice; current production available
- Rickenbacker 330 (Fireglo) — The early Jam alternative; same electronics, different visual
- Any Rickenbacker 300-series — The pickup character is the key element; body shape variations are secondary
The Amp
Vox AC30 — the defining Jam amplifier. The cranked-AC30 distortion (no pedals) is the specific tone of “Eton Rifles” and “Going Underground.”
| Control | Vox AC30 Setting | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Normal channel volume | 8–10 (cranked) | The distortion comes from the amp, not from pedals |
| Brilliant channel volume | Off or low | Using the normal channel for the warmer, fuller distortion |
| Treble | 6–7 | The Rickenbacker is already bright; moderate treble |
| Bass | 4–5 | Controlled bass prevents the cranked amp from becoming muddy |
| Top Cut | Minimal | Allow full frequency response from the Rickenbacker’s pickups |
No Pedals (Early Period)
For the authentic early Jam tone: no effects pedals. Guitar → amp. Volume cranked. That’s the setup. The approach requires a tube amp that produces natural overdrive at high volume — solid-state amps don’t produce the same result.
Budget vs Authentic
Budget:
- Guitar: Rickenbacker 330 (current production) or a used Rickenbacker from any decade
- Amp: Vox AC15 (scaled-down AC30 character) or Vox AC30 (used)
- Strings: Rotosound roundwound strings
- No pedals for the Jam sound
Authentic:
- Guitar: Vintage Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo (1977-1982 era)
- Amp: Vox AC30 (original or reissue) + Marshall plexi for live volume
- Strings: Rotosound
- Volume: As loud as possible
Influence & Legacy: The Modfather Who Wouldn’t Stand Still
Paul Weller’s influence on British music runs through three separate traditions simultaneously — mod revival, blue-eyed soul, and the Britpop era’s guitar rock. Each tradition cites him as a founding figure. The breadth of his influence reflects the breadth of his reinvention.
The documented direct influences:
- Noel Gallagher — Gallagher has cited Weller as a primary influence; Paul Weller gave Gallagher a Rickenbacker; the Oasis mod aesthetic runs directly through The Jam
- Graham Coxon (Blur) — The Britpop generation absorbed The Jam’s mod sensibility
- Ocean Colour Scene — The 1990s British mod revival has Weller at its center; he produced and appeared on their albums
- The Manic Street Preachers — Weller’s political songwriting tradition influenced the Manics’ approach
- Every British guitarist who chose a Rickenbacker — The Rickenbacker 330’s association with British mod rock derives almost entirely from Weller’s use of it; Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Andy Summers had their own Rickenbacker traditions, but in Britain, the 330 = Weller
- Virtually every significant British male singer-songwriter since 1977 — The lineage from Weller to Gallagher to countless subsequent figures is the primary thread in British guitar-based songwriting
He sold most of the Rickenbackers when The Jam ended. He kept the first one, the Lennon-style short-scale. He kept the Pete Townshend model that Pete gave him. He plays Telecasters and Danelectros now.
He is still making music. He is still refusing to repeat himself. The mod tradition would be proud, if mod was in the business of approving things.
Tone note: Rotosound strings on a Rickenbacker 330 through a Vox AC30 cranked to the limit with no pedals. That’s The Jam’s guitar tone. The most British possible combination of instruments and manufacturer and playing philosophy, producing the most British possible guitar sound. When Weller sold the Rickenbackers, he wasn’t just selling guitars. He was demolishing the instrument of one identity to make room for the next one. The guitar and the music were always the same object. The music changed. The guitars had to go.
In 1977, Paul Weller walked on stage with a Rickenbacker 330 and a Vox AC30 and no effects pedals. He cranked the amp. The distortion was the amp. The sound was The Jam.
In 1982, at their commercial peak, he dissolved The Jam. He sold most of the Rickenbackers. He formed The Style Council and started making jazz-inflected soul music. The guitar and the band were the same object; when the band ended, the guitar went with it.
The solo career that followed has spanned fifteen albums and fifty years. Telecasters. Danelectros. Acoustic guitars. A Guild Orpheum Jumbo at a KEXP session. Pete Townshend gave him a Rickenbacker model. He still has the first Rickenbacker he ever bought — the short-scale Lennon model. He still has the WHAAM! guitar with the Gibson neck humbucker and the pop-art decoration.
He is still making music. He has never made the same music twice. The Rickenbacker was part of that — until it wasn’t.
If Paul Weller’s Rickenbacker-into-cranked-Vox approach — the mod tradition, the no-pedals philosophy, the guitar-as-identity that went when the band went — has you exploring the British mod and punk guitar tradition, check our complete guide to Noel Gallagher’s guitars and gear — who cited Weller as a primary influence, received a Rickenbacker from him, and built Oasis’s Britpop sound on the same Beatles-and-mod foundations Weller had inhabited twenty years earlier.
And for the next guitarist in this series — another British guitarist who built a career on jangly, effects-laden guitar in a post-punk context — don’t miss our breakdown of Graham Coxon’s complete gear guide.
FAQ: Paul Weller Guitars & Gear
- What guitar did Paul Weller play with The Jam?
- Throughout his time in The Jam (1977-1982), Paul Weller played a Rickenbacker 330 almost exclusively — initially in Fireglo (red burst) finish during the early period, transitioning to the black Jetglo model from approximately the “When You’re Young” era onward. The 330 is a semi-hollow guitar with Rickenbacker’s distinctive toaster pickups, which produce a bright, compressed, characteristically British sound. He also used the “WHAAM!” Rickenbacker 330 — a custom-modified version with a Gibson humbucker in the neck position and Roy Lichtenstein-inspired pop-art decoration. When The Jam ended in 1982, he sold most of his Rickenbacker collection, keeping only the first one he ever bought (a short-scale Lennon-type model), a couple of 12-strings, and a Pete Townshend signature model gifted by Townshend himself.
- How did Paul Weller get the distorted sound on Eton Rifles and Going Underground without pedals?
- By cranking the Vox AC30 amplifier to maximum volume with no effects pedals in the signal chain. Weller himself confirmed that the distorted sound on those songs, when played live, was nothing other than the amp cranked all the way up with no effects. The Vox AC30’s EL84 power tubes produce natural saturation and compression when driven beyond their clean operating range, creating a harmonically complex overdrive that cannot be replicated by distortion pedals alone. The Rickenbacker 330’s high-output toaster pickups pushed the amp’s input stage harder, contributing to the saturation. This is the purest possible approach to guitar distortion: one instrument, one amplifier, full volume.
- What is the WHAAM! guitar?
- A Rickenbacker 330 custom-modified with a Gibson humbucker in the neck position (replacing the stock Rickenbacker toaster pickup) and decorated with artwork inspired by Roy Lichtenstein’s 1963 pop-art painting “WHAAM!” — itself based on a comic book image. The Gibson neck humbucker provided warmer, thicker tones than the stock Rickenbacker pickup, making the guitar more versatile in studio and live contexts. The visual decoration reflected Weller’s mod aesthetic — the same pop-art sensibility that influenced The Who and the broader 1960s mod movement. The guitar is one of the most visually iconic instruments in British punk and mod history.
- What amplifiers did Paul Weller use with The Jam?
- Primarily Vox AC30s — walls of them on stage, with Weller featured in Vox AC30 advertisements at various points during The Jam’s career. He was also documented using Marshall plexi and JCM series heads (2203 or 2204) for additional power at larger venues. A Peavey amplifier was reportedly used for much of the All Mod Cons recording — a surprising studio choice given the Vox-dominated live sound. A Roland JC-120 solid-state amp appeared on specific tracks. For his solo career, he has used a broader range of vintage and boutique amplifiers suited to each album’s character, with the Vox AC30 remaining a constant presence.
- Why did Paul Weller sell his Rickenbackers when The Jam ended?
- Because, for Weller, the guitar and the musical identity it represented were the same object. When The Jam ended in 1982, he was beginning a deliberate creative reinvention — forming The Style Council and making jazz-influenced soul music that had no connection to The Jam’s mod-punk sound. Keeping the Rickenbackers would have been keeping the identity of the band he had just dissolved. He confirmed this philosophy through his action: “I used to have loads and loads of Rickenbackers, from about 1975 to 1982. I got rid of most of them.” He retained only the historically significant ones: his first Rickenbacker, his 12-string models, and a Pete Townshend model gifted by Townshend.
- What guitars does Paul Weller use in his solo career?
- After The Jam and Style Council periods, Weller’s primary electric guitar shifted to the Fender Telecaster — a 1959 model documented in live performances. He has also used a Danelectro guitar extensively (confirmed for the Sonik Kicks album: “I used that and an old Telecaster”). His acoustic work uses a Guild Orpheum Series Jumbo (seen in a 2015 KEXP session) and a 12-string acoustic (used on “That’s Entertainment”). He still owns his first Rickenbacker (short-scale Lennon model), several 12-string Rickenbackers, the Pete Townshend signature Rickenbacker, and the WHAAM! guitar.
- How do I get Paul Weller’s Jam guitar tone?
- Rickenbacker 330 (Jetglo black is most authentic, but any 330 with the original toaster pickups will work). Rotosound roundwound strings. Into a Vox AC30 with the normal channel volume cranked to 8-10 and no effects pedals. The distortion should come from the amp’s natural saturation, not from any external effect. Treble moderate (6-7), bass controlled (4-5), top cut minimal. As loud as physically tolerable. The key insight: do not add a distortion pedal. The specific Jam distortion tone comes from the interaction between the Rickenbacker’s high-output pickups and the cranked Vox’s natural saturation — a distortion box in the signal chain changes the character completely.
