Jim Adkins

Guitar Center's page on the Fender Telecaster JA-90 says, "When platinum-selling Jimmy Eat World guitarist and frontman Jim Adkins cheerfully challenged Fender by throwing down the gauntlet of designing his perfect electric guitar, a collaboration began that resulted in the Fender JA-90 Telecaster. Fender sat down with Adkins and went over his old Fender TC-90 spec by spec, making some important changes that subsequently produced this unique new model. The Jim Adkins Telecaster guitar has a mahogany neck set into a semi-hollow ash body, Seymour Duncan Soapbar pickups, independent volume and tone controls, an Adjusto-Matic bridge and anchored tailpiece. The high-output Custom Soapbar SP90-3 pickup uses two large ceramic magnets for extra output, compressed dyanamics, and sharper attack. The full frequency response delivers extra punch. The Vintage Soapbar SP90-1 has short, wide bobbins for higher output and more powerful midrange than Strat or Tele single-coils. The tone is sweet and smooth."

"It's a pretty versatile amp. You can dress it up or down for any occasion," says Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World, about his VOX AC30 Custom Classic, at 0:34 in this video.

"Getting up is something the band does exceptionally—Adkins, weaned on punk’s attack and alt-rock’s melodic exploration, elevates the straight and driving Les Paul barre-chord brawn with a vocal approach that’s slick and controlled, but infused with expressive emotionalism."

At the 3:30 mark, he states that, "I've always thought that the heavier strings just feel better -- not just for the sake that they'll stay in tune better, but sonically, I just think that they feel better."

At 3:55, he states that he now plays the medium gauge strings (13-56), joking that "...if this is medium, I'd hate to see heavy."

The pedals made by JHS and Walrus are totally neutral, there’s one called The Spark [by TC Electronic] that we used a lot. It’s a very subtle thing but just enough to make a difference.

The white version of his signature telecaster. He can be seen here advertising the guitar at NAMM 2020. While this variation of the model has been in mass production since 2020, Adkins has been using it for recording and performing live since at least 2016.

This detailed gear diagram of Jim Adkins' 2012 Jimmy Eat World stage setup includes a Boss RC-50 Loop pedal.

This was his main guitar during the Futures era. He used it for drop C# songs like Pain and Work.

That’s it, except for the occasional subtle boost and the Metasonix Butt Probe. That pedal has been on every record of ours since it came out! For amps, it’s a mixture of a Marshall 1979 JMP and Axe-FX.

This detailed gear diagram of Jim Adkins' 2012 Jimmy Eat World stage setup includes a Fishman Aura Spectrum.

According to this detailed gear diagram of Jim Adkins' 2012 Jimmy Eat World stage setup, he uses a Korg Chromatic tuner.

The red version of his signature telecaster. Can be seen playing it throughout this video.

At 8:15, Jim is seen using a Fender Tele. While the low quality of the video doesn't exactly reveal the color, the video for Rockstar shows that it's in Candy Apple Red.

In the rig rundown, JIm and Tom explain how they were introduced to Axe FX and that they have started using them live to spend more on production and less on hauling gear around.

Jim Adkins uses a Cole Clark FL1, according to Guitar Geek.

Jim uses Dunlop Tortex 0.6mm picks, according to Guitar Geek.

From Premier Guitar's Jimmy Eat World rig rundown: "When Adkins goes for an acoustic tone, he grabs a Maton 808 Concert Grand prototype, which he picked up on tour while visiting their factory in Australia."

According to Guitar Geek, Jim Adkins used a Tech 21 MIDI Mouse Pedal on Jimmy Eat World's 2012 tour.

At 0:12 minute mark, the RJM Music MasterMind controller is visible. Apparently, everyone uses this controller in the band.

At 0:12 minute mark, Adkins's Mission EP-1 pedal can be seen near the RJM controller.

In this post, Jim can be seen fiddling around with a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III.

This is a Premier Guitar Rig Rundown. Starting at 18:27 on the video, Jim gives a detailed demo of how to use the Mastermind GT 22 MIDI Foot Controller.

According to this detailed gear diagram of Jim Adkins' 2012 Jimmy Eat World stage setup, he uses a Line 6 DL4 occasionally.

Jim Adkins uses a TC Electronic G-Force, according to Guitar Geek.

This photo, posted to Jimmy Eat World's Facebook, shows Jim Adkins with a Pedaltrain Jr.

In this photo from Jimmy Eat World performing at the Egyptian Room in Indianapolis in 2013, the Tech 21 MIDI moose controller can be visible.

Jim Adkins incorporates the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer as a boost pedal, as shown in a user-uploaded photo.

Jim Adkins is shown using the Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner in a user-uploaded photo.

In a video titled "Jimmy Eat World: Our Career Through Music Gear" by Reverb on YouTube, Jim Adkins states that he recorded every album from "Clarity" onward with his 1979 Marshall JMP Superlead 100 Watt. He also mentions that he toured with this amp, along with a matching 4x12 cab, from the "Clarity" album up through "Chase This Light," before switching to his Vox AC30 Custom Classic.

In the YouTube video titled "Jimmy Eat World: Our Career Through Music Gear" by Reverb, Jim Adkins confirms his use of the Marshall JMP 2203 Mk II Master Lead 100w amplifier as he discusses their band's evolving sound and equipment choices.