Sweetwater Teams Up with Rob Scallon
On a smoky lighted stage a guitarist stands alone.
He fingers a chord and strums — and history is made.
A sound unlike anything ever heard before fills the hall. A handful of people line the front of the stage, witnessing a singular event that has never happened before since the first guitar was made. What’s happening here that makes this a world first? You won’t believe your eyes.
The guitarist is Rob Scallon, performing an original composition for listeners who were gathered to witness this first-ever performance utilizing the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ World’s Largest Guitar Effect Pedalboard. But the word “largest” really doesn’t do it justice. It’s massive. Comprised of 319 effects pedals on 34 individual pedalboards running into a giant wall of Marshall amps, the sound is both ethereal and overwhelming, swirling and aggressive. As the last chord rings out in waves upon waves of delays, Rob runs from row to row, pedal to pedal, adjusting dozens of knobs (of the 1,000+ knobs available) and reveling in a sound that he never could have imagined just a few short months ago.
Whose Idea Was This Anyway?
The seed was planted in world-famous YouTube guitarist Rob Scallon’s head as he stood in front of the enormous collection of pedals in the Sweetwater Music Store in Fort Wayne.
What if we put together a pedalboard full of our favorite pedals, and it just happened to include ALL of them?
Certainly that would be impossible, right?
Of course it’s impossible — anywhere other than Sweetwater! Rob’s outlandish idea turned into a challenge.
Why not?
With Sweetwater’s help, Rob could make not just a massive pedalboard but the biggest pedalboard ever in the history of guitar pedals!! How big would it be? No one knew for sure.
Were we crazy to even attempt it? That’s the question we were asking ourselves too. Ultimately, we would question whether we could actually assemble it, troubleshoot it, and use it in a performance. No one knew for sure. When the day finally arrived, we looked at each other, aware that there’s a fine line between brave and stupid. Was this a heroic effort or a fool’s errand? By the end of the day, we would know. And no one could have imagined the final result.
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What Does It Take to Build the World’s Largest Pedalboard?
What is required to assemble the World’s Largest Pedalboard? Nobody knew for sure. Now that it’s in the record books, here’s a partial list of what it took to accomplish this gargantuan feat.
- 319 guitar pedals
- 34 pedalboards
- 34 pedal manufacturers
- 500+ feet of signal cabling
- 4 respected pedal designers
- Over a dozen Sweetwater Sales Engineers and staff members
- Plus an enormous stage big enough for a 70-foot-long pedalboard
With the help of pedal designers Robert Keeley of Keeley Electronics, Josh Scott of JHS Pedals, Ryan Dyck of Temple Audio, and Brian Wampler of Wampler Pedals and a dozen Sweetwater staff, all the ingredients were collected on the stage of the historic Clyde Theatre. Then we began unboxing all the parts so we could attempt to break the world record. Once the pedals and boards were unboxed, we assembled them all with interconnects and power, then it was time to lay them out so we could even reach all the pedals. The scale of this whole endeavor was documented by a crew of photographers and videographers.
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What Was It Like Being There?
After two days of unboxing, assembling, testing, wiring, cabling, troubleshooting, and experimenting, the moment of truth arrived. Once all 34 pedalboards were connected and in position, it was time to listen. Was it going to sound like glory or garbage? No one knew. Then Rob Scallon stepped up and performed a composition that he wrote specifically for this event. With all hands on deck, it took eight people to turn the knobs and switch pedals in and out, but it worked, and the guitar pedal gods smiled down upon this Herculean effort. Success!! After Rob finished his musical performance as required by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, part of the official certification process, it was time for Don Carr and Nick Bowcott, Sweetwater’s resident guitarists, to take their turns. [schedule_content start=”08/30/2019 12:00″]What was it like playing through the largest effects pedal chain ever assembled? What were their thoughts after getting a firsthand encounter with this overwhelming once-in-a-lifetime pedalboard? Click the photo below to read their thoughts.[/schedule_content]
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Setting a World Record
What does it take to be officially certified as the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS “largest functional pedalboard, based on the total number of guitar effect pedals in the same circuit”? We honestly had no idea — but now we do. It’s quite a hurdle. Here are a few of their requirements, all of which had to be precisely met to be certified as world record holders.
- All pedals must be commercially available from recognized manufacturers.
- A full inventory list of all the pedals used, the pedal type, and settings must be supplied.
- Schematics of the circuitry of the pedalboard show how all pedals are connected.
- Pedals must be preconfigured before beginning the attempt.
- All pedals have to be connected simultaneously so any pedal can be used.
- All pedals must be functional.
- Ten people must witness a performance using all the pedal devices, but not necessarily all at the same time.
- The pedal effect must be audible in submitted video evidence.
- Witnesses must include a music professional who can attest that each pedal is connected in a single circuit.
- Video evidence of the entire counting process, carried out by a technician in the presence of two independent witnesses, must be provided.
- Photographic evidence of the record attempt should be supplied.
All in all, there were 155 pieces of supporting evidence submitted to GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS for certification as the World’s Largest Guitar Effect Pedalboard. To raise the bar even higher, we had a few requirements of our own that we added to the list. One of those was that there would be no duplicate pedals to ensure we had the broadest representation of all the pedals that people realistically use.
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Cameo Appearance by Rush’s Alex Lifeson…
For the icing on the cake, we had a special guest artist drop by. Guess who just happened to be in town and wanted to try his hand on this largest pedalboard in the world? None other than Alex Lifeson of Rush. It’s fascinating that no matter how famous you are, you still love getting a chance to geek out with other guitar players. Alex is no different.
Are You Kidding Me?
Close your eyes and try to imagine what a $90,000 pedalboard would look like. A pedalboard that has 1,248 knobs (let that sink in) and is 70′ long. One that requires 34 power supplies. Plus it takes eight people to move just a quarter of it. Sounds completely absurd, right? Of course! But you’d love to get your hands on it, right? You know you would. We sure did.
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Want to see more photos of this mind-expanding pedalboard and the people who put it together? Click on See More Photos below.
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Thanks to these partners who helped bring this vision to life.
