The world's largest pedalboard

The world's largest pedalboard in the making
The world's largest pedalboard in the making

With 86 pedals and stompboxes, Jaux King's pedalboard may already be the largest in history. But on June 18, he's going to go all the way, with an awe-inspiring - and potentially power-sapping - board that boasts upwards of 150 pedals, one which he hopes will land him a place in the Guinness World Records pantheon of greats.

For King, a guitarist and singer in the Nashville-based band Joe King, the idea started when he and his fellow guitarist, Aljon Go, wanted a novel way to kick off GearTrap, an effects pedals website King had started. "Aljon and I had a really goofy plan," says King. "We were going to have Aljon dress up in a Ninja costume and mess around with both of our pedalboards - they're quite large already. We were going to make a video and post it on YouTube. Then we just decided, 'Hey, why don't we just build one huge pedalboard, the biggest one in history?"

By combining their boards into one, and with the help of sponsors such as Pedaltrain Pedalboards, George L's Cables, Seymour Duncan, Visual Sound, Creation Audio Labs, Mighty Bright Music Lights and Iconic Rockwear, King and Go fashioned a board that featured 86 pedals. A video test of the massive pedalboard can be viewed here.

"The test went remarkably well," says King. "We expected it to sound like one big wall of oscillation, but to our amazement, it sounded great." The only drawback, according to King, was one lonebox that "was wired for reverse polarity. So we took that one out and went with the rest."

At a GearTrap party at next week's NAMM show, King and Go will gun for Guinness glory with their 150-strong pedalboard. "Our criteria is quite simple," says King. "The pedalboard has to be one mounted unit, and it has to work. The only kink might be if we don't have enough power. But having success with our test version, we're pretty confident."

Stay tuned for an update.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.