Ladies and Gentlemen, they’ve done it again. The ever-extreme folks at GearTrap.com and ToneFreq.info succeeded last night (July 16) in topping their own world record for the world’s largest – and fully functional – pedalboard.
This year’s record-breaking attempt featured a total of 147 stompboxes, which bested last year’s mark of 142. Everything from distortion boxes to wah-wahs to delay pedals to signal boosters were set up on racks supplied by Pedaltrain, and then dialed in for the world record attempt.
After resolving a few technical issues in the early going, all 147 pedals were hooked up and functioning with no noise and clear guitar sound coming through the amp. Nashville session guitarist Stanton Adcock put the entire pedalboard through its paces to confirm the record.
The event was hosted by Aljon Go and Jaux King, two Nashville-area guitarists who conceived the idea last year while brainstorming ways to increase traffic to their gear blogs (ToneFreq.info and GrearTrap.com, respectively). As it did last year, this year’s event also featured a silent auction to raise money and awareness for the National Kidney Foundation of Middle Tennessee, along with performances from some of Nashville’s best up-and-coming bands, Flight Case for Sushi, Philos and JonesWorld.
“Mission accomplished,” Go said after the event. “If it wasn’t for Sarge from Creation Audio Labs and and Bob Weil, president of Visual Sound, it probably wouldn’t have happened. They were wiring things up at the last minute and made it all work.”
As for doing it again, Go added, “Our sponsors all donated more than they did last year, and they all want to see it done again. But a lot of planning goes into this. It’s not an easy thing to do. I guess we’ll look at doing it all again in about six months.”
King couldn’t have been happier at breaking last year’s mark, and also wants to possibly attempt the record one more time next year. He does, however, try to view the whole event from a more down-to-earth perspective.
“The goal was just to beat the record and we did it. We’re pumped,” King said. “The fact is that we did it for fun and we enjoy doing it. It’s really that simple. It’s not about tone or practicality; it’s about doing something for fun and having a good time doing it.”
Also on hand were noted guitar clinicians Bart Walsh, Tony Pasko, Bryan Lionman, and Rikk Beatty to provide a few pointers in using effects in general, along with a long list sponsors that helped assemble the monster pedalboard and answer technical questions throughout the night. Some of the sponsors in attendance included Pedaltrain, Visual Sound, Creation Audio Labs, George L’s Musical Products, D’ Addario/Planet Waves, Mighty Bright Music Lights, CoreX2, Bullet Cable, Eventide, Retro-Sonic/Vintage Vibes, Mad Professor Amps and Effects, Bourns, Farley’s Music Essentials, Music Connection Magazine, Vox and Dungeon Promotions.
The event also coincides with Summer NAMM 2009, which runs through Sunday (July 19).
