Capturing a Legacy: The Beach Boys’ Historic Sound in 5 Stunning Effects

Shop the historic sounds of the Beach Boys courtesy of JHS, Keeley, and Benson 👉 www.sweetwater.com/shop/beach...
More than 60 years ago, the Beach Boys would emerge from Hawthorne, California, a coastal city found within Los Angeles’s South Bay locale, with their first single, “Surfin’.” Their debut LP, Surfin’ Safari, was released the following year. Their multi-decade career shaped them into a seminal force of rock ’n’ roll, pioneering the now-iconic California sound as they crafted 29 studio records, 75 singles, 25 EPs, and more than 50 live albums, cementing themselves as innovators indispensable to the evolution of rock ’n’ roll. Alongside a dazzling Disney+ documentary, Josh Scott, Robert Keeley, and Chris Benson were tapped to deploy their multifaceted sonic expertise and craft a suite of effects that encapsulate the Beach Boys’ sound. Sweetwater Studios had the honor of hosting Josh, Robert, and Chris for a roundtable deep dive, chronicling their journey researching, designing, and building this collection of effects, the hurdles they encountered, and the pressures of capturing a legacy. Check it out!
"We Made The Gear, Can We Make the Music?" Watch Josh Scott, Rhett Shull, & Chris Chron create a song in the style of the Beach Boys using these newly released pedals 👉
• Writing a Beach Boys S...
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[@sweetwater]

Which classic song from the Beach Boys do you think best represents their sound and legacy? Tell us in the comments below, and be sure to stop by Sweetwater for an in-depth look at these JHS, Keeley, and Benson effects! 👉 www.sweetwater.com/shop/beach-boys-studio-effects-collection

[@petederek7174]

Have to go with "God Only Knows", from the chord progression to the instrumentation, melody, and harmonies. An innovative masterpiece of pop music.

[@johnmccarthy387]

God only knows

[@Casinofire1]

In my room. Best beach boys tune ever. The harmonies on that are absolutely perfect.

[@Dungeon_of_Regret]

I know there’s an answer (or hold onto your ego). Has massive dynamic shifts.

[@viniciusmarcilio3194]

Robert is a machine. The man released like 12 pedals this year and we are still in May .

[@andreasf6671]

The world is indeed flooding over with too many variations of the same pedals.

[@DaveMcCall]

And they're all astounding and uniquely Keeley.

[@macsarcule]

Carol Kaye is the legendary bass players name you’re looking for. Legen-dary. In a class by herself.

[@timchalmers1700]

Keeley, Scott, and Benson = Totally Incredible !!

[@trev3971]

How do I purchase one of these while making sure that Mike Love receives absolutely nothing

[@DojoOfCool]

I was just getting into recording back in the 70's and the studio I worked at had recently changed consoles the old console was from one of the studios in Hollywood that recorded a lot of Beach Boys tracks. The cool part of the sound it was a tube recording console. So now need to come up with something to recreates sound of a tube recording console.

[@jeremeydonovan8286]

I love to see Benson out here doing the thing! So good! Power house!

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Truly!

[@jwstout007]

That punchline has some EHX Battalion meets JAM pedals multi-enclosure vibes & I totally dig it!

[@cameronvoysey]

Josh: ‘says D note’ Also Josh: ‘sings A’ Me: *cries softly*

[@gregbeaudry]

Great way to promote the documentary, so excited to see it! Love the branding too!

[@lukepeterschmidt8111]

I love hearing creators talk like this - what a wonderful project.

[@jakobsnider7648]

Was anyone else waiting for the jhs “sick burn” stinger after Josh called us all nerds for making it to the part of the video when they talk about Lesley simulator.

[@ScamLikely9327]

Absolutely love to see this.

[@bldallas]

This is all very cool. I’m not a big Beach Boys fan, but like I said over in the JHS recording video, this looks like such a fun/creative project. Thanks for sharing the details. Great stuff.

[@stevegamiello6476]

I love that fact that you're doing this. The pedals sound and look great.

[@TOMGUIDO66]

Is there a part 2 with sound samples?

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Look up the video of ‘making a beach boys song in a day’ JHS just did in Sweetwater’s studio.

[@rcruz262]

Are you going to play it so we can hear what it sounds like?

[@thestuffmikedoes2309]

You’re on KZbin and you will be inundated with this for days and days.

[@dirface]

Somewhere, there's a really small violin playing for you.

[@citizenkang01]

It’s on JHS channel. Skip to the last 3ish minutes.

[@StuGarrard]

So great 🙌

[@DamonBates]

Love seeing these guys come together, thanks so much; I may have to buy some (more) pedals!

[@jctedsap]

Just watched the documentary on the Wrecking Crew and they were the studio band with Brian Wilson for all The Beach Boys albums. The band was on the road for 210 days a year and just learned what was created in the studio to perform live.

[@Danielwilkinson]

I love that I hit nerd status. Thanks for the congratulations

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

Honestly, as someone who works in electronics manufacturing, I appreciate the attention paid to how this stuff goes together ♥️

[@jonoftheford]

Good work gents!

[@terryeaster1]

That was really awesome! Thanks for doing this 33:20

[@joeurbanowski321]

Love it..! “ 3 nerds n 3 boxes”

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

Great video. Just missing the demo.

[@beegood]

Thanks for showing us your “sweet” pedals and a trip down Beach Boy land. Mmmm that bass pedal. Might be better than my Zoom B3. Hah

[@Adventuresingearland]

Wonderful conversation, thanks for sharing!

[@MattReesWorship]

Really digging the Keeley pedals. Love that 12 string sound!

[@encrustable]

Sweet!

[@dirface]

Absolutely beautiful from start to finish!

[@johndrowe5281]

Josh said, paraphrased, the best Clint Eastwood line of all time (imho): “every man has to know his limitations…”. I found this to be true both in the practice of medicine and in being a musician/songwriter. (Of course, God can widen the horizons, but it is very helpful to be honest with oneself about the gifts they have. These three men have definitely stepped into their gifts…) 🎸👨🏼‍⚕️.🫶✌️♾️.

[@briankehew579]

What gear did Les Garcons de la Plage use?

[@KRayxKodessA]

This is such an interesting collaboration. Would love to see more of this type of thing.

[@charleshale8504]

Wish we knew if the bass in the video and the sound clip is from the punchline or the B-15

[@cnlbydesign5373]

Great job by all three of you and your teams on these! I hope to find a way to justify getting each of these. As a proud owner of a 12-string Rickenbacker, I really look forward to seeing how close the pedal comes. You have created a great tribute to not only The Beach Boys, but to everyone who played in the studio on their records like The Wrecking Crew!

[@hermanaraujo8023]

1176 is FET. these look amazing!!

[@PaulIsbell]

I bought the JHS Good Vibrations pedal! 😏

[@vedder10]

Can you please capture it an upload it to the ToneX or Kemper community please? 😁Just kidding. Hope you enjoy the new pedal.

[@ekw555]

I guess I will say "Wouldn't It Be Nice"

[@jonathandavis2527]

Make more, Benson :(

[@catfish573]

Saaaaawweeeet!!! ✌️✌️✌️

[@hardcutcreative.]

Anyone know where Chris's hat is from?

[@reedburnham4955]

My understanding is that the Beach Boys were an acapella male vocal ensemble, and never played their instrument parts in the studio. An amazing SoCal label-hired outfit named the 'Wrecking Crew' played, developed and recorded the music. Anyway these effects sound great and thanks for sharing.

[@squirelova1815]

Did the acapella group also do haircuts and tooth extractions?

[@kevbob]

They played all their instrument parts up until 64 when they essentially split into the touring band and Brian Wilson in the studio with session players, who would later be informally known as the Wrecking Crew. The WC played on scores of big hits by a large number of artists in the 60s. They played on Beach Boys records through about 67. To be sure, the band were good musicians (Dennis wasn’t the best drummer but it worked early on) and they played on their own records then on out. Plenty of other studio players did too, some of whom worked with them for years and even live but they definitely played their instruments.

[@reedburnham4955]

@@kevbob Yes. Pet Sounds was released in May 1966.

[@reedburnham4955]

Beatles Revolver Aug. 1966. An amazing year.

[@kevbob]

@@reedburnham4955 yup! Oh and you had a good point about being an acapella group to start. They were, you were right! But it was pretty informal, and they got some instruments to back themselves, which they did with competence for that day and age. But of course they didn't have the skill to match everything Brian Wilson heard in his head in 65/66. A shame he had his mental breakdowns when making SMiLE and after. Love his brilliance.

[@realgearonline8279]

1176 is FET - so is it vca or fet?

[@roycopeland9560]

Need a slide theremin.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Would love for Emily Hopkins/Harp lady try out the keeley rotary

[@Dungeon_of_Regret]

Wouldn't it be Nice if she played a beach boys song on a harp? I wonder which song though..?

[@Reprodestruxion]

Thanks for saying it

[@davearooney]

Who is the James they 're referring to? Santiago?

[@RobertKeeleyTV]

James Santiago is a great guess, he's always on my mind! ;-) James Saez of The Audio Labs in California.

[@LewWelchThePoet]

👍🏿🤘

[@willwetherington]

I'm a nerd, too!

[@kimevaristo7181]

The Triumvirate

[@mikemorgan4774]

FIRST! The Beach Boy sound? "Surfer Girl"!

[@baseboardmatt]

Josh: here’s a D duuuuuuh…. (Sings an A)

[@Markleford]

How does Josh Scott look like the shortest guy in the room for a change? Small chair? 🤔

[@WillyFranklinOnBass]

SAY HER NAME!!!!! Carol Kaye!!! :)

[@skylermann]

So she can spend the decade taking credit for the design and threatening to sue? Sure she’s an innovator but a lot of the songs she claimed to play on are up in the air and have been disputed. I don’t blame them for referring to her as the innovative bass lady with the amount of companies involved here, with her reputation there’d be a good chance that she would try to strong arm this into the Carol Kaye signature pedal or file a cease & desist 😂

[@sub-jec-tiv]

I’ll bet after a few years we’ll see some tasty lower-priced products.

[@basiltiffani8850]

I love that Robert is in cargo pants. Anti hipster vibes and I love it.

[@DaveMcCall]

My favorite thing about Robert Keeley is that he always seems so happy to be Robert Keeley. He's one of the most pleasant people on the planet to be around.

[@metalfatigue]

It's one thing to make a pedal that simulates a sound that's hard to get any other way, like a Melotron pedal for guitarists. But I'm pretty sure you can get the sound of a 12-string guitar by using a a 12-string guitar.

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

sure, but there's no technical challenge to see if you can make it work in that ;)

[@mikemorgan4774]

FIRST!

[@tortillaman2491]

Who are the beach boys?

[@jhspedals]

The beatles

[@tortillaman2491]

@@jhspedals Well if the beach boys were the Beatles, then the Beatles were the Stones and the Stones were the Who.

[@BrandOdyssey]

So they are realeasing pedals that already exist in other forms to coincide with movies now? Ridiculous.

[@sagittated]

How dare they

[@yesitsles1]

If you’re upset that existing gear is remade I have bad news for you about how the entire world works

[@yesitsles1]

A new burger place?! They already make burgers at McDonald’s! Ridiculous

[@ChrisP3000x]

I'm mad at reality! Mommie!!

[@stevenbernfeld6415]

Keeley pedals underperform are grossly over-rated.

[@johng1339]

perish the thought that you'd actually PLAY some of the BB's music/tones/effects with these during the video...

[@sagittated]

Those videos exist and are really easy to find. This video serves a different purpose to those videos.

[@Steve-li1ru]

Stop acting like the Beach Boys actually ever recorded anything.

[@jansonrawlings8169]

Should have done a deal with the Wrecking Crew. Beach boys hardly recorded their own instrumentation. Pet sounds only featured the members on instruments for “That’s not me.”

[@mathieulandry2181]

Actually, they play guitars and bass on the first few albums I believe.

[@jansonrawlings8169]

@@mathieulandry2181 That’s true, they did. Just mentioning it because wrecking crew played on California Girls, Surf’s up, and Good Vibrations which these sounds are tailored towards. The Beach Boys were for sure doing the surfy thing themselves too, so I’m probably being pedantic

[@gtr82]

​@@jansonrawlings8169 The problem with your opinion is the sounds and setup came about because of Brian, a Beach Boy, not the Wrecking Crew. Brian produced and conducted them. They played what he wanted it to sound like. They didn't just sit down and play what they wanted. And actually Carl Wilson played guitar on many of their biggest hits. He played the 12 string on California Girls and electric rhythm guitar on Good Vibrations. Brian was a perfectionist, so of course when his writing and sound evolved to greater heights than what most bands could produce, he was going to use the best musicians to convey what he wanted. It's the Beach Boys sound, not the Wrecking Crew sound. They played what Brian wanted.

[@gtr82]

​@@jansonrawlings8169 And if you don't believe it, listen to the hundreds of officially released studio backing track takes of Brian producing and directing the Wrecking Crew. Take after take, Brian was in charge to get the sound he wanted for the Beach Boys records. The Wrecking Crew would say the same thing and every single one who has been interviewed over the years has said they played what Brian wanted it to sound like. They also all caled him an utmost professional at what he did to get the sound he, as a Beach Boy, wanted.

[@jansonrawlings8169]

@@gtr82 None of that is news to me, but thanks