Keeley Electronics collaborates with The Beach Boys and Sweetwater to deliver 2 facets of their legendary signature sound - 12 Strings and Rotary Speaker
These pedals are part of a bigger project in celebration of The Beach Boys’ eponymous Disney+ documentary - which to me seems to have come out a couple of years early - surely 1966’s Pet Sounds is the signature Beach Boys Milestone - so surely 2026 would have been more appropriate! It’s a project coordinated between Disney+ and Sweetwater - where JHS’s Josh Scott was brought in to make a series of pedals that would represent The Beach Boys signature sound.
Josh Scott then drafted in his friends Robert Keeeley and Chris Benson to help out - and each of those brands has produced some limited edition ’Beach Boys’ style gear - in accordance with their own particular expertise. So Robert Keeley has created 2 Full Stereo DSP-based pedals - a 12 String Simulator, and Rotary Speaker Emulator. Josh has created an all-in-one Bass Rig Pedal, along with a classic Uni-Vibe. And Chris Benson has created a full featured period correct sort of Fender Twin style amp with proper analog / true Spring Reverb and Tremolo onboard.
All of those are listed on a dedicated Sweetwater Beach Boys Studio Effects Collection Page, where prices range from $299 to $2,199 for the amp. Each of these devices is strictly limited, I believe the pedals are 1,000 unit runs, while only 66 of the Benson Surf’s Up Amps are being made - you need to get yourself to Sweetwater in a hurry if you want to own one of those devices.
The notification came in just as I was properly stuck into doing the Chase Bliss Onward article - I obviously love that one too. But was so impressed by the Keeley Rotary Speaker take - that I ordered one of those immediately!
The Chase Bliss Onward is less pressing as it’s a general standard release - and will be available for quite some time, while The Beach Boys gear is strictly limited and the most popular of those should sell out pretty rapidly.
Thanks to my Sweetwater Rep - Jon Mostacato - for assisting so expediently!
Please find to follow the individual details for the two Keeley pedals, where I will follow later today - with the 2 JHS Pedals, I’ve still to decide whether I will cover the Benson Amp separately!
California Girls - Twelve String Simulator - $299
Controls - Blend, Chorus, Echo : On/Off, Rate, On Footswitch, x2 Speed, Full Stereo Ins and Outs!
This pedal essentially super-rapidly samples your guitar output, and almost instantly (micro-seconds lag) outputs it at double-speed voicing with additional chorusing in tow, and an optional Delay circuit.
Robert has really worked his magic here as this sounds fantastic - delivering a superbly bright and chimey 12 string voicing - really sounds glorious. I really like this one too, but I have to balance my budget - and the Rotary Speaker one is the one of these that appeals to me the most - so that's the one I've snagged on this occasion!
I really love the period-correct use of those crystal amp pilot lamps, and RCA Bakelite knobs - in fact the same kind of ones used on the Fjord Fuzz Hedda. There's a few elements I would probably have done slightly differently - but overall I really love this concept - and you certainly can't ignore how great these Full Stereo DSP pedals sound - really full-flavoured!
The aesthetics are supposed to be period correct sensitive - both in terms of size, and features and fixtures - such that they would not have looked out of place in that 60's era. Robert has gone for a pristine white aesthetic - which as mentioned I feel is entirely appropriate. While Josh Scott for his pedals has leant more into Japanese styling for that period - in particular Shin-Ei! Chris Benson's styling doesn't feel too much removed from his own classic line - while this Surf's Up amp creation has the most controls he's every implemented!
In any case a really smart cash-in as ever there was!
Of course these devices are all exclusive to Sweetwater - which was the one to coordinate this project - so if you want any of those devices - you can only get them from Sweetwater!
I Get Around - Rotary Simulator - $299
Controls - Blend, Drive, Mids Boos : On/Off, Speed, On Footswitch, Slow-Fast Footswitch (Ramp + Brake), Full Stereo Ins and Outs!
I'm a huge fan of the Rotary Speaker / Leslie effect - where it has to be fully Stereo for me to be properly immersive and representative of that true sound. A decent Rotary Speaker has a really wonderful full-flavoured sort of syrupy texture to it - and when I heard Brett Kingman's demo of this pedal I was immediately smitten, and had to break off my Chase Bliss Onward deep-dive - to ensure I added one of these to the collection.
I really like the 12 string one too, but it was really a question of getting just one of these - and that decision will always lean into the Rotary Speaker, which is an effect I really love. Robert has done a superb job here giving this the full flavour profile - but also giving you the full feature set - including the essential Slow-Fast Ramping that best typify this genre.
The Mids Boost switch here really imparts a magical quality - to fully ramp up that syrupy-ness - I really can't wait to get this one in! I paid just under $30 for shipping - which is really decent, while of course I do need to pay customs and imports fees on top of that to land it here in the UK.
For sure I am a Beach Boys fan, but more so I'm a fan of the Rotary Speaker effect - and its manifold uses.
Were any of you tempted by either of these?
