Rob Scallon

Scallon was born on August 26, 1990, and was raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois, US.[8] As a child, he and his friends would visit their local Guitar Center and play instruments, although would never actually buy any due to lack of money.[9]

As a teenager, Scallon was a member of a metal band called Gasmask Catalogue, where he played drums.[9]

Scallon began uploading to YouTube in February 2007,[3] and began to develop a following in 2008.[6] His popularity launched as he began to cover metal songs with folk and country instruments.[3] Most notable are his renditions of songs on banjo, including "Raining Blood" by Slayer,[10] "Master of Puppets" by Metallica,[11] and "Psychosocial" by Slipknot, the latter featuring a cameo appearance by Corey Taylor.[12] His videos, edited by Jake Jarvi,[3] have featured collaborations with Andrew Huang, Boyinaband, Davie504, Jared Dines, Leo Moracchioli, Mary Spender, and Sarah Longfield.

Scallon has released several solo albums. While most are self-released, his EP Anchor and LP The Scene is Dead are sold through DFTBA Records.[13] His releases have featured instrumentalists such as Jeff Loomis, Rabea Massaad, Ola Englund, and Pete Cottrell. He plays drums in the band Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers, and their debut album Incongruent peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart.[14] He is also part of a collaborative project with Andrew Huang called First of October, a novelty band that records an album within one recording session on October 1.[15]

Scallon has a signature series of guitars released by Chapman Guitars.[16] Three more guitars were added to his line in 2020.[17]

Scallon, in partnership with Sweetwater Sound, received a Guinness World Record for the largest guitar effect pedalboard in 2019. The rig included 319 individual pedals, 34 pedalboards, and over 500 feet (150 m) of cables.[18] The board was played by Scallon and Alex Lifeson of Rush.[19]

In 2016, MetalSucks placed Scallon 23rd on a list of "The 25 Most Important People in Metal".[20] In 2020, Ultimate Guitar placed Scallon 11th on a list of "25 Best Guitarists Who Broke On the Scene After 2010".[21]

On January 1, 2021, Scallon launched Guitar Quest, a paid online course to teach people how to play guitar.[22]

Scallon married his wife Tamara Chambers[3] in November 2020.[23] They have collaborated on various projects, such as a 2012 Good Mythical Morning episode introduction[24][25] and a 2014 cover of Pharrell's "Happy".[26]

Scallon is known for his extensive collection of instruments. He was gifted his first guitar, a nylon-string classical, from his friend's father. He would use it to write his first solo songs and was featured on many of his early videos. Scallon's elder brother, John, also played music as a teenager, but left his instruments behind to Rob when leaving for college.[9] Several pieces in Scallon's collection are custom made for him, as he has collaborated with creators such as Bob Clagett.[27]

Electric guitars

Bass guitars

• Busuyi Double-neck Guitar/bass
• Carlo Robelli Fretless[28]
• Chapman MLB1 Dave Hollingworth Signature[29]
• Chowney CHB-1[28]
• Chowney Retrovibe EVO Davie504 Signature[30]
• Sandberg custom "Anchor" 2-string[31]
• Schecter Stilleto 5[32]
• Squier Precision Bass (first bass guitar)

Acoustic guitars

• Unbranded classical guitar (first guitar)[33]
• Busuyi Double-neck Bass/Acoustic
• Fender CJ-290SCE-12 Jumbo 12-String Acoustic-Electric[34]
• Guild D-40e[35]

Banjos

• Fender FB58
• Dean Backwoods 2 Acoustic-Electric 5-String[36]

Ukeleles

• Firebrand Ukelele
• Kala KA-SMHTE-C Solid Cutaway Electric Tenor[37]
• Dean UKE ML BKS Ukulele ML[37]
• Kala KA-15S Mahogany Soprano
• Kala KA-SMHTE-C
• Kala U-BASS-SUB4FS-BRST[38]

Cellos

• Cecilio CCO-Purple cello
• Cecilio CECO-1WH electric cello[39]

Other instruments

• Banjira Standard 7-String Single Toomba Sitar[40]
• Custom one-string shovel guitar
• Cecilio CDB-WH double bass[41]
• Moog Etherwave Theremin[42]
• Roosebeck Heather Harp Tm 22-strings[43]
• Roosebeck Prima Balalaika[44]
• Mid-East Berimbau[45]
• Idiopan steel-tongue drum[46]
• "The Djent Stick" (custom 1-string bass)

• Rob Scallon at IMDb