“They’d sell like hot cakes”: Is Ed Sheeran about to bring out his own line of signature looper pedals?

Ed Sheeran is one of music’s most prolific proponents of the looper pedal, so a signature line of loopers would be something of a no-brainer for the chart-smashing singer-songwriter.

Well, if recent developments are anything to go by, such a signature pedal range could indeed be on the way.

An integral component of his live shows and a key piece of his artistic DNA, the looper pedal has been by Sheeran’s side for almost two decades. The roots of their relationship can be traced back to UK guitarist Gary Dunne, who introduced the stompbox to Sheeran when the aspiring musician was just 14 years old.

Since then, the 32-year-old has built most of his music around the looper. While he first cut his teeth using the Boss RC-30 – as seen in his early viral videos – The A Team singer began utilizing custom rigs as his live sound continued to grow.

With the help of his tech Trevor Dawkins, Sheeran developed the Chewie Monsta Looper, which was later replaced by a larger Chewie II unit that had a keyboard input and LED system.

Sheeran and the looper is one of the most successful artist/gear combos of recent times – and so it makes sense a signature spin-off based on one of the singer-guitarist's custom loop units could be made available to the masses.

“Ed is always looking at ways to give back and inspire other musicians,” a source close to Sheeran was reported as saying by The Sun (via MusicRadar). “Bringing out his own range of loop pedals, which is a niche of his, is a clever idea and they’d sell like hot cakes.”

Furthermore, the artist’s custom rigs are now emblazoned with a “Sheeran Looper” logo. First signs of a new brand of loopers? Quite possibly.

As for the source’s tip-off, Sheeran’s track record of trying to inspire the next generation of musicians is pretty robust. In 2021, he donated a prototype ‘= Edition’ Lowden signature guitar to a school raffle. More recently, in October last year, he gifted his guitar to a young fan following an impromptu performance at his hometown – a gig that sparked a guitar sale surge in his local area.

It’s anecdotal evidence such as this that makes the prospect of a signature looper even more believable, even if he did suggest in 2019 that he might be ditching the loop station for good. 

That, and Sheeran feels completely at home when plugged into Chewie II: “I'm not nervous when I go on stage with the loop pedal,” he recently told Apple Music. “Because I know that if it does mess up, that's part of the show. And people would be like, 'Oh, that was different to the last show. And he did this and he changed that.'

“I've played with a loop pedal for 18 years now, I got one when I was 14. So I just know that when I mess up I can bring it back round.”

If an eponymous line of Ed Sheeran looper pedals does arrive in the near future, it will bolster the singer-songwriter’s growing catalog of signature guitar gear, which currently comprises a range of Sheeran by Lowden acoustic guitars.

Notably, those acoustics were made available in the US for the first time through Amazon earlier this year.

Before making the switch to Irish guitar maker Lowden, Sheeran had also partnered with Martin for a suite of album-themed signature six-strings, which paid homage to the original LX1E that helped Sheeran kickstart his career.

There's been no official word on a signature Sheeran looper, so keep your eyes peeled on Ed Sheeran's Instagram account for further developments.