as an aspiring Phil Keaggy Wannabe (likely for the rest of my life) I also use the famed Boss RC-50. It is a phenomenal tool because of how it's programmed. You can set up a phantom power mic thru it because of the XLR input, and the fact that you can throw any of the 3 loops into reverse at any time with just the press of a pedal makes it awesome. I've also figured out how to only do a 1x repeat of a loop while still looping solos over and not have it build out of control. My guitars are equipped with the also famed Fishman Stereo Blender Barndoor preamps, but i love them because i
don't have to setup a mic on stage picking up my constantly moving feet. I use two varieties of egg shakers (one more grainy in tone and the other softer in tone), an 18" & 36" rain stick vintage of mexico all wooden, a finger cymbal which i hit with my metal slide across, a Pearl Guiro w/chop-sticks
, and percussive taps across the top of my guitars on both the lower bout for a slightly increased bass drum sound and the upper bout with my ring for a much higher sound. And I don't sing! I can tell you it's very fun when looping because inspiration will come to you when you least expect it. i'll hear something in my head, and wonder how can i convey that sound to the audience. Keep going to music stores and look for oddball stuff that they'll sell to you for 50% off because it's been there for 3 years and nobody wants it. Another man's treasure i say. Oh, and a penny that was made into a guitar pick kind of the shape of a miniature football. Gives the guitar a much different tone.
My pedalboard is also slightly less equipped in gizmos as I have two delays (Boss DD5 & 6) with the DD5 being set on reverse, a Voodoo Lab Microvibe (rotating speaker emulator), and a volume pedal pre-loop for volume swells and a volume pedal post loop to bring the loop back gently without stopping it abruptly. I do also have two Boss FS-6 footswitches with TRS cables running into the RC-50 because it allows me to use it's programming capability much more effectively as i now have 4 more footpedals to operate the machine with and can program them any way i want. I did have once the looper setup in an effects loop chain so i could keep playing my guitar through the loops while bring the loop down to delete it, but the effects chain was soo darn quiet that the volume of it would never work. not nearly enough to work with. So it went back as a thru-signal. I do believe minimally a looper and post-loop volume pedal would be a wise investment as you can program the boss rc-50 in so many different ways that it will definitely change the way you write songs. It has for me and I'm glad it did. I'll hope to be enjoying my rc-50 for many years. In doing bass style tracks a Boss oc-2 or oc-3 would be an excellent choice as it bring the guitar signal down a whole or two whole octaves, but sometimes it doesn't sound that great depending on the pickup used. I don't have any of the OC pedals on my board because i feel my guitar is sufficiently bassy (dread).
BTW, don't let a pedalboard get out of control. I did. Mine's 4' long, and i use most of the real estate on it. I carry it in a keyboard bag! It's not extremely heavy, but it only fits across the back of my SUV with just about an inch to spare!
So, basically, have fun playing! Be wise in your choice of equipment, as it can definitely have a very positive effect in your performance, or it may not be so great after all. I can say the RC-50 singlehandedly rewrote the way i perform and I'm glad it did. Everything else is just seasoning on the side dishes. Enjoy & God bless!