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  #1  
Old 04-21-2019, 11:16 AM
TerryC TerryC is offline
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Default Looper pedal recommendations?

Hi folks,

I'd like to once again tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience found on this forum to ask for recommendations on a basic looper pedal.

I'm looking for something relatively simple and reasonably affordable. I'm a bit of a luddite, so I'm not looking for an abundance of features or an overly complicated interface--I just want something that's easy to use and will allow me to loop some simple blues rhythms and muck about playing lead over top. If it makes a difference, neither amp I'll be using has an effects loop (blues jr, Yamaha thr5).

Does anyone have a recommendation of a looper pedal that's worked well for them? Or perhaps mentions of which ones to avoid?

Thanks!
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Old 04-21-2019, 12:35 PM
Johnny K Johnny K is offline
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Not much of a recommendation, but I am happy with the Mooer Groove Loop pedal. I bought it recently and am still on the learning curve. The tap tempo adjustable drum machine is pretty nice feature. The price was too. 100 bucks.
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Old 04-21-2019, 12:40 PM
J Patrick J Patrick is offline
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I have been happy with both the the digitech jamman loopers and the boss rc loopers...just pick the one with the features you like...I personally prefer one that can store loops...
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Old 04-21-2019, 01:07 PM
Charlieb Charlieb is offline
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I have a brand new Boss RC3 and looper pedal that I never use. I spent about an hour or so with it and I guess my old school brain just never could tap the pedal to get the loop set right and now I never play electric anymore just acoustic.
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Old 04-21-2019, 01:28 PM
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raysachs raysachs is offline
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I think the first thing to decide is whether you want to be able to save/store/recall loops you've recorded or do you want to play the rhythm into the looper each time you want to play to it.

If you want to save and recall your loops, something like the Boss RC3 or the Digitech Jamman lets you do that. I have the RC3 and it has slots to store up to 100 loops. It also has about a million other features that I don't ever use, but I kind of like the saved loops thing.

BUT, I ALSO have one of the really simple little one at a time loopers, maybe the best of the simple ones and one that spawned a zillion cheap knockoffs - the TC Electronics Ditto. The Ditto is really simple, one button and a volume knob. Tap once to start a loop, tap again to end the recording and start it playing, tap once while it's playing to overdub on top of it, tap twice to stop it, tap twice quickly and hold it down to erase the loop.

The reason I have both is as much as I like the ability to store loops, the need to go find an empty slot to record a new loop when you're playing and come up with a new idea can really kill the moment. By the time I've scrolled through to an empty slot, I may have totally lost the nut of what I was playing. So the simple little ditto is there for those spur of the moment, spontaneous ideas. I actually end up using the Ditto more, but have it right before the RC3 on my pedal board and if I come up with something I really like and want to store it on the RC3, I just loop it into the RC3 and store it.

If you've never used a looper, I'd recommend getting something simple like the Ditto or one of the $40 knockoffs you can find on Amazon and see if you like using a looper. If you do, and you decide you want to be able to store your loops, then you can get one of the more powerful ones (which are also more $$$) and either sell or keep the cheaper, simpler one. I love having both but I haven't heard of anyone else who uses that approach, so I might just be weird...

-Ray
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Old 04-21-2019, 03:01 PM
Johnny K Johnny K is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raysachs View Post

If you've never used a looper, I'd recommend getting something simple like the Ditto or one of the $40 knockoffs you can find on Amazon and see if you like using a looper. If you do, and you decide you want to be able to store your loops, then you can get one of the more powerful ones (which are also more $$$) and either sell or keep the cheaper, simpler one. I love having both but I haven't heard of anyone else who uses that approach, so I might just be weird...

-Ray
+1. Watch some of the more recent ep's the new Norm's Rare Guitars GOTD with Michael Lemmo. He's using a Ditto looper.
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Old 04-21-2019, 05:21 PM
MartyGraw MartyGraw is offline
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I have used a Boss RC2 for about 10 years but wanted something even simpler. I don't store loops or use the drum tracks, at all. I looked at a number of different ones but went with a Boss RC1. Here is why. I has a light on it that shows where you are in the loop after you have recorded your first track. It is very handy as sometimes I loose track of where I am when playing over a recorded loop. Secondly it has a jack to attach a momentary switch. You just hit the switch once and the loop is deleted. A lot easier and quicker than holding down the single switch to erase. I bought the parts to make the switch from Guitar Pedal Parts for about $10. Simple, easy and sounds great.
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Old 04-21-2019, 07:16 PM
nikpearson nikpearson is offline
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Default Another vote for the Boss RC-1

It’s the most basic looper Boss offer, but is very solidly made and records for up to 12 minutes. The loop indicator is really useful to keep you ‘in the loop’ (see what I did there?) as to where you are. No other looper seems to have this function. Can also be battery powered with 9V battery which saves having to plug the pedal in.
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Old 04-21-2019, 07:29 PM
Ruppster Ruppster is offline
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I recently switched from a Ditto looper to the Electro-Harmonix model. I found the EH to be easy to use and stores up to nine loops.
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Old 04-21-2019, 07:49 PM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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My first looper was the Ditto. I still have it and it works as well as ever. My buddy has the $40 Amazon knockoff and it gets the job done.

Practice practice practice the "arming" procedure with whatever model you end up with. The timing varies slightly from the Ditto to the built-in looper in the Zoom G3X to the Peavey Vypryr amps.

If you want a combo pedal that gives you looping and delay (but not at the same time), I've been digging my Electro-Harmonix Canyon lately with its 45s looper.

The low end Boss unit has a visible timer that indicates when the loop is about to restart. That seems to be a neat feature when just getting started.
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Old 04-22-2019, 02:16 PM
redir redir is offline
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I was looking for the same thing you are now last year and went with the Ditto X2. It's pretty straight forward and easy to use and not overly complicated at all.
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Old 04-22-2019, 02:30 PM
Nama Ensou Nama Ensou is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryC View Post
I just want something that's easy to use and will allow me to loop some simple blues rhythms and muck about playing lead over top.
I've bought a few loopers over the years, but the only one I've ever used onstage has been the Ditto x2. The two things that make it ideal for someone like myself was that there are no confusing arrays of buttons and options and that there is a dedicated stop button.

I also like the large, single knob which allows me to bring the volume down for live fadeouts.
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Old 04-22-2019, 06:14 PM
harpspitfire harpspitfire is offline
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i bought an ammoon looper, records around 11 minutes, i just use it for recording chords then practice leads- you can over dub on it ( i did that once) recording 3 instruments, cost around $20 but i see the same thing cost about $35 now, im sure others more costly have more bells and whistles, but i didnt need that
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Old 04-22-2019, 06:39 PM
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raysachs raysachs is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harpspitfire View Post
i bought an ammoon looper, records around 11 minutes, i just use it for recording chords then practice leads- you can over dub on it ( i did that once) recording 3 instruments, cost around $20 but i see the same thing cost about $35 now, im sure others more costly have more bells and whistles, but i didnt need that
I've had three of these - they're basically the smallest and cheapest knockoffs of the Ditto that I've seen on Amazon and elsewhere. They work. I gave one away a while ago, one of them just up and died on me - the light started blinking and it started making weird noises and then it just stopped working altogether. But the other one I still have as a backup to the Ditto, which I finally broke down and bought because of the Ammoon that died - the Ditto is just really robust, slightly less tiny, and 2-3 times more expensive. But functionally just about identical...

-Ray
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Old 04-22-2019, 06:55 PM
The Kid! The Kid! is offline
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I’m a huge fan of the Boomerang III. The Ditto X2 would probably be fine for what you’d like to do with it though.
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