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  #1  
Old 06-03-2018, 08:59 PM
v32 finish v32 finish is offline
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Default Question about looping & looper pedals w/acoustic

I have been interested in looper pedals and looping ever since first experimenting on a PRS I bought a while ago, but ended up returning because of not bonding with the neck. I have always viewed looping as something you do with electrics, but I think my thinking may be flawed here, so..

My question is this. Can you use the standard, popular looper pedals (Ditto, RC-30, JamMan etc) with an acoustic setup? For instance, my only acoustic-electric is my Gibson which I use with a Loudbox mini. Could I simply buy one of the mentioned loopers, plug it into my setup, and begin laying down loops and playing over them?

Sorry if this seems like an beginners question.. I just don't have much experience with anything at all outside of the realm of strictly acoustic, so .. amps and pedals and electronics and recording software, etc etc etc etc.. they have always been a bit foreign to me.

At any rate, I would like to explore this further and I would appreciate any advice, experiences, tips, and guidance that any of you might be able to provide. Would also like to hear about your setup and what you've found to work the best and most enjoyable. If those pedals do NOT work with an acoustic rig/setup, surely they have ones that do?

Thanks
Scott
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Old 06-03-2018, 09:03 PM
3notes 3notes is offline
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I think you've got it right. Your acoustic IS your electric guitar.
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Old 06-03-2018, 09:08 PM
Ten Ten is offline
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I like this use of one that k&k mini uses to advertise their pickup with. Kid has skills:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dSYnyw...z3GkO0ajtF4sBV
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Old 06-03-2018, 09:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by v32 finish View Post
For instance, my only acoustic-electric is my Gibson which I use with a Loudbox mini. Could I simply buy one of the mentioned loopers, plug it into my setup, and begin laying down loops and playing over them?
Yes. If your guitar has a jack to plug it in, you can run a cable to any effect box or looper that you use with an electric. Signal is signal.
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Old 06-03-2018, 09:14 PM
DavidE DavidE is offline
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I never use a looper with my electric because a drummer will never play perfectly in time unless they have a feed from the looper. I use it for live acoustic playing every gig, though it would fine for playing electric at home... I use the Ditto X2 because it's very simple to use, works great and sounds great.
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Old 06-03-2018, 09:24 PM
v32 finish v32 finish is offline
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Awesome. Thanks guys. That's what I was hoping and what I was leaning towards. I'll be considering to Ditto x2 and the RC-30.

Thanks for the quick replies.
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"what is the universe? the universe is a symphony of vibrating strings.." -michio kaku
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Old 06-03-2018, 09:55 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Even guitars without electronics in them can be used for looping. I have a DPA-4099g mic running into a Schertler Yellow Blender, and then I run its output into my Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro Plus and then into my AER 60.

It all works just fine, and I don't have to install any electronics in my Huss & Dalton 00. I consider that guitar a work of art, in a sense, and don't want to put anything permanent in it.

The Echoplex Digital Pro Plus is arguably the most creative hardware loopers ever created. It only loops for something like a bit over 3 minutes, but it does so much that it is an instrument in its own right.

I got mine very cheap and in mint condition on Craig's List a few years ago and finally finished my setup now so I can start digging in.

Tony
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Old 06-04-2018, 01:50 AM
Kalani Kalani is offline
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V32: yes, I use my looper with a nylon string guitar, a steel one and an ukulele! (But not all at once )
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Old 06-04-2018, 07:12 AM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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loopers are fun but live can become a train wreck
quickly if your not practiced with them.
I use my ditto to eq my guitar at the beginning
if the night. I do a simple 145 progression and put
my guitar face down on the stand to dampen the strings. then i can go out
front and listen to the loop (first in the chain) and make adjustments.
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Old 06-04-2018, 07:55 AM
djfrantz djfrantz is offline
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KT Tunstall basically built a career with her looper. I think at one time she was using a Boss RC-30. I don't know enough to know what she's using here.

https://youtu.be/ulyoxdhHrIs


And Ed Sheeran more recently.
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Old 06-04-2018, 08:08 AM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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To me, Phil Keaggy's original approach to looping (and maybe he still does it this way...?) seemed the most musical to me:



In the interview he talks about using very short loops as a part of the music. With today's loopers having lots of minutes or even hours of loop time, people tend to use them more as karaoke machines, laying down a chord progression that loops over and over while playing leads on top of it.

I am working on creating and deleting very short loops that fit in as a part of, rather than supporting, what I am playing. It will take time to figure this out, but that is the kind of thing my Echoplex Digital Pro was built for.

Tony
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Old 06-04-2018, 08:14 AM
gfirob gfirob is offline
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I just use the looper to do a sound check so i can walk around and listen to myself play and check the levels. Works great for that.
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Old 06-04-2018, 09:16 AM
jricc jricc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
loopers are fun but live can become a train wreck
quickly if your not practiced with them.
I use my ditto to eq my guitar at the beginning
if the night. I do a simple 145 progression and put
my guitar face down on the stand to dampen the strings. then i can go out
front and listen to the loop (first in the chain) and make adjustments.
Loopers are great for checking sound if you are a solo act. I do this all the time.
At a gig on Friday night, my Zoom G3 went dead on me during the gig. I use it for eq, delay, and looper function. I really missed the looper the most. I do 4 hours a night, and straight guitar, vocals, and occasional harmonica gets old fast . I sent my wife home to get my stand alone EHX 720 looper, and I was fine after that. Really missed it.
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Old 06-04-2018, 09:34 AM
v32 finish v32 finish is offline
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Ok, so... I will post this here as opposed to a separate thread, since it relates to loopers. I just read a great article on Reverb about picking a looper, and I found that there are more out there than I originally knew about.

In addition to the ditto, ditto x2, and boss' various iterations (rc30, rc300, rc-xyz) there is the EHX Stereo 720, which someone just mentioned, the DigiTech JamMan, the Line 6, something from Pigtronics, and a couple more( !! )

Originally I was leaning towards the Ditto X2, but my experience with that was less than stellar the last time I owned it with the PRS. Part of that can be chalked up to inexperience with it, and using a cheaper solid state amp, but I wasn't a fan of the sometimes severe echo that I got and mild buzzing. Overall I wasn't happy with it so I returned it.

Now I'm leaning towards the EHX Stereo 720 but would love suggestions. I play only acoustic and mainly would use it for practicing lead, laying down different layers, and eventually progressing to singer-songwriter type song tracks (without the singing, anyway, for now). I would love to hear anyone's accounts of why a certain one worked better, etc. think I already mentioned, but I use a Gibson AJ w/ LR Baggs straight into a Loudbox mini without anything else in the chain.

Thanks
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2003 Washburn WD44S | Sitka/Hawaiian koa
2018 Gibson J-45 Vintage | Torrefied Adi/Mahogany
2015 Gibson Wildwood AJ New Vintage | Adi/EIR
Fishman | Loudbox Mini | Primetone 1.0mm

"what is the universe? the universe is a symphony of vibrating strings.." -michio kaku
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  #15  
Old 06-04-2018, 10:34 AM
jricc jricc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by v32 finish View Post
Ok, so... I will post this here as opposed to a separate thread, since it relates to loopers. I just read a great article on Reverb about picking a looper, and I found that there are more out there than I originally knew about.

In addition to the ditto, ditto x2, and boss' various iterations (rc30, rc300, rc-xyz) there is the EHX Stereo 720, which someone just mentioned, the DigiTech JamMan, the Line 6, something from Pigtronics, and a couple more( !! )

Originally I was leaning towards the Ditto X2, but my experience with that was less than stellar the last time I owned it with the PRS. Part of that can be chalked up to inexperience with it, and using a cheaper solid state amp, but I wasn't a fan of the sometimes severe echo that I got and mild buzzing. Overall I wasn't happy with it so I returned it.

Now I'm leaning towards the EHX Stereo 720 but would love suggestions. I play only acoustic and mainly would use it for practicing lead, laying down different layers, and eventually progressing to singer-songwriter type song tracks (without the singing, anyway, for now). I would love to hear anyone's accounts of why a certain one worked better, etc. think I already mentioned, but I use a Gibson AJ w/ LR Baggs straight into a Loudbox mini without anything else in the chain.

Thanks
I use the EHX 720 for my acoustic and really like it for a couple of reasons.

1. It has 2 switches, so one switch can be dedicated to Stop/Clear. The same switch can be assigned for something else, I forget... and then you will have one switch dedicated to recording/overdubbing/stop. But you will have to double click to stop. Also by using the one switch to rec/dub/stop, when you go to clear it, the loop will start again for about a second before it realizes you are trying to clear it.

2. The 720 has 11 locations to store a loop. While I create all my loops on the fly, it's still a cool feature to have if there is a loop you want to save.

The 720 reproduces your tones clean and is pretty intuitive. It has a minimal learning curve.

Hope this helps.
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