Easiest looper to use with separate verse + chorus loops

[jpino]

Anyone specifically use a looper to do two separate loops on a single song in a verse + chorus format?

Which one have you found to be easier to use for this specific purpose, switching back and forth between the two loops?

My research years ago lead to the Boomerang looper because you can have two separate loops (one on the first button and one on the second) and when you tap the alternate button once it will automatically finish the loop you are on and transition flawlessly to the other loop without having to time it perfectly.

That was years ago though and I want to see what is new and what you guys are using for this. I would just get the Boomerang but to be honest I’d rather not spend $500 to spice up only a couple songs of my set list. Thanks AGF!

[John H. Power]

I have the Boss RC-500 that does this very nicely

[Mnahopkins]

I have the Boss RC 300 which also does this nicely, although its a bigger footprint than the boomerang and the RC500, it can do sooo much more and I love it! Let us know what direction you end up going.

[jpino]

Originally Posted by Mnahopkins

I have the Boss RC 300 which also does this nicely, although its a bigger footprint than the boomerang and the RC500, it can do sooo much more and I love it! Let us know what direction you end up going.

Thanks good to know!

The Boomerang actually isn’t $500 anymore it’s $379 on sale right now. I’d still rather want to get one closer to a couple hundred bucks

[JWJ915]

Boomerang is where it’s at.

[jpino]

Originally Posted by JWJ915

Boomerang is where it’s at.

Great! Good tech is good tech.

I’m leaning towards the boomerang.. unless you guys know of one that does what I asked above with a smaller footprint or closer to ~$200 bucks?

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by jpino

Anyone specifically use a looper to do two separate loops on a single song in a verse + chorus format?

Which one have you found to be easier to use for this specific purpose, switching back and forth between the two loops?

My research years ago lead to the Boomerang looper because you can have two separate loops (one on the first button and one on the second) and when you tap the alternate button once it will automatically finish the loop you are on and transition flawlessly to the other loop without having to time it perfectly.

That was years ago though and I want to see what is new and what you guys are using for this. I would just get the Boomerang but to be honest I’d rather not spend $500 to spice up only a couple songs of my set list. Thanks AGF!

Hi j-pino…
I own a Boomerang which is on permanent loan to a friend, because it's not as intuitive as it might seem. And if you plan on updating its firmware, you need a Windows machine (mine doesn't support Macintosh). And its footprint is 'massive'. I'm a minimalist for acoustic stage work. Just my ToneDexter and page turner. The Boomerang has lots of features, but I find myself staring at the floor instead of playing to the audience.

If you need multiple sections in the same song, the Pigtronix loopers (either 2 or 3) are amazing, intuitive, and more than capable. If I get one (leaning that way) I'll likely have the outboard pedal as well (especially if I get the 2). The Pigtronix Infinity 2 is $199USD.

I've seen/heard them in action and they work seamlessly and maintain your sound fidelity. This is the one Phil Keaggy added to his rack several years ago.

I have an old Boss two pedal model (at least 15 yrs old) which doesn't have the capability to hold multiple loops in the same 'session'. Modern loopers are far more capable.

[jpino]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi j-pino…
I own a Boomerang which is on permanent loan to a friend, because it's not as intuitive as it might seem. And if you plan on updating its firmware, you need a Windows machine (mine doesn't support Macintosh). And its footprint is 'massive'. I'm a minimalist for acoustic stage work. Just my ToneDexter and page turner. The Boomerang has lots of features, but I find myself staring at the floor instead of playing to the audience.

If you need multiple sections in the same song, the Pigtronix loopers (either 2 or 3) are amazing, intuitive, and more than capable. If I get one (leaning that way) I'll likely have the outboard pedal as well (especially if I get the 2). The Pigtronix Infinity 2 is $199USD.

I've seen/heard them in action and they work seamlessly and maintain your sound fidelity. This is the one Phil Keaggy added to his rack several years ago.

I have an old Boss two pedal model (at least 15 yrs old) which doesn't have the capability to hold multiple loops in the same 'session'. Modern loopers are far more capable.

Hey ljguitar,

Thanks for that post, very helpful. I will check out the 2! Let me know what you decide. Is this the “outboard pedal” you are referring to that you add on to the 2? https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...le-foot-switch

[JWJ915]

Originally Posted by jpino

Hey ljguitar,

Thanks for that post, very helpful. I will check out the 2! Let me know what you decide. Is this the “outboard pedal” you are referring to that you add on to the 2? https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...le-foot-switch

The Pigtromix units are nice but I think they’re poorly designed for live use. Double tap to stop? C’mon. No parallel loops? Strike two. You need an external foot switch to assign a single-tap-stop function. Strike three.

[JakeStone]

Check out the Boss RC500 - Rock solid unit.

[nostatic]

I’ve owned and gigged most of them. Agree the Pigtronix is problematic live. Aeros does a lot well but requires thinking ahead and some toe dancing. RC300 is big but does the job. I find the drum sounds cheesy and never used them live. I did use them for writing/arranging. Same with RC500 - good writing tool, less good live.

I’ve owned a Boomerang 3 a couple of times and if you are playing in the moment, I think it still is the gold standard. Also a bonus that you can use loop 3 for a short percussive loop, then use 1 for verse, 2 for chorus. I didn’t find it to be particularly big - certainly smaller than the RC300 and not much bigger than the 500.

Truth be told I have a Ditto+ for live use now. Can’t do verse/chorus but works for a long jazz form and you can also loop a short percussive loop, then have a longer track on top of that. If I get back into a lot of looping I might get a Boomerang again but my looping is typically a short set of changes to solo over or a 32 bar form, etc.

[jpino]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I’ve owned and gigged most of them. Agree the Pigtronix is problematic live. Aeros does a lot well but requires thinking ahead and some toe dancing. RC300 is big but does the job. I find the drum sounds cheesy and never used them live. I did use them for writing/arranging. Same with RC500 - good writing tool, less good live.

I’ve owned a Boomerang 3 a couple of times and if you are playing in the moment, I think it still is the gold standard. Also a bonus that you can use loop 3 for a short percussive loop, then use 1 for verse, 2 for chorus. I didn’t find it to be particularly big - certainly smaller than the RC300 and not much bigger than the 500.

Truth be told I have a Ditto+ for live use now. Can’t do verse/chorus but works for a long jazz form and you can also loop a short percussive loop, then have a longer track on top of that. If I get back into a lot of looping I might get a Boomerang again but my looping is typically a short set of changes to solo over or a 32 bar form, etc.

Dang, nice! This is exactly the type of post I was looking for when I made this thread. Thank you!

Good to know, yes now that I think of it the touring professional I know that does a little bit of looping with his massive pedal board uses a ditto (again, he doesn’t need verse + chorus). I think the footprint of the smaller model is why, it can’t be beat for simple looping.

Alas, I need one to switch from verse to chorus. That is awesome the Rang 3 can be used on 3 do so some percussive looping on top. I really don’t think it is that much bigger when compared to the smaller loopers that need an additional pedal for function.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by JWJ915

The Pigtromix units are nice but I think they’re poorly designed for live use. Double tap to stop? C’mon. No parallel loops? Strike two. You need an external foot switch to assign a single-tap-stop function. Strike three.

Hi JWJ
I'd say the Pigtronix Infinity 3 is superior to the 2, for a couple reasons.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by JWJ915

The Pigtromix units are nice but I think they’re poorly designed for live use. Double tap to stop? C’mon. No parallel loops? Strike two. You need an external foot switch to assign a single-tap-stop function. Strike three.

I have the original Infinity Looper, and it has single press stop. And can also clear a loop by press and hold, without it triggering a replay. All-in-all, works great. The Pigtronix 2 seems to have broken that, a showstopper as far as I'm concerned. Not sure why so many loopers get this stuff wrong.

I also had a Boomerang (both the original and the 3), and for functionality, 3 especially was near perfect. It did require a bit of manual study, but once you decided what you wanted it to do, and had it configured, it was easy to use live. However, I noticed substantial sound quality loss with mine. The Pigtronix Infinity sounds excellent.

[Ten]

It seems to not be well liked, but I personally love my Headrush Looperboard which can certainly do this and much more. I find it really easy use too. Paid 400 for a mint floor model with full warranty fwiw.