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Old 05-11-2021, 12:01 AM
Hugo Stewart NZ Hugo Stewart NZ is offline
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Cool Best loop Pedal For $150

I have been looking for a good loop pedal and have come across the Boss RC - 3 but is a little bit expensive if there's anything out their like the RC - 3 but a little bit cheaper tell me about it
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Old 05-11-2021, 12:08 AM
pieterh pieterh is offline
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TC Electronics do a looper called the Ditto if you are after compact and simple. There are more expensive variants such as the x2 and you can go for programmable delay on the Flashback X4 which includes a looper - but then that’s way more than the Boss.
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Old 05-11-2021, 12:13 AM
Hugo Stewart NZ Hugo Stewart NZ is offline
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cheers thanks very much
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Old 05-11-2021, 01:58 AM
Hugo Stewart NZ Hugo Stewart NZ is offline
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If you have any idea for a good distortion pedal that gives a good clean distortion sound and that is cheap put it on here as well other loop pedals
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Old 05-11-2021, 06:54 AM
Seanr Seanr is offline
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Hi Hugo. I assume NZ in your user name refers to New Zealand. I'm in Australia and we also experience the difficulty of higher priced instruments and accessories than many on this forum.
I went through this process a few years ago and stumbled on the NU-X Loop Core - basically an imitation of the RC-3 though the drum samples are not as good. Currently $189 over here. They have since brought out the Loop Core Deluxe which comes with a two button footswitch which is handy for stopping loops, undoing and deleting without doing multiple taps with your foot (google this to understand why this is a problem). I think the other footswitch can be programmed to swap the loop playing so if your song has different parts you can make it do this. It also has 40 drum tracks versus the 20 on my unit and apparently they have been improved.
I don't know if the sound quality is as good as the Boss unit but I can say it has been pretty good. I am not a performer and use it to record a loop to practice soloing over. There are multiple save points so you can for example record a loop in key of A, another in E, G etc. You can hook it up to a computer via usb to save loops if you want and can even upload songs/tracks to the looper itself though I have not done either. There is plenty of space for recording. When I bought mine it was about 1/2 the price of the Boss unit.
Good suggestion above about the distortion pedal. I have used mine mostly with a Yamaha THR 10C on the 'flat' setting. Going into the front end of an amp is not the best with a looper as when you start soloing over the saved track all of the signal starts distorting. If you amp has an effects loop this is not a problem but if going though the main input it is hard to hear what your solo adds. My workaround was to buy an amp emulator (Joyo American Sound) which then goes into the looper finally to the amp - the order is important. I record my loop with a cleanish sound, then can either change settings on the looper or increase volume on guitar to increase the overdrive and get a different sound for soloing. This works pretty well.
Good luck.
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Old 05-11-2021, 07:07 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugo Stewart NZ View Post
I have been looking for a good loop pedal and have come across the Boss RC - 3 but is a little bit expensive if there's anything out their like the RC - 3 but a little bit cheaper tell me about it
You'd probably be better off with the updated version of the RC-3, the RC-5. Many retailers no longer have the phased-out RC-3 available. The Boss loopers do not include the wall wart power supply, so that's an extra cost to factor in.

Examine your actual looper use and what you need. Most important, many of the lower priced loopers use a single button, so be aware of that. There are a LOT of single button loopers gathering dust because folks buy them and then realize a single button looper is much more difficult to use, especially for those new to looping.

At that price point I'd purchase the ElectroHarmonix 720 looper. If you can pony up abit more the ElectroHarmonix 1440 is a very nice looper. It's the unit I presently own.

Last edited by Rudy4; 05-11-2021 at 07:20 AM.
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Old 05-11-2021, 08:01 AM
Paleolith54 Paleolith54 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudy4 View Post
You'd probably be better off with the updated version of the RC-3, the RC-5. Many retailers no longer have the phased-out RC-3 available. The Boss loopers do not include the wall wart power supply, so that's an extra cost to factor in.

Examine your actual looper use and what you need. Most important, many of the lower priced loopers use a single button, so be aware of that. There are a LOT of single button loopers gathering dust because folks buy them and then realize a single button looper is much more difficult to use, especially for those new to looping.

At that price point I'd purchase the ElectroHarmonix 720 looper. If you can pony up abit more the ElectroHarmonix 1440 is a very nice looper. It's the unit I presently own.
OP, be sure you pay attention to this. Be clear on what you want to do with it, and be sure what you buy matches that. For example, using a one-button looper live to capture/replay passages while you solo over them is practically impossible (at least for me) with a one-button looper. But for laying down sinple loops at home to practice over, they're fine.

I've used the Digitech JamMan live for years, with the external control footswitch, and it works great.
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Old 05-11-2021, 11:19 AM
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The ditto X2 is about $159 street price. It's the one I have. I join Paleolith in recommending to really do research and NOT overestimate your needs! Really think about what you will be using it for. If your goal is to play live with multi layer tracks you create in real time, by all means get something with lots of capabilities. Personally, I'm not going to be Adrian Belew or KT Tunstall! I'm going lay down a backing track and play over it... At home

The X2 is the first looper I've owned. I would have been totally fine with standard Ditto which is about $80 bucks. I've had it for 4 or 5 years, and I still haven't hit the second button. At least not on purpose

That being said the Ditto, and its variations are without a doubt very very good pedals. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the X2 to someone who needs that much horsepower.
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Old 05-11-2021, 01:45 PM
Ray175 Ray175 is offline
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A used Digitech Jamman would be on my shopping list at that price, or the more sophisticated Jamman Stereo.....
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Old 05-11-2021, 03:14 PM
jricc jricc is online now
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I really like the EHX 720 looper. 2 button operation.
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Electro...RoC4hsQAvD_BwE
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  #11  
Old 05-20-2021, 01:10 PM
Hugo Stewart NZ Hugo Stewart NZ is offline
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does anyone know a good distortion pedal
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Old 05-20-2021, 05:16 PM
redir redir is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugo Stewart NZ View Post
does anyone know a good distortion pedal
There is more or less 3 things going on here.

1) Over Drive
2) Distortion
3) Fuzz

They are all different. Some people just throw the word distortion out but don't really know what they want.

An Overdrive would be the classic TS-9 or it's variants. A BD-2 is another good choice. OD pedals try to replicate an over driven amp. Classic examples of that are Blues players like Stevie Ray

If you want a true distortion pedal then something like a Rat, DS-1 or an MXR Distortion is the classic sound. Distortion pedals distort your tone and add saturation and clipping. This takes you into Metal territory.

A classic fuzz pedal is the Big Muff Pi which borderlines distortion and Fuzz. There are also lots of Super Fuzz type clones out there too. Listen to Ron Asheton of The Stooges play 'No Fun' for an example of a classic fuzz.
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Old 05-20-2021, 06:29 PM
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stephenT stephenT is offline
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I just ordered a RC-5. I decided to go w/ the upgraded features of the Boss pedal. Having drum sounds is a bonus, lot's of storage on the unit and I'm hoping there are good YouTube tutorials.

I bought a Ditto but it didn't work (record) on arrival and I returned it. Kinda glad, gave me time to reconsider my purchase. For not much more you get the reliability of a Boss product.
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Old 05-21-2021, 03:11 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stephenT View Post
I just ordered a RC-5. I decided to go w/ the upgraded features of the Boss pedal. Having drum sounds is a bonus, lot's of storage on the unit and I'm hoping there are good YouTube tutorials.

I bought a Ditto but it didn't work (record) on arrival and I returned it. Kinda glad, gave me time to reconsider my purchase. For not much more you get the reliability of a Boss product.
Assuming the RC-5 is a more powerful version of the RC-3 and if you plan to use more than a few of those memory banks, I strongly suggest adding a dual foot switch. Boss makes good ones, so do lots of other folks. I have a Boss FS-7, which has two switches in line and is about the size of another typical single width pedal. It makes navigating the FS-3 massively easier than it would be without it.

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Old 05-21-2021, 06:06 AM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raysachs View Post
Assuming the RC-5 is a more powerful version of the RC-3 and if you plan to use more than a few of those memory banks, I strongly suggest adding a dual foot switch. Boss makes good ones, so do lots of other folks. I have a Boss FS-7, which has two switches in line and is about the size of another typical single width pedal. It makes navigating the FS-3 massively easier than it would be without it.

-Ray
Ditto on the extra foot switch.

One thing I didn't like about owning a Boss looper was having to bend down and use the looper controls to save a loop. That's one of the reasons I like my ElectroHarmonix 1440, the loop is automatically saved unless you clear it with the stop button. No bending over necessary.

I made up a home brew double momentary foot switch for my EHX-1440 and it works well. One button allows sequential loop selection and the other serves as a instant undo - redo. An auxiliary foot switch does make life easier because I can select loops without needing to use the loop selection knob on the looper.

Here's my home brew, made for my EHX720, which is now used with my newer EHX-1440 upgraded looper. All loopers won't work with a simple foot switch like this, and the store-bought ones can often access a third function by pressing both switches simultaneously. This one works great for me and was cobbled together from my parts box stash.


Last edited by Rudy4; 05-21-2021 at 06:19 AM.
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