Good loop pedals?

[Jmassie]

Ive heard boss is pretty good but its also a good dent in the wallet, any suggestions? or even better any of you pedal makers out there wanna explain to me how to make one?

[rnilson]

The EHX 2880 is pretty good. Four indpendent tracks on the same loop cycle. Sometimes makes the loops a bit quiter than dry line if you are a super low octive, but it is not hard to adjust. I use it in live performace midi synced to a laptop. But it is Super $$$$$.

[Jazz Ad]

The Boss RC-2 is as cheap as it gets.
You can catch an Akai Headrush for less money but it's far from having as many functions and memory.

[neurotictim]

If the Boss RC-50 is too much $$, you can go with the RC-2 or RC-20. My RC-20XL gets a retarded amount of use at home, though I'm not good enough to make it terribly useful live.

You can occasionally find them used here for less than $200 - that gets my vote.

[supermonkey]

Originally Posted by rnilson

The EHX 2880 is pretty good. Four indpendent tracks on the same loop cycle. Sometimes makes the loops a bit quiter than dry line if you are a super low octive, but it is not hard to adjust. I use it in live performace midi synced to a laptop. But it is Super $$$$$.

+1. This thing is a terrifying device. My guitarist just got one, and sent our quasi-experimental project into the N-Zone with it.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by Jmassie

...or even better any of you pedal makers out there wanna explain to me how to make one?

Assuming you mean a device that loops a recorded phrase, like the other posters are describing, then that is a pretty advanced project. By the time you are an experienced-enough builder to tackle that project, you will already have been a builder for a while and have a good idea where to look for schematics and tech info.

But did you mean that kind of loop, or a bypass loop for "true bypass"?

[kevteop]

If the latter, this explains things pretty easily.

[tomvelsor]

if your talking about a phrase recorder/looper (not a true bypass loop..) the boss one is the best one out there. i have the RC-20XL and it honestly is the best tool for any musician. extremely helpfull to write songs, practice walking bass/soloing concepts, grooving, ext ext.

the only thing cheaper is the RC-20, wich is the same as the XL only with less recording time. dont bother getting anything cheap, its a great thing to buy..

[jeff schmidt]

Originally Posted by rnilson

The EHX 2880 is pretty good. Four indpendent tracks on the same loop cycle. Sometimes makes the loops a bit quiter than dry line if you are a super low octive, but it is not hard to adjust. I use it in live performace midi synced to a laptop. But it is Super $$$$$.

this is exactly what I'm looking for.

Can you explain how you use it live - do you get tempo info from the laptop - what software?

[GeneralElectric]

I have the RC-20XL and I find it hard to use, though I am borderline retarded. Now its being sold to fund pedal gas thanks to Mystic Boo. As an aside, it sounded pretty good for what it did.

[tomvelsor]

Originally Posted by GeneralElectric

I have the RC-20XL and I find it hard to use, though I am borderline retarded. Now its being sold to fund pedal gas thanks to Mystic Boo. As an aside, it sounded pretty good for what it did.

dude..everything you need to know is written on the pedal. but to each his own..

[rnilson]

Originally Posted by jeff schmidt

this is exactly what I'm looking for.

Can you explain how you use it live - do you get tempo info from the laptop - what software?

I use abelton live to send the midi into to the looper. (Time/Loop start and stop) It is slaved to reason which is setting the looper perameters. The only snag I haven't been able to fix is you have to restart the loop record every cycle because the midi stop signal turns it off. You need a fast midi out signal (USB2) so there is no lag. There is also another laptop slaved in my midi chain that they keyboard player uses.
Does that answer the question?

[EADG mx]

I love my Jamman, there's not much it CAN'T do, for my purposes anyway

[jeff schmidt]

Originally Posted by rnilson

I use abelton live to send the midi into to the looper. (Time/Loop start and stop) It is slaved to reason which is setting the looper perameters. The only snag I haven't been able to fix is you have to restart the loop record every cycle because the midi stop signal turns it off. You need a fast midi out signal (USB2) so there is no lag. There is also another laptop slaved in my midi chain that they keyboard player uses.
Does that answer the question?

it does - thanks.

are you running any audio in or out of live - or is it just to set time?