Two looping problems - dry/mix effect outs / live loop tempo? Headrush content

[bovine mind]

My current looping setup is effective but rudimentary. I use an Akai Headrush at the end of my effects chain for looping ambient/washy/textural phrases. I send the effect output to a Roland Jazz Chorus and send the clean output to my SVT-II. I do this so the loops remain unmuddied going through the Jazz Chorus and so that I can still play bass over it. This gives me a lot of clarity for both signals but I don't like that I can't adjust the tempo of the loops on the Headrush. Without tap tempo on the Akai I have a hard time keeping the loops in time with my drummer, so I'm limited to only looping phrases that aren't too melody based [ so basically really gazey ambient drones only ]. My band has been talking a lot about the beautiful phrase work of Phillip Glass and Steve Reich and how to bring some of those incredibly tight melodic loops into our sound, but it's been a nightmare so far without adjustable live tempo.

The boss RC-2 has tap tempo with the use of the extra footswitch but it doesn't have an effect out like the Headrush so I'd have to run both signals through my SVT-II rig and it'll sound like mush.

I should note I also have my effects running in Barge VFB-2, but I can't figure out how to route the Akai with it so that the loops won't end when I bypass the Barge.

Are there any loopers besides the Headrush that have a separate effect output?

[cheapbasslovin]

This is a little different approach, but you could try combining a mute switch with a tap tempo in a box. One switch would mute the signal going through it, and another switch would be attached to a jack for the tap tempo. This way you could establish your loop and then mute the signal going to your looper.

This would require a signal split before this box, or a circuit inside dividing your signal into a mutable and a non-mutable signal. The benefit is you could use any old looper you could get a hold of cheap. Sorry I don't know the nuances of many loop pedals to give you the answer you want.

[grovest]

Do you mean that you have the Headrush at the start of your effects chain?

[bovine mind]

Originally Posted by grovest

Do you mean that you have the Headrush at the start of your effects chain?

End of my chain, I loop a lot of effected phrases.

[bovine mind]

Originally Posted by cheapbasslovin

This is a little different approach, but you could try combining a mute switch with a tap tempo in a box. One switch would mute the signal going through it, and another switch would be attached to a jack for the tap tempo. This way you could establish your loop and then mute the signal going to your looper.

This would require a signal split before this box, or a circuit inside dividing your signal into a mutable and a non-mutable signal. The benefit is you could use any old looper you could get a hold of cheap. Sorry I don't know the nuances of many loop pedals to give you the answer you want.

That'd actually a really interesting approach. Are there are pedals that do this mute/tempo function already or am I looking at a custom build?

[bovine mind]

Any other ideas on how to adjust the tempo of a looped phrase while it is played back live via tap tempo?