bass loop machine

[lbbc]

I'm looking for a bass (or any) looper. Have you used any? What would you suggest?

Thanks,
Wayne

[Ubersheist]

There's a number of ones you can try out. I think the Boss RC-3 is an easy to use one, though, and may be good if you're not certain what you want. Better yet, you can probably pick up an RC-2 used on Ebay for under $100.

The more advanced ones run upwards of $500, and have multiple channels that can be turned off and on, can be loaded with drum samples, etc, and have different effects on each track, etc. I don't know if you need or want this.

This should probably be in the "effects" forum, btw.

[BassedInSpace]

I've only used the looper on the Pod HD300, it's decent but I wish it had an undo function on it, you can switch effects patches between loops which is cool, I paid $300 for mine. I think the Boomerang is the most famous looper, I think those go for $400-500.

[FretlessMainly]

Boss DD-7 works for me - and it has delay, reverse and other features.

[CharlieC]

A looper is included for nearly pennies on the dollars with this equipment!

Cheers!

http://www.zinfanus.com/zoom_b3

[bluebird28]

I just bought an unsued, used, Digitech JamMan Stereo for $125.00 on CL, in the box with manual and power supply. I haven't used it yet, I just started reading the manual.

[Kmonk]

Tascam GB-10 and GTR1 have an easy to use looping function.

[hazmatt]

the line6 stombox looper is pretty intuitive to use and comes with both overdub and undo features - is also included on the m13s and m9s. I sold mine to upgrade to a boomerang because it supports individually looped tracks w/ separate volume control, but the line6 was a great first looper for a few years. I still like its interface more than the boomerang's. The digitech jamMan is solid, tis a bit more confusing to figure out. Can't comment on any of the boss versions.

[seamonkey]

DAWs like Ableton Live, Sonar, Studio One are great at looping and will record each take of the loop.

Think about it if you don't have a DAW. They do a lot and save a lot on outboard gear.

[Landy67]

For looping I have the Boss RC-3, Digitech JamMan Twin, and the Digitech Dl-8 Delay pedal.

The DL-8 is my favorite pedal. It only records 45 seconds or so, but it's enough for most of what I do, and I love the delay effects.

Boss RC-3 is good. The things I don't like about it is, after you stop recording, it goes right into overdub mode unless you press the pedal twice. The add-on pedal only selects between presets, and stops playback on something that you've already recorded.

The Digitech JamMan Twin has the single flaw, where the recording doesn't start when you step on the pedal, it starts when you stat playing, so it really screws up overdubbing.

Unfortunately, whatever you record on any of those devices is so quiet, you can't use them on the PC afterwards.

One of the coolest features, is the ability to slow down recordings. On the dedicated loopers, you can copy a WAV file, and as you play them back you can tap the "tap tempo" button to slow down the loop/recording so you can play along.

On the Digitech, once you set the tempo for playback, or the metronome, you can turn the tempo dial so change the tempo to an exact setting. On the Boss, there isn't a way to speed up or slow down the metronome or recording other than the tap tempo, so you never know what your speed is.

I hope that helps.

[seamonkey]

If you want a hardware pedal for portability then you should probably ask over in the effects forum.
Looks like a half dozen loopers will be introduced at NAMM
The TC Electronics Ditto looks like a winner

But IOS, is right there also.

[Rip Topaz]

Loopy for iOS is an awesome looper app. You can run up to twelve loops at once (as long as you're using a new device), and the sound quality is too notch.

[bassgod0dmw]

Where do you intend to use it? Live or at home?

Live, I run a Boss RC-3. It works well, but as mentioned does have a few annoying traits. Most of the twin pedals would probably be better suited, but they do take up more real estate on a pedal board.

[hazmatt]

for anyone using loopy - does it have any sort of foot switch support? one of the reasons i didn't just write my own looping patches in max/pd was knowing i'd have to have a hands free interface to do live looping - and if i'm buying a pedal for my computer, might as well just get a dedicated looper unit all-in-one

[nomeX]

Loopy has footswitch support: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...41524429,d.b2I

If it had undo/redo, it could replace my rc300. I mean, it's got twelve tracks vs 3 for the RC-300! I don't have experience with the boss rc-30, or smaller looping pedals, but i know on the rc-300, you can change the order of recording to loop, playback, then overdub, if you don't like the stock setup.

I love using the iPad, but one problem for me is the quality of iPad hardware. A lot of it seems very plastic and cheap. I look forward to trying out the behringer dock (ironic, I know) for the iPad. This CCK business is a very flimsy unreliable way to connect the iPad.

[srayb]

Originally Posted by FretlessMainly

Boss DD-7 works for me - and it has delay, reverse and other features.

+1

I got one used for $125 (you might find better). I like it because I wanted something super-simpler - pedal-on, pedal-off, so to speak! :-) Other "real" looper pedals probably can do a lot more, but this one works great for my needs (max. 40 seconds looping). I bought an external footswitch (Boss FS-5U) as well, to eliminate the "double-pressing" to turn off the loop - the footswitch allows you to disable the loop with one press.

[Emibass]

If you look for a haedware looper I could recomend the one on the Zoom B3, simple and good, and goes a long with a lot of FX and amp simulations.

As software, basically any DAW can do it.

[DirkP]

Originally Posted by Landy67

(...)

The Digitech JamMan Twin has the single flaw, where the recording doesn't start when you step on the pedal, it starts when you stat playing, so it really screws up overdubbing.

Unfortunately, whatever you record on any of those devices is so quiet, you can't use them on the PC afterwards.

(...)

I hope that helps.

You can setup the Jamman so that it records/overdubs when you start playing. But it's your choice. You can change the settings with a flick of a switch and then it overdubs after you step on the pedal. This is even the default.

My recordings aren't too quiet. I was rather surprised how "hifi" the jamman sounds. You can set the volume of the overdub and of the original recording and it shows if the signal is too loud or too weak.

I'm not so pleased with a multieffect from Digitech I bought years ago, I rather hate it, but I love the Jamman. One of the best gear-investments I ever did.

Most of the time when I play bass I'm simply not in the mood to start a computer or to fiddle around with a digital 8-track recorder.
The looper has given my creativity a huge push. It's always in the signal chain and with a simple step it starts recording, looping and overdubbing.
Now I'm lusting a bit for the new EHX-45000 looper. I hope it's not to goooood.

Dirk

[hazmatt]

dirk i think you nailed the benefit of the loop pedal. to create a loop via software requires a lot more time. in the time i can set up a nice loop in reaper, i could have already looped and overdubbed percussion, bass and couple guitars on a foot based unit.

since this is the recording forum (though i realize not recordings), anyone want to share loops they've recorded? the looper is a great piece of gear for me to arrange parts of songs, though it is hard for me to use them effectively when writing songs that are not just 2 and 3 chord vamps. but finding ways to fit way too many guitars into a few measures is still fun. these were recorded with my line6 m13 and then a/d conversion with a peavy usb6.

an 'inspired' rip from a p-funk song
https://soundcloud.com/profhazmatt/m-funk

the first one i ever made
https://soundcloud.com/profhazmatt/midnight-siesta

[kochkoch]

I had an RC-2. Fun pedal.