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Decent looper

Kipp Harrington

Kipp Harrington

Feb 8, 2018
6,138
8,979
62
Wauseon, Ohio
#1
Looking for a decent looper. Budget is $150. I know that kind of limits my options. I also saw that if I want to get a looper with preset drum beats, the price goes up quickly.

I just want to use this for practicing. I have a drum machine that I guess I could use to put down a beat. Just wanted to know what some of you might be using (looper-wise) for practicing. Recommendations?

I was thinking maybe the Digitech Jamman Express XT or the TC Ditto Looper pedal. Also, possibly the Boss RC-1.

I appreciate all comments/suggestions.
 
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#4
Hypocrite said:
The Ditto is decent and simple. It's a looper, no more, no less. No bells and whistles but it works great for practice at least, haven't used it live yet
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Thanks for the reply and info. Funny, I have been researching this for the past few hours and decided that I thought the Ditto was best suited for my needs. Simple... all I would use it for would be practicing. I am new to music theory and want to learn how to incorporate modes, intervals and chord shapes. I figured I could use my drum machine for a drum pattern, lay down a guitar rhythm track, and then play along on the bass. I'm thinking this little pedal could prove invaluable when learning different modes, scales, intervals and practicing arpeggios in certain keys. I'm going to check out sites for a used one. Perhaps TB may have one available. Also, Reverb. I can scan through GC and Sweetwater's "used gear" pages also. Thanks again!
 
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#5
mmbongo said:
Love my Ditto Looper. And also depending on what exactly you need, check out the TC Wiretap. I love that one too.
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Thanks! I did checkout the Wiretap. I thought that was mainly used for recording gigs and/rehearsals. I read that it does have "looping" capabilities. Would it work well my needs? (read the post above). It's very affordable, that's for sure. Thanks again!
 
#6
Kipp Harrington said:
Thanks! I did checkout the Wiretap. I thought that was mainly used for recording gigs and/rehearsals. I read that it does have "looping" capabilities. Would it work well my needs? (read the post above). It's very affordable, that's for sure. Thanks again!
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The Wiretap is also good. You can use it as a looper, but it would take a couple of extra steps and just be more of a hassle. It's very good for quickly recording riffs, ideas, and quick scratches for your band to check out, but I wouldn't use it for any more than that
 
#14
My Ditto developed a pop shortly after it was a year old that happened anytime the footswitches were pressed, and that pop was recorded on the loop. I wasn't the only guy.

I contacted TC Electronic about it and was told, "Sorry, your ditto looper is out of warranty, so we're not going to help you. Good luck!"

So I don't recommend it, or anything new from TC Electronic anymore.
 
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#15
Kipp Harrington said:
Looking for a decent looper. Budget is $150. I know that kind of limits my options. I also saw that if I want to get a looper with preset drum beats, the price goes up quickly.

I just want to use this for practicing. I have a drum machine that I guess I could use to put down a beat. Just wanted to know what some of you might be using (looper-wise) for practicing. Recommendations?

I was thinking maybe the Digitech Jamman Express XT or the TC Ditto Looper pedal. Also, possibly the Boss RC-1.

I appreciate all comments/suggestions.
Click to expand...
I have owned the Boss and the Ditto! Get the Ditto!
 
#16
joe vegas said:
i have the Ditto, and also this one. i can't say enough good things about this Donner- dirt cheap, micro-size, works great, solid construction, with 1/2 speed & backwards functions as well.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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Thanks. I have read some mixed reviews about the Donner. Makes me a bit nervous ordering it. I'm sure you've had a good experience with it. Just too many people complaining of "malfunction", issues transferring data to and from computer, a clicking noise being part of the loop recording, etc. I really would like to buy it but I've read too many complaints about it for my liking.
 
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#17
Skip Chucker said:
I contacted TC Electronic about it and was told, "Sorry, your ditto looper is out of warranty, so we're not going to help you. Good luck!"

So I don't recommend it
Click to expand...

Mine just straight up died after about a year of light use -- it never left the house.. My roommate used to play with it occasionally, I probably used it a couple dozen times, then it sat four about six months and when I pulled it out again it wasn't working. Just won't turn on. TC wouldn't do anything about it.

I like the sound of these things. The Boss I had sounds like ass. Compressed, digital, and really awful, but the Ditto sounded good. Much higher fidelity. It just stopped working in very short order.
 
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#18
Kipp Harrington said:
Looking for a decent looper. Budget is $150. I know that kind of limits my options. I also saw that if I want to get a looper with preset drum beats, the price goes up quickly.

I just want to use this for practicing. I have a drum machine that I guess I could use to put down a beat. Just wanted to know what some of you might be using (looper-wise) for practicing. Recommendations?

I was thinking maybe the Digitech Jamman Express XT or the TC Ditto Looper pedal. Also, possibly the Boss RC-1.

I appreciate all comments/suggestions.
Click to expand...
The common issue for me is the loopers that have memory that you can save a bunch of loops to tend to clip and have tone suck issues and stuff. The simple ones like the ditto doesn't have all the bells and whistles but it actually does a better job for looping bass. So it really depends on what your goals are with it.

For me when it comes to practicing with a drum loop I actually don't use a looper at all. I'll use the aux in on my Mesa d-800 and play drum loops off of my phone. All that cost me was a cable

The ditto, and I'm not bashing every looper out there, but the ditto is my favorite for actually looping bass. It's simple and it just works without a bunch of tone suck or the pedals input clipping.

The digitech jamman stereo is a looper and you can save drum loops to it but I actually preferred to use is as a sampler outside of my bass signal chain with sound effects and stuff saved to it which I I could set to it's "one shot" feature. When I had the jamman stereo I used it for sound effects like big bass drops and also for filler between songs where there were guitar changes to keep the momentum of the show flowing. An idea I got from a mastodon rig rundown video.
 
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#20
Nephilymbass said:
The common issue for me is the loopers that have memory that you can save a bunch of loops to tend to clip and have tone suck issues and stuff. The simple ones like the ditto doesn't have all the bells and whistles but it actually does a better job for looping bass. So it really depends on what your goals are with it.

For me when it comes to practicing with a drum loop I actually don't use a looper at all. I'll use the aux in on my Mesa d-800 and play drum loops off of my phone. All that cost me was a cable

The ditto, and I'm not bashing every looper out there, but the ditto is my favorite for actually looping bass. It's simple and it just works without a bunch of tone suck or the pedals input clipping.

The digitech jamman stereo is a looper and you can save drum loops to it but I actually preferred to use is as a sampler outside of my bass signal chain with sound effects and stuff saved to it which I I could set to it's "one shot" feature. When I had the jamman stereo I used it for sound effects like big bass drops and also for filler between songs where there were guitar changes to keep the momentum of the show flowing. An idea I got from a mastodon rig rundown video.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. I agree with the "less is more" approach when it comes to loopers. I just want one to lay down some guitar tracks and practice my bass technique. So, I guess I will just loop a drum track using my drum machine into the Ditto, and then lay down a guitar track with chord changes over that. That way I can learn different types of modes and arpeggios when I'm practicing in different keys.
 

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