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Good looper pedals for storing/recalling pre-made loops

Ezmar

Ezmar

Jul 8, 2010
837
46
#1
So I recently got a Zoom B3, and the looper function has enabled me to create some really nice solo arrangements of various songs that I can perform by myself. But I'm looking to start gigging around with some of this material, and it seems kind of wasteful to have 1-2.5 minutes of setting up the loop before each song. So I'm wondering what's out there in terms of a loop workstation. Portability is no object (within reason), price is no object (also within reason), I want something that I can use to store a variety of self-made loop tracks and recall them fluidly and easily while onstage.

I'll be happy to answer any questions about what exactly I'm looking for, and any and all suggestions are welcome.
 
#4
+1 on the JamMan. Both my band and another band we've played shows with use them at most every show. We mainly just use a few loops for intros or between songs, but the other band actually uses it to provide backing tracks for almost the entire show (with a click through in-ear monitors to keep synched).
 
#7
Looking at the Jamman, I notice that it has only two switches. Is this a significant disadvantage in a live performance setting that is addressed or mitigated by alternative pedals? For example, the Jamman vs Jamman Stereo vs Jamman Delay. It's not easy (although technically an option) for me to get out and demo the pedals myself, as the nearest well-stocked outlet is over an hour away, and even then, there's no guarantee as to their stock.

I'm also unfamiliar with looper pedals in general, is the ability to overdub as on the Zoom B3's looper standard? I want as much flexibility as possible, while also being able to save loops ahead of time to facilitate live performance.
 
#8
I played with a guy all winter who for his solo gigs would use a Jamman - and it seemed like it was broken more often than the damn thing worked. The functionality seemed ideal but durability - not so much.

I would recommend, only based on this experience, the Boss loopers - RC-3 is pedal sized and has room for 99 loops, RC-30 bigger - you can do two loops at once with different levels or the RC-300 which is a beast but amazing.

The thing the boss loops can do is quantize to a particular beat so even if you click the loop a millisecond too early
or late, it still makes it work around a particular beat per minute. Pretty damn cool.
 
#9
Looking at the Jamman, I notice that it has only two switches. Is this a significant disadvantage in a live performance setting that is addressed or mitigated by alternative pedals?

I use the JamMan Solo..they are discontinued but you can find them on Ebay for cheap...
I got mine, with the optional control/scroll pedal, 16G card, and power supply for $125 bucks.
Mine is set up on a separate, small pedal board.

Here is how I use it at a gig:

My prerecorded tracks are loaded into the pedal from my computer, using the Digitech software, as "single" loop tracks, which means they play once and don't repeat/loop. That configs them to play thru and stop/fade, however you've pre produced the track. I use the optional control pedal for the Jamman to scroll thru the loop menu and select the track. So once I've selected the track via scrolling (by foot),
I tap the Jamman to start the track and it plays out and stops automatically. I can load any audio into the pedal no matter how complicated the mix. The pedal will hold loops up to 10 min in length, and approx 100 loops, depending on the card you install in it.
I have my playback volume set at 50% on the Jamman and signal chain the pedal to an SWR California Blonde amp that sits next to my amp, facing towards our drummer. That serves as a good monitor for him and I use the DI out of the SWR amp into the PA.
I could also just to straight to the PA but the SWR monitor for the drummer makes a big difference for him.

This set up works really well for us.
 
#11
The Pigtronix Infinity looper will store 8 or 9 different tracks. I have only had it for about a month, so I am a little unsure of every aspect of its use. I know it can do this. I think you might have to physically turn the knob for it to go between the different tracks (as opposed to cycling by footswitch).

And by "track" I should be clear that for each track you are saving two different loops that can be played in series or parallel, with various overdubbing and sync options. The MIDI sync is what really sold me on the Pigtronix. Now, if only my Beat Buddy was here so I could use that aspect...
 

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