Looking for Looper

Robert E

Blues Newbie
Hi folks, relatively new here but ready to start buying gear. Watching Griff has me sold on getting a looper.

Any recommendation out there? I'm thinking the BOSS RC-3 Loop Station Compact. Any thoughts?
 

matonanjin

Chubby, old guy trying to play some blues.
Everything that I have seen about the Ditto has been very positive. Great reviews and very reasonably priced. I have one but just haven't used it enough to give a valid comment. The Ditto X2 supposedly adds a little bit of user freindliness with an extra button and allows one to input and export loops.
 

Robert E

Blues Newbie
Everything that I have seen about the Ditto has been very positive. Great reviews and very reasonably priced. I have one but just haven't used it enough to give a valid comment. The Ditto X2 supposedly adds a little bit of user freindliness with an extra button and allows one to input and export loops.
Thank you! Does it have any presets? I don't need all 99 the Boss has to offer but some would be nice.
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Hey Robert,
I was an early adapter to looper pedals. I think they are great tools.
I've owned several , have two at the moment.

Like most technology these days, you can go deep or simple, with options in every direction.

The advise I'd give is, think about how you want to use it.
Simple loopers, like the Ditto, do one thing, record your loop and play it back and those can be used as fantastic practice tools.
As you move to the more complex units you start to add things like memory ,to save or transfer loops to/from your computer.

Maybe you'll get some ideas from these previous discussions:

http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/forum/index.php?search/4822747/&q=looper&o=date&c[node]=35
 

artyman

Fareham UK
I have a NUX Loop Core which is a great inexpensive looper, you can save 99 tracks, with a total 6 hours recording time. Excellent little pedal.
 

Ted_Zeppelin

I’ll agree with you so that both of us are wrong.
If you are looking at the Boss RC3, take a look at the RC5. It just came out recently with some pretty good uprades. There is also the new RC 500 if you want to step up to a bigger unit with more options.
 

Robert E

Blues Newbie
Thanks guys. Not looking for anything too complicated at this point. Just something to help me practice. I would like to layer my tracks, ie drums, rhythm, etc. I think that's the hardest thing to practicing is not having accompaniment. I see a used Boss at the local music store and watched the video of it which is why I started off in that direction. Certainly don't need anything more than that but would like something a sstepp above the beginner's model also.

Hey Robert,
I was an early adapter to looper pedals. I think they are great tools.
I've owned several , have two at the moment.

Like most technology these days, you can go deep or simple, with options in every direction.

The advise I'd give is, think about how you want to use it.
Simple loopers, like the Ditto, do one thing, record your loop and play it back and those can be used as fantastic practice tools.
As you move to the more complex units you start to add things like memory ,to save or transfer loops to/from your computer.

Maybe you'll get some ideas from these previous discussions:

http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/forum/index.php?search/4822747/&q=looper&o=date&c[node]=35
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Hi folks, relatively new here but ready to start buying gear. Watching Griff has me sold on getting a looper.

Any recommendation out there? I'm thinking the BOSS RC-3 Loop Station Compact. Any thoughts?

I have several loopers, some stand alone some built into other pedals. If all you want is basic looping, you can't go wrong with the Ditto.
I know that Griff has issues with TC Electronics pedals breaking on him, but I've never had one break, and I use the Ditto at home all the time but not nearly as much as Griff does.
I like that it does ONE thing it does it well without the complications of other features.
 

Elwood

Blues
The RC-3 has a limited but decent sounding e-drummer onboard.
Just something to help me practice.
You comment is why I mention this. If you don't have a DAW or some fancy e-drummer thing, the RC-3 drummer is pretty cool.
I don't use it for 'practice" per se, but for good fun play time for a reward afterwards it can be pretty cool. (I did whole songs layering in my RC-3 with the e-drummer, huge PIA, if I goof often I would have to redo everything). You can easily learn to lay down a few tracks and play over your own playing - held to the meter by the RC-3 drummer.
The rc-3 is a lot of looper, and it's not cheap. It is well built, well documented, and fun (and can be frustrating to time your tapper).
I still don't warm up to playing over jam tracks that much. Odd since I really enjoy the VJR. Building up tons of throw away little tunes just to play over and see how "my" parts fit together, well that's fun.
Good luck!!!
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
well, going against the grain a little..............................by the time you spend a $100 plus on a basic looper pedal

Guitar center, at least near me, is clearancing out the Headrush Looper board for $399, was I think $899

With the extra benefits it offers, might be worth a look
 

MinorT

Got My Mojo Working???
If you are looking at the Boss RC3, take a look at the RC5. It just came out recently with some pretty good uprades. There is also the new RC 500 if you want to step up to a bigger unit with more options.
Agreed with TZ, take a look at the RC-5, lot of features that you will never use but they are there should you need them. I paid $199 usd and have no regrets, you could probably get a great BF deal over the weekend.
 

Tangled_up_in_Blue

Blues Newbie
I have the RC-3 and really like it. I initially bought the RC-1 but sold it on and got the RC-3. The main reason for this is that apart from the obvious 'looper' functions it is a great tool for recording yourself playing to a metronome or backing track. You then have the ability to save that recording and transfer to your computer. So the great advantage for me over a simple Ditto style looper is the audio-in jack, the USB connection, and the ability to easily record myself over backing tracks. I also like the size and durability of the RC-3. It's the same size as their standard stomp boxes with the same foot pedal that I prefer to other stomp pedal foot-switches. Recording quality and 'true-bypass' is also a factor worth considering. I'm just getting started with this so not an expert by any means, but these are the reasons I bought the RC-3 above other options.
 
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