sampler/looper

Does anyone have any good recommendations for a phrase sampler/looper? The only one I know of is the boomerang, which apparently gives you the best control options all with your feet. But this seems like it would be a pretty good tool if I'm playing for an audience by myself, so I can use it to have some rhythm backing me up.

~Rusty

Hi Rusty... a while back I did a bunch of research online looking into loopers... I'd say the king of loopers right now is the BOSS RC 300 Loopstation. Boomerang is pretty good, but the BOSS has a lot more features, and I think the Boomerang is pretty dated now for what it is. Look into both... lots of YouTube demos for each.

Awesome thanks for the tip. I do know that the Boomerang is fairly old (they don't make it anymore do they?), but it's pretty decent for the price. I'll look into the BOSS though, thanks

I have the Line 6 JM4. In addition to a real easy looper interface it has all the amp sims and effects that you would normally find on a Spider amp. Basically turning any amp into a Spider IV. It also has an impressive assortment of jam tracks. A nice feature is that when you select a track the looper automatically assigns a complimentary pre-set tone to play with it. Of course you can change keys, tempo, etc. It's also loaded up with a gazillion genre/artist pre-sets.

They call it a looper but it's really more of a Line 6 amp + amp sims + processor with a looper feature.I think they're selling for a smidge over $300. I've never used any other looper so I don't know how this one "measures up" but I can't imagine a looper being any easier to use? The only thing I DON't like about it is that it doesn't have an on/off switch ! You have to physically disconnect the power cord from it to turn it off. How hard would it have been to add a power button!?

Good Luck

Dang, all that and no on/off switch? It sounds like it could still be worth it though for that price. I'll look at some reviews though.

Thanks

Originally Posted by: fretsmith I think they're selling for a smidge over $300. I've never used any other looper so I don't know how this one "measures up" but I can't imagine a looper being any easier to use?

Yeah, there are lots of looper pedals to choose from, and some are just simple loopers that do just that, you play something, it loops back, and you can play over it. The RC300, and the Boomerang for that matter, are much deeper, more complicated units. You can mix, blend, start & stop multiple loop tracks, introduce effects, play loops in reverse, all kinds of crazy stuff. So they go way beyond a simple loop pedal. If you look on YouTube, especially for the RC300, you'll see lots of examples of what I'm talking about. They even hold yearly looper competitions; people come up with some pretty crazy stuff! So if you're just after a simple "I want to play something, and then just loop it back and play over it and that's it" pedal, there are far simpler and more affordable options than the RC300 or Boomerang. Those two loopers are really designed with performance looping in mind.