Ordered a looper...

Megii

Bit of pre-xmas GAS, treated myself to a Digitech Jamman Solo XT looper pedal. Most of the usual internet mail order places (Andertons, Gear4music etc.) seem out of stock until next year, but DV247 saying they have over 5 in stock, so went with them. Paid the extra fiver for express delivery too, so hope they aren't fibbing about the stock level

Planning to use the pedal mainly for recording backings for jazz standards, to practice soloing. Hope I've made a good choice.

thecolourbox

I've been tempted by a looper for ages but never quite pulled the trigger. I too want it for playing backing tracks or loops, but want the ability to switch between like verse and chorus phrases

Would be interested to see how you get on with yours

xSkarloey

I've got the Ditto looper and I bought it with exactly the same idea in mind of playing through backings and then noodling over the top, songwriting etc. 

I'm not sure how or even if with the TC I can switch between verse/ chorus etc, but I'm not really worried, because I've found that it's great for both aspects of my playing. I mean, if I record and backing and make the tiniest mistake it's going to be played right back at me, so it's a good chance to hone that side of what I do as well. 

And of course as with any recording, there's the shock of recognition that I really DO sound as bad as all that. 

not_the_dj

thecolourbox said:

I've been tempted by a looper for ages but never quite pulled the trigger. I too want it for playing backing tracks or loops, but want the ability to switch between like verse and chorus phrases

Would be interested to see how you get on with yours

I used to do that with the Boss RC-20xl and a separate little footswitch that allowed me to scroll up and down through the slots. 

The current craze for tiny loopers (started of with the Ditto) does away with all that and gives you a dead simple looper with a tiny footprint, but you need to go to the bigger units for a bit more functionality.

I love my Ditto, but I only really use it these days to help with soundchecks so I can loop a bit then hear it from out front.

Megii

Cheers chaps - I would imagine one needs to spend a fair bit more to get the verse-chorus switching. I'm jiust planning to play through the whole chord sequence I want to work on, so probably some fairly longish loop times involved. I will doubtless make mistakes when laying down the backing track, but that's fine - should force me to work on improving my rhythm and accompaniment playing as well as the soloing.

Will post to say how I'm getting on with the pedal in a few days.

steamabacus

I recently got a SoloXT as a replacement for my Line6 DL4 (still using that for delays) and it's an excellent looper. It's not as intuitive as the DL4 and won't do the on-the-fly half/double speed or reverse/forward that makes the DL4 perfect for mangled ambient soundscapes but in virtually every other way it's a far more capable looper.

I'm using the JamMan linked and sync'ed to two others used by a keyboardist and bassist in an improv ambient project and it works flawlessly. A few quirks to get you head around regarding the master/slave operation of the linked loopers but the sync'ing seems totally solid.

If you want to do verse/chorus type looping you'll need the FS3X footswitch or, alternatively, you can DIY one - it's just three momentary switches and three diodes. I built my own with just the two loop up/down switches (trying to keep the size/footprint down) but I'm thinking I'll make another with the third switch as stopping the loop using the pedal itself involves a double press which is a little imprecise (and also, I've found, much harder to do while playing than a single stomp).

The included software works fine and is very useful for organising your loops (which will have to be stored sequentially for loop/chorus type usage), especially as the pedal itself only has a two digit LED display - with the software, every loop can be named, etc.

Megii

steamabacus said:

I recently got a SoloXT as a replacement for my Line6 DL4 (still using that for delays) and it's an excellent looper. It's not as intuitive as the DL4 and won't do the on-the-fly half/double speed or reverse/forward that makes the DL4 perfect for mangled ambient soundscapes but in virtually every other way it's a far more capable looper.

I'm using the JamMan linked and sync'ed to two others used by a keyboardist and bassist in an improv ambient project and it works flawlessly. A few quirks to get you head around regarding the master/slave operation of the linked loopers but the sync'ing seems totally solid.

If you want to do verse/chorus type looping you'll need the FS3X footswitch or, alternatively, you can DIY one - it's just three momentary switches and three diodes. I built my own with just the two loop up/down switches (trying to keep the size/footprint down) but I'm thinking I'll make another with the third switch as stopping the loop using the pedal itself involves a double press which is a little imprecise (and also, I've found, much harder to do while playing than a single stomp).

The included software works fine and is very useful for organising your loops (which will have to be stored sequentially for loop/chorus type usage), especially as the pedal itself only has a two digit LED display - with the software, every loop can be named, etc.

This is also excellent, and very interesting to hear about, cheers for that @steamabacus . It appears the pedal can do a bit more than I imagined, so nice to know. Maybe in the fullness of time, I'll expand with a suitable footswitch myself. New to looping though, so I think for the time being I will have plenty of fun playing with the pedal on it's own.

Megii

Looper here! About 20 minutes ago - I'd kind of accepted it would probably be tomorrow, but true to their word dv247 must have got it in the post yesterday, so well done them. Kind of glad I paid for the express postage now, with the bad weather apparently about to hit the UK over the next few days. About to see if it works anyway

hobbio

Nice one Megii

Megii

hobbio said:

Nice one Megii

It's pretty cool H, cheers!

steamabacus

Hope you enjoy it.
I sold a sitar to buy my DL4 looper about 15 years ago and I've never regretted it once. It was the best bit of kit I ever bought and totally transformed how I play, practice and record guitar. I upgraded to the JamMan about 7 months ago and it's a step up again in what is possible. I still have the DL4 for the amorphous stuff, though. The only thing better than a looper is ... TWO loopers!

Megii

steamabacus said:

Hope you enjoy it.
I sold a sitar to buy my DL4 looper about 15 years ago and I've never regretted it once. It was the best bit of kit I ever bought and totally transformed how I play, practice and record guitar. I upgraded to the JamMan about 7 months ago and it's a step up again in what is possible. I still have the DL4 for the amorphous stuff, though. The only thing better than a looper is ... TWO loopers!

Cheers - a fairly small-scale purchase I know, but I have to say I am quite chuffed with this bit of new kit, I think it could well transform things for me too actually.

Drew_TNBD

steamabacus said:

Hope you enjoy it.
I sold a sitar to buy my DL4 looper 

Wise decision!

Fretwired

Loopers are cool .. enjoy your Jamman ..

steamabacus

Drew_fx said:

steamabacus said:

Hope you enjoy it.
I sold a sitar to buy my DL4 looper 

Wise decision!

Sarky git.
:P

I love the sound of a sitar but have you ever tried playing one? You need to take up yoga just to hold the bloody thing! And then you have to try and get the 346,899 strings into some kind of tuning.
~X(

Drew_TNBD

Nah, too many strings for me. Not really feeling that djent thing!

Megii

I have heard that the sitar is a serious b*$%^£ to learn! Cheers chaps, have done the quick start instructions, and it works - now have to learn how to use it properly, and my footswitch technique needs honing a bit. But should have got one ages ago, it's great..

steamabacus

Yes, there's definitel a 'learning curve' to footswitch technique. I even had a period of adjustment when switching from the DL4's button switches to the JamMan's Boss-style switch. A totally different 'feel'. In the long run, though, it's good for your timing. And it let's you appreciate a bit more how drummers have to coordinate all four limbs.