Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: rv_bass on April 19, 2020, 04:58:26 AM
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If I want to create a sound with my bass or guitar and use a foot pedal to sustain that sound in the background that I could play over, would I use a loop pedal, sustain pedal, or something else? My first venture into this area. Thanks!
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Look for some posts by Club Member [kimberly]... she used to post all kinds of cool looped effects stuff, and I'm sure she listed at some point what was used. Haven't seen her here in a while.
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I'm really into this so I can tell you loop pedals are different then sustain pedals. I use Loop pedals as TC Ditto Looper, Boomerang Phase III and also sometimes I use my old Boss DD6 as looper.
But you also have Boss Looper, aslo great Pigtronix Infiniti Looper, EHX etc.
Now for sustain I know only two pedals that are great, one is EHX Freeze, that one is nice, but I got rather Gamechanger Audio Plus pedal.
Check the clip here:
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Thanks for the quick responses! EofH, good suggestion. I’ll check out Stephanie’s posts she had that thread a month or so ago where she was redoing her pedal board.
Goran, thanks for the info and video. I was actually looking at the Gamechanger and EHX Freeze in the wee hours last night (when I should have been sleeping!). I’ll look into them further.
Thanks!
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Rob, please keep us updated.
I also wouldn’t mind having one of those looper thingies so I can play with myself. Stephanie’s setup is sweet, but more than what I need... preferably one pedal, multiple loops.
Gotta find justification for extra ‘toys’. :o
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Paul, I’m going to go with Goran’s suggestion of the EHX Freeze. It appears that one allows you to control the sustain intermittently with your foot like the Gamechanger, but the Freeze also lets you “latch” for indefinite sustain. I might also get the Digitech Jam Man Express XT, low cost simple multi looper.
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What is the TC Ditto Looper like? - just for messing about and recording for myself.
Glynn
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I think we crossed Stephanie and Kimberly here. I haven't seen Kimberly here in a long time, and she is the Looper queen!
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I recently picked up the TC Ditto mini. Very cool pedal! It’s especially useful for comparing amps and speakers. I lay down a riff or some chords and let the Ditto keep repeating the phrase. Then I can put my guitar down and plug/unplug to my heart’s content and listen to differences between amps/speakers a lot easier than doing so while still wearing the guitar and strumming.
As for live use in a band setting, the single button Ditto mini which requires double taps can get tricky in a live situation. If you plan to use it a lot for live situations, you might want to consider a two button looper, like the larger Ditto. Easier to get the timing right. But for messing around and studio use, the mini should work well.
Bill, tgo
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I have a Boss RC2. It's nice but complicated, which is why it's not on my pedal board. Guitar player in a band I am in bought an RC3 and returned it due to it's complexity. I have heard great bands and players use them and am sure if i had more functioning brain cells that I could too!
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Ditto mini - one knob, one button. ‘Nuff said.
Bill, tgo
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What about the Boss RC1?
Glynn
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If you want hear some of Kimberly's stuff she has some videos up on Youtube. Sadly though nothing very recent.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBZmInqN-_cPFa4F76Gt43A (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBZmInqN-_cPFa4F76Gt43A)
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I’ve never tried the RC-1, though I’ve read good reviews. It is similar to the Ditto - one knob, one button. The Boss unit can run in stereo, the Ditto can’t. OTOH the Ditto is half the size of the RC-1 if pedalboard real estate is a concern. They both cost about the same used. New, the Boss is $20 less than the Ditto.
Bill, tgo
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I looked at the TC site. It seems easy enough that even I could use it! :-D
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It appears that one allows you to control the sustain intermittently with your foot like the Gamechanger, but the Freeze also lets you “latch” for indefinite sustain.
You can do that with Plus pedal to, just you also have extra settings. Of course if you need them.
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Cool thanks, Goran, I’ll check it out as well!
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Geepee (George) is also a looping expert and according to his posts on facebook he has a new one.
I have a TC Ditto X2 but can say that since I bought it I have hardly made the time to use it much. But I guess now is the time to invest in using the technology with the lockdown in place.
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I haven't a looper but am interested. I have been trying to compare reviews of the Boss RC-1 with the Ditto. They seem pretty even? I need simple and also need to justify the purchase ie. need against fun!!
Glynn
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I think I am comparing Boss RC-1 with basic Ditto not your X2 Jazzyvee?
Glynn
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I have been experimenting with a DIGITECH JamMan , a BOSS RC-2 and a MXR M303 with external tap tempo M199 . This is part of a growing experiment that includes many other pedals and effects . It is all still a work in progress . :)
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I've got the DittoX2...I've had it for a couple of years but have not used it often. Not at work so have time to play with it.
Nice Pedal, but takes up space and has features I don't use (Fx portion). If I did it over I'd get this one instead. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DittoStereo--tc-electronic-ditto-stereo-looper-pedal
It allows you to store loops which which the regular ditto doesn't have.
Quick and dirty track I made the other day with this and a few other effects.
https://soundcloud.com/bassgl/bass-space-2
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I'm still into getting into looping, but I haven't spent on anything yet. It's definitely between the Boss unit and the TC. Both look like they may approach things slightly differently, so maybe both will be an option down the road. Funds are a bit tighter since the lockdown. SO I haven't been spending.
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Yes - I'm still wondering whether or not. I can get a used Boss RC-1 for £59 here in UK and a new £75. The TC basic ditto is about the same new (I prefer new). What would sway me is that the Boss will work off a 9v battery as well as a power source. The ditto needs an extra power source purchase. Also the Boss LED display looks good. BUT I keep coming back to how long would it be before the "fun" element wore off?? mmmmmm.
Glynn
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I own the dreaded Boss RC-2 and its interface is really anoying, but it is well known for that issue now (as far as I read Boss improved it with the RC-1). I dig the JamMan's sync conection and the ideia of being able to work along the SDrum, a smart drum machine pedal where you can write your own loop at the spot and it also gives you sorted phrase variations to choose to use in the bridge or chorus based on your original groove. If it works right seems a great idea...
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an overly expensive option is this
https://singularsound.com/product/aeros-loop-studio/
Looks interesting...but in addition to being pricey, looks a little complicated.
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Wow, a 48 hour loop! We’re getting into Yoko Ono/Andy Warhol territory here!
hehehehe
Bill, tgo
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Isn’t that the one geepee was using in his recent Classico post?
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Here is a nice article with Bill Frisell on looping pedals...
https://blog.line6.com/2020/06/09/bill-frisell-talks-looping-loopers/
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an overly expensive option is this
https://singularsound.com/product/aeros-loop-studio/
Looks interesting...but in addition to being pricey, looks a little complicated.
This doesn't look expensive at all for what it does. I've been into looping ever since turning a Lexicon LXP 1 into a loop of sorts. Then the Lexicon Jamman, which, with its updated firmware, approaches what this does, but with way too many kludges to be ergonomic. This looks like the way to go if you are serious about looping but not going to go as far as Ableton. For laying down a groove and playing over it, it might be overkill, but still....
My only complaint, from a cursory inspection, is that it lacks multiple outputs so that you can have the looped audio on a separate send (for instance, to provide the drummer with just the looped sound so anything you play on top of it doesn't distract or confuse them), or different outputs for various loops to be able to do surround looping. Those would be the deal killers for me, not the price.
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About the same price as a Boss RC-300. And as Edwin alluded, it does appear to have a lot of capability.
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I have a Boss RC20xl loop station that works real well. Better than I do, anyway. I’ve used it on a couple of gigs. A guitar player I used to work with in jazz trio gigs used one to great effect - laid down a chorus, soloed over it - and made it seem effortless. It sounds great, I just am techno-challenged.