There’s an almost endless amount of guitar effects out there, but looper pedals are a little bit different. Considered ‘utility’ pedals, loopers don’t alter or affect the sound of your guitar, but record it instead.
Allowing you to capture and play back, a looper pedal opens up lots of possibilities. In this guide, we’ve compiled a list of some of the very best looper pedals that you can buy today!
A looper is considered by many as a pedalboard staple. Used by thousands of players, looper pedals are recognised as brilliant creative tools, assisting with songwriting and letting you jam by yourself.
Typically, when you click the footswitch on a simple looper pedal, it will start to record anything that you play until you click it again to stop the ‘loop’. It may also stop by itself, if it runs out of time (which can vary from looper-to-looper). This recorded loop will then play back out of your amp’s speaker, which you can play over the top of in order to develop ideas or practice improvising.
The more complex loop pedals out there are able to record and play back several tracks, letting you create full musical arrangements by yourself. Not only featuring inputs for line-level instruments like electric guitar and bass, some of the more sophisticated loopers will also boast XLR inputs for microphones, as well as stereo inputs/outputs that let you craft a three-dimensional sound.
In the guide we’ve suggested which looper pedals are best for certain players and levels of experience, keeping the budget, flexibility and simplicity in mind. Let’s take a look!
If you’re a beginner or a player that hasn’t used a looper pedal before, it would be best to start with something simple. Luckily for you, there are lots of affordable loop pedal options out there, many of which come in compact mini pedal enclosures.
The most affordable looper pedal currently available at Andertons Music Co. is the Landlord FX Happy Hour. Incredibly petite, this tiny little looper not only has 10 minutes of recording time, but it also allows for an unlimited amount of overdubs, meaning that you can record layered pieces of music. It also has USB connectivity, so that you can upload your recordings straight to your computer!
The TC Electronic Ditto Loop is also a solid option, considered an industry standard alongside BOSS’ RC-1 and RC-5 loopers. Seen gracing the pedalboards of players all over the world, the Ditto has a super-solid design and is ultimately very simple and intuitive to use. With true bypass and analog dry-through, your original tone will not be dulled by the circuitry in any way!
If you’re looking for something that is a step up from the simple looper, our picks above boast far more functionality, letting you open up the creative floodgates. With many of them allowing you to add effects such as ½ speed and reverse, you can manipulate your loops to create more experimental sounds.
TC Electronic’s Ditto lineup encompasses a number of loopers, and the X2 is the mid-range model. Slightly bigger than its little brothers, the most significant upgrade on the X2 is the dedicated stop/clear footswitch, making your loops far easier to manage. With built-in effects too, you can take your looping to the next level!
More recently though, TC took the fundamental design of the X2 and updated it, to create the Ditto Jam X2. Forgoing the built-in effects, this innovative pedal uses TC’s intelligent ‘BeatSense’ technology to manipulate the tempo of your loops. Relying on built-in microphones, the Ditto Jam X2 can identify rhythmic patterns and time your recorded loops to sync up perfectly with your accompaniment, whether that be a drummer or other instrumentalists. This is the perfect looper for a band scenario!
These looper pedals are packed with fun extras and super in-depth levels of control. If you’re loopy about looping, the contenders above will certainly meet your demands.
The RC10R is one of BOSS’ most advanced looper pedals. It's equipped with a genuinely great sounding rhythm section that can adapt to different sections of your song rather than leaving you with a single drum beat going round and round.
You've got six hours of recording time to play with and up to 99 phrases already onboard. The two circular indicators make it easy to see where you are in your loop. The 16 versatile kit sounds provides a fun, tweakable drum machine element to the standard looper.
Unveiled at the 2018 NAMM Show, the Electro Harmonix 95000 looper looks more like something you’d see on the Starship Enterprise than on a pedalboard! Don’t be fooled though, as this sophisticated-looking unit is actually fairly compact considering its vast feature-set.
Slightly more tactile than its BOSS counterpart, the 95000 features 6 individual recording tracks that have independent volume and pan controls, akin to a mixing console. With the ability to manipulate the tempo of your loops on-the-fly via a thoughtful tap-tempo as well, not to mention a whopping 375 hours or recording time, the possibilities are almost endless with the 95000!
If you'd like to learn more about the looper pedals featured in this article, please don't hesitate to get in touch - we've got a full-time team of friendly, knowledgeable gear nerds who can answer any query you may have!
