Most of the guitar pedals people DIY are very simple analogue circuits, most of them at least forty or fifty years old.
By contrast, a looper pedal is something from the much more recent world of digital electronics and digital signal processing. You will be dealing with a much more complex circuit, quite likely with tiny surface-mount components, and if you make a mistake, it is quite likely that it cannot be fixed at all. (Mis-solder an SMD IC, for instance, and it's very unlikely you can get it off and re-solder it without destroying it in the process.)
That doesn't mean a kit is impossible, but I think the only way a kit can be made simple enough for the average constructor will be if most of it is pre-built for you, and you just finish off the last few easy items. Solder on the battery connector, mount it in the provided enclosure, that sort of thing.
-Gnobuddy
That seems to be a little voice recorder, not a guitar looper. It's intended for making quick voice memos, maybe quickly recording musical ideas via the built-in microphone.
A guitar looper needs a number of features that are not in a voice recorder. For example, a place to plug in your guitar (1/4" jack with high input impedance and capable of handling up to a couple of volts signal), a place to plug in your guitar amp (1/4" jack with instrument-level output), a footswitch or two so that the guitarist can operate it while playing guitar, et cetera.
Most looper pedals will also include many other capabilities and features - a display to let you store and recall multiple loops, the ability to add micro SD or similar external storage cards, the option to layer additional sounds on top of a loop you've recorded, perhaps a metronome or drum machine to guide you when recording your loop, et cetera.
As I mentioned before, they are quite complex devices, that only exist because of the almost miraculous capabilities and low price of modern integrated circuits.
-Gnobuddy
Similar but ships to USA: 16G/32GB Rechargeable Digital Sound Voice Recorder
Fantastic buy.
Agree that a *Guitar Looper* is more than a memo recorder (even one that has a loop function).
But it's gotta be good! See how the dog loves it?
Attachments
This one is truly amazing (and it's much more than a looper): YouTube
The Trio+ brings a AI (artificial intelligence) to guitar pedals: you play some chords into it, and it figures out your rhythm and adds a compatible drum part. If that wasn't amazing enough, it also analyzes the notes in the chords you played, figures out a suitable bass line, and adds that too. Finally, it's also a looper pedal, so you can record the chords you played and loop them, along with the AI-generated drums and bass line.
It really is a virtual trio - once you've "taught" it your chord progression, you get rhythm, drums, and bass to play along with. An almost-instant backing track whenever you want.
-Gnobuddy
I experienced a moment of cognitive dissonance looking at that 'Web page. "That's not a looper pedal! What the heck is it?"
What we have here is a case of duplication of musical terminology. This kit is a fancy effects switch-box designed to allow you to wire up your guitar effects pedals into chains, and switch the entire chain in or out with one button. (As opposed to having to do the guitarist-tap-dance where you turn several individual pedals on and off with your feet every time you want a new sound.)
To the eternal frustration of any logical person, this type of effects switcher has also become known as a looper; but it switches "loops" of effects pedals in or out of circuit. It is nothing at all like the other type of looper pedal, which is an audio recorder designed to create and loop a short audio recording.
-Gnobuddy
You were much more succinct than I was.
Sorry, I was composing my post while you posted, hence the duplication.
-Gnobuddy
If you put a looper pedal in one of those aeroplanes, would you have a looping looper?
-Gnobuddy
One of the hardest things to get right with a looper pedal is stepping on the start and stop buttons at just the right instant, exactly on the beat, so that you get a clean loop with no audible glitch where the end is looped over and stitched to the beginning. Not being a drummer, I found my feet uncooperative and slow to learn to do this well.
Most brands of looper pedals do nothing to help the user with this critical task.
Digitech was the first brand I know of that did something about this. They put a crude drum-machine into their looper pedals, and if you turn on the drum machine while making the loop, the pedal is smart enough to truncate the loop exactly on the beat, even if you hit the footswitch a fraction of a second late. This makes it very much easier to get a clean loop.
Personally, I would much rather have a Digitech looper than a Boss. (In fact, I do.)
The old Zoom G3 (multiFX pedal) also includes a basic looper, and it has similar technology to the Digitech, with a built-in drum machine and enough smarts to truncate the loop cleanly exactly on the beat, as long as you hit the footswitch a fraction of a second too late. Used G3s are rather affordable, but it is large and bulky if you want it only for its looping capabilities.
-Gnobuddy
A Boss looper has been the mainstay of quite a few one man (or woman) bands, but I understand what you mean.
Other than there only being a single trigger button, and foot coordination being required they're generally cheap and available, and still sought after. (dont shoot but hey, foot timing is pretty much prerequisite for being an electric/pedal/lap steel guitar player - swell pedal and wah)
But the Digitech is one I forgot about. The looper is good from what I recall and probably has a longer record time. The Boss looper is about as simple as it gets, low quality, short recording times.
Otherwise, every other digitech pedal I have used was utter trash (same for Zoom)
Perhaps redeeming myself, hahahahah, trying to use swell and wah, and NOT confusing them after a couple of jars, that's most definitely an issue I have. The timing, not so much.
Other than there only being a single trigger button, and foot coordination being required they're generally cheap and available, and still sought after. (dont shoot but hey, foot timing is pretty much prerequisite for being an electric/pedal/lap steel guitar player - swell pedal and wah)
But the Digitech is one I forgot about. The looper is good from what I recall and probably has a longer record time. The Boss looper is about as simple as it gets, low quality, short recording times.
Otherwise, every other digitech pedal I have used was utter trash (same for Zoom)
Perhaps redeeming myself, hahahahah, trying to use swell and wah, and NOT confusing them after a couple of jars, that's most definitely an issue I have. The timing, not so much.
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Well, an intelligent Musician can replace an extra Guitar Player or two with a Looper.
And now that he´s at it, also replace a drummer with a typewriter and a few Pringles cans.
Why stop there? ... a set of table knives can replace a Piano.
And an old rotary phone handset, an expensive vocal mike with built-in effects.
Think I´m kidding?
Just check:
YouTube
PS: plus replacing a Guitar with a Tennis Racquet and a yellow plastic Contractor´s helmet
I like that.
Reminds me of the art install at a local museum (The MAD museum) - mostly automata and marble machines, my sons favourite exhibit is the typewriter wine glass-ophone. (For want of a better term)
But a knife piano I couldn't imagine. EDIT: oh it's a wotsitcalled?
But the spade guitar rocks (or shovel guitar depending on locale) and still dreaming of a hub cap donor Seasick Steve style guitar
Reminds me of the art install at a local museum (The MAD museum) - mostly automata and marble machines, my sons favourite exhibit is the typewriter wine glass-ophone. (For want of a better term)
But a knife piano I couldn't imagine. EDIT: oh it's a wotsitcalled?
But the spade guitar rocks (or shovel guitar depending on locale) and still dreaming of a hub cap donor Seasick Steve style guitar
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If you want a good quality stereo quality guitar looper, try the tc electronic Ditto Stereo. Small footprint, reliable, can save up to a 10min loop with multiple overdubs to onboard memory. Can upload or download to a pc via usb. Even runs on a 9volt battery. Dead easy to use.
Hope this helps
tapestryofsound
Hope this helps
tapestryofsound
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