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Buiietbob

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I am not up on all the new tech that is out there.I have always played with no plugging in. I just finished an electric uke and I was on youtube looking around for amps. I saw a video where a lady taped her self tapping on her guitar and played it back to her.She then taped another bit of tapping and played that back.It sounded like a drummer be hind her.I was impressed with this.What is this kinda thing called and where to get one. Forget about the get one part-----funds you know. I don't have anyone close to jam with,so with this I could jam with my self.How cool would that be?
I have tried to make this post readable I hope you can tell what I talking about.
Buiietbob
 
You're looking for a looper, specifically a phrase looper (as opposed to a channel looper). There are a number of them available in many budgets and features.
 
You're looking for a looper, specifically a phrase looper (as opposed to a channel looper). There are a number of them available in many budgets and features.

Yes, as OBM said, you want a either a Looper pedal, like one of these:

http://www.sweetwater.com/c978--Loopers/low2high/all

or a looper program that works either on your computer or smartphone or tablet, of which there are so many it is impossible to list, but if you have an Apple device, and an interface to connect your instrument to it (like the Apogee JAM, linked in my signature below) the iOS app called LoopyHD is very popular but takes a while to learn (I'm still trying to figure it out).

Hope this helps! :)
 
Many amps now come with a looper function built in (just like chorus and reverb effects), though you'll probably have to get a generic pedal to control the looper recording (i.e. to tell the amp when to start/stop recording, layering and playback).

Do you know what brand/models? I've yet to see an actual amp with a phrase looper built in, since many of the amp companies have no real idea on how to make a looper, save TC Electronic. And even then, it's such a niche pedal as opposed to the aforementioned reverb and chorus effects.


Instead of a dedicated looper pedal, you might consider getting a multi-effects pedal with a looper as just one of the many effects you can apply (several simultaneously, if you like). Used ones pop up all the time for not much more than a looper pedal.

I'd definitely advise against this. Multi-effect units have the notoriety (having used a number of them myself) of doing a lot of things just "okay," and when you're getting into looping, that's definitely not what you want.

The TC Electronic Ditto starts at $99 new, which is as simple as you're gonna get and probably the cheapest way to find out if looping is something the OP wants to experiment and/or incorporate into their playing.

After that, I'd jump up to the Digitech JamMan SOLO XT for $149, as it offers a lot more functionality and options (including a rhythm track, slot for a memory card, USB uploads), not to mention that Digitech quantizes (sp?) their loops, so if you're off by just a little, the program will fix it so you don't have to redo the loop.

Both of those would be a solid start on the path to looping.
 
Thanks Folks
I really had no idea that this kinda stuff was out there. I'm going to try to get one. Something new to learn. I'm so excited!
Have a great day.
 
The TC Electronic Ditto starts at $99 new, which is as simple as you're gonna get and probably the cheapest way to find out if looping is something the OP wants to experiment and/or incorporate into their playing.

After that, I'd jump up to the Digitech JamMan SOLO XT for $149, as it offers a lot more functionality and options (including a rhythm track, slot for a memory card, USB uploads), not to mention that Digitech quantizes (sp?) their loops, so if you're off by just a little, the program will fix it so you don't have to redo the loop.

Both of those would be a solid start on the path to looping.

Ditto on the Ditto. Not fancy, but does exactly as it says at a great price, and the sturdy metal box will take a lot of stomping.
 
You guys all make good points on the topic of a dedicated pedal vs. a multi-effects pedal, and lots of wisdom here from both perspectives, but the one thing that would worry me for a person who is new to effects, is that we dont know his tech level and threshold or interest in doing a deep dive into a thick manual or PDF file in order to learn how the thing works.

Multi-effects pedals typically have a very deep interface like the Zoom G3X or Zoom MS100-BT, while some, go the opposite way such as the lower-priced Digitech units have a printed or numbered list and a simple up/down control with LEDs that move around the printed list on the face of the unit.

But a dedicated pedal like the Ditto has likely the simplest interface, in that it's tap, tap-and-hold, or double-tap or triple-tap, and that's it.

Maybe it's important for those of us with more experience to remember that folks new to effects are easily overwhelmed by even the simplest and least complicated effects, and may get intimidated, while those of us with more experience love the deep menus and thousands of twiddly knobs and eat this up for breakfast.

All of this gear is usually designed by engineers and manuals are not always easy to understand, and even with my 33 years of being 'guitarded' (before I saw the light and found the ukulele) and once having a massive pedal-board, and lots of experience with effects, even I sometimes get frustrated with instructions that are too complicated or interfaces that require too deep a dive into several sub-menus for something that should have a dedicated knob on the outside of the box. Sometimes I have to read the manual 3 or 4 times with the device in hand, while trying not to curse the person who designed the thing I am trying to use.

If Bulletbob can give us an idea of his tech level and indicate his desire and motivation for pushing thru the jargon, it is possible that the collective wisdom here can find and suggest something that will have the least friction for him to use, while still allowing him to approximate his goal, all within his budget.

:shaka:
 
Booli and other kind folks. I make a joke about living on a desert island because I have no one to talk to about things. The internet is my info life line.I just saw a lady using a looper and was blown away.I just had to find out something about it.It seems like the use of one of these would be like having some one to jam with,a drummer maybe.
I'm disabled right now and have no income at the moment.I can't buy anything.I am not crying because I have lot of toys.As for the looper I saw what I thought was pretty simple thing.I never think about pulling the string and the whole sweater unraveling. Thanks for your help Buiietbob
 
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