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Balancing Volume Levels?



    Hi everybody,
    I've been having a lot of fun with my new Boomerang, learning how this whole looping thing works.  I have a couple more questions, if you guys don't mind.
    My biggest problem is balancing the volume levels on the "overdubs".  I play a very quiet passive bass, which is my main instrument, and I also play guitar (just a regular 'ol Strat).  I'm having a lot of problems with laying down a bass groove, moving to the guitar, and trying to find the right volume level for the guitar loop.  Often, it will sound about right through the PA, but when I loop a guitar part, it comes out way louder than I expected, and then the whole thing sounds bad because the "background" part is too loud.  Then it's back to square one.
    Is there some trick to balancing volume levels before adding layers?  My guitar is much louder than my bass, and I want that foundation (the core bass groove) to be the loudest part of the loop, but instead it gets buried.  I guess the biggest problem is figuring out if the volume level I hear through the PA will really match what I'm looping or not.
    Also, I need a good, fast way to switch between the guitar and the bass, or multiple basses.  Is there any kind of small, portable mixer for this sort of thing?  Since I'm going to be booking myself in little coffee houses I don't want a ton of bulky equipment.  I have a Tascam 4-track recorder and I've been wondering if, at least for now, I could use it as a mixer.  It's only 1/4" out is the "headphone" out, and I don't know if that's a good out to run into the 'Rang (and then into the PA) or not.  I've used that out into the PA to play back recordings before, but I don't know if it would have an effect on the sound quality or if there are other reasons to not use it in this way.
    Thanks a lot for the help, I'm not technically adept at all, and this stuff is way above my head!
    -Jonathan