Re: flexible looper in small package

[Travis Hartnett <travishartnett@gmail.com>]

The smaller the pedal, the less space you have for controls.  Even the
DL-4 makes one switch do double duty for reverse and halfspeed.  I
can't imagine a desirable looper with fewer than three foot switches,
so you're looking at something roughly the size of a Loop Station for
starters.

I've seen very little evidence that there's been much research on the
part of manufacturers as to what makes a great looper (and what makes
a frustrating one).  For a looper with any prior experience just
reading the manual for most of these boxes, there always seems to be
at least one feature that immediately jumps out as being missing or
horribly implemented (variable feedback level and
record-straight-into-overdub being two of the usual culprits).


On 8/25/05, Rainer Thelonius Balthasar Straschill <rs@moinlabs.de> wrote:
> Reading through all the posts regarding stompbox loopers, I seem to have
> made a horrible discovery:
> 
> There is no looper in a small package that offers both halfspeed and
> reverse. The smallest thing I can think about is the DL4, but that's
> already a little too big for my taste. The Boss twin pedals are a little
> bit smaller, but they don't offer halfspeed. The Jamman is even smaller,
> but is offers neither halfspeed nor reverse...the same is true for the
> Headrush (both generations), but at least it has a decent size.
> 
> I sometimes wonder: what are these product managers thinking? I don't
> want to come to a gig with six hours worth of prerecorded loops which I
> will then play back exactly as recorded in the studio. If I wanted to do
> that, I'd bring a PDA. I'd like to do strange things. These things are
> sold as effects - look up the meaning of this word in the dictionary if
> you're unsure what they're supposed to do.
> 
> (sorry for the rant...going back to normal).
> 
> So it seems in my quest for a relatively small-sized pedal board, I'm
> either forced to use a DL4 (meaning big size), or to live without
> reverse and/or halfspeed. I guess I'll just go with the DL4 then...lots
> of LDers and several other cool people (latest spotting: The Mars Volta)
> can't err...
> 
>           Rainer
> 
>