Re: Boomerang

[eric potter <eric@musician.org>]

>

I just got my  Boomerang last night and am very excited!  I've been a 
JamMan
user ever since they first appeared, and though I appreciate its kind 
service
to me over the years, I usually felt limited by its inflexibility once a 
loop
is underway, and was disappointed to find out very quickly that the reverse
function is for one-time-only sample playback and loops won't go backwards,
etc.

I had been reading a bit about the 'Rang, so on a hopeful whim I looked in 
my
local want-ad rag (God Bless the Recycler!) and I was happy to see a
Boomerang for sale, used but not gigged. I called and offered $250, and 
with
only the slightest pause he agreed. I don't know what new ones are really
going for these days but I had $280 in the bank somehow, and it felt right.

When I got to the seller's home, I plugged in and having never used one
before created a short multi-layered guitar-swell atmos loop thing with a
snakey backwards line and we were all amazed how quickly it happened.

This device reminds me of the much-coveted EH 16 sec. delay which I've had
some near-acquisitions of (but I've always ended up a few hundred dollars
short). The ability to instantly reverse everything for just a flash or
forever is fantastic. Kicking every thing down to half speed/octave down is
much more useful than I thought - it gives a whole new palette of texture 
to
work with. I love the low-res sound quality at half speed, too. The 
grittier
slow loop sounds distinctly different than the live guitar I play over the
loop, also something I thought only the EH 16 would give me. The bummer is
that you have to STOP the loop to change speeds. It  takes only a second, 
but
it can be a real interruption. The JamGuy doesn't do these things at all, 
so
I'm super-happy!

When I got home last night my first loop  on the Rang was one of the best
I've done in five years or so of live looping!

The simplicity of this pedal and size - it fits in my pedalboard case - is
perfect for spontaneous jamming and performance. There have been many
instances where I didn't want to lug a rack unit (JamMan) with me to a jam.
I'm a pedals guy, primarily. Carrying pedalboard AND rack can be a bit 
much.
This is a pretty strong issue for me.

Will I get rid of the JamMan? No way! Only as a trade toward an EDP. The
JamDude sounds great, even with the input seriously overloaded. Everything
Lexicon sounds really good. Midi sync is very cool, I like making cheap 
drum
machines try to follow my loops!  You also get a studio quality digital 
delay
if your not looping while mixing - that boy is always busy! The JamMan is a
cleaner copyist - if you like glassy tones a lot of the time, you should
definitely try a Boomerang before buying. But I think its sound is just 
right
for most guitar situations.

back to the music,
-eric p.

> > Hello everyone,
> >
> >     First post to this fine list.  I'm looking for some opinions on the
> > Boomerang Phrase Sampler, especially in regards to its features and 
>ease
> > of use.  Also any comparison to other loopers, like the JamMan or
> > Digital Echoplex, would be appreciated.  I'm considering this product
> > becasue it would be easier on the pocket-book and also has a built-in
> > foot controller.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > Pat Moore
> >