Best Loop Pedals for Guitar: Top 5 (Perfect for Home or Gigging)
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We love loop pedals. Aren't they the business?
Playing with a guitar loop pedal is by far one of the most rewarding pastimes you as a guitar player can indulge in on your ax. They can literally transform your skills and make you fall in love with playing all over again you'll have that much fun.
A guitar looper gives you the ability to create anything from a basic jam track with a few chords and 1 simple melody, to huge multi-piece arrangements.
And achieved all on your own. Sweet.
Which is the best loop pedal out there though? We have 5 top loopers coming right up for you.
Warning: It takes skill to craft the right arrangement when using a loop pedal and skill to nail your performance. So before we dive in and show you our best loop pedal recommendations, here's our top 5 tips for how to properly use a loop pedal (so you can avoid sound dreadful).
How To Sound Good Playing With a Loop Pedal: Top Tips
Your only job now? Choose the loop pedal that takes your fancy from this list...
Loved by guitar legends such as Paul Gilbert the Ditto X2 loop pedal sounds sublime and has some neat tricks up it's sleeve to boot.
Play your loops in reverse, half-speed & combine if you're feeling it. You can really create some huge atmospheric creations with this looper.
The Ditto X2 is by far the easiest to use looper on our list. All it's controls - record, start, start, stop overdub and fx are accessible via the two sturdy footswitches.
Built like a tank and with 24 bit audio quality to satisfy any audiophile along with the true bypass and analog-dry-through all mean your loops (and guitar playing) are going to sound special.
Best Bits
- Record time - 5 minutes with unlimited overdubbing
- Memory Presets - n/a
- Power - 9V Batteries or AC power supply (sold separately)
- USB Connection - Yes
- 24 bit audio sound quality
- Internal dip switch lets you swap looping switch functionality from loop/play/overdub to loop/overdub/play
- Half-speed and reverse effects
- FX control switch can also be set as a dedicated stop switch
- Backing track library from JamTrackCentral included
You’ll love: TC Electronic are proud of the optimized headroom and True Bypass. What does this mean to you? Your loops will sound amazing with optimal tonal integrity and no loss of tone.
You might not dig: Juicy on the old 9V batteries meaning you're best advised to get an AC power supply if you're not using a multi supply on your pedalboard.
The Boss RC-3 is fantastic for practicing, recording and overdubbing guitar parts. Be it rhythm or lead, simple melodies or complex harmonies this solid industry standard looper is your man.
Save your loops in no less than 99 memory slots, meaning you'll never forget that killer melody again. Sharpening your Improvising skills is made really easy with this Boss looper because it's easy to control and laid out logically. Just remember to practice to get the best out of the pedal.
The USB 2.0 compatibility makes your life easy by allowing you to import and export WAV audio into your computer.
You get handy built-in drum patterns on the RC-3, a feature any premium looper worth it's salt should have. To make your life easier, the stereo I/O means you can connect any stereo device you wish also.
Best Bits
- Record time - 3 hours
- Memory Presets - 99
- Power - Batteries or AC power supply (sold separately)
- USB Connection - Yes
- 1/4" A and B input jacks, 1/8" mini auxiliary input jack
- USB 2.0 port lets you import/export WAV audio
- Rhythm guide with real drums (perfect for practice)
- Perfect for guitarists and bassist
You’ll love: The drumbeats are a fantastic feature which will make your jamming so much more fun.
You might not dig: A few users reported getting a perfect timed loop was tricky. This likely was down to driver error rather than the pedal. See out Top Tips for how to use a loop pedal properly at the top of the post.
The JamMan Solo XT is a rugged & quality stereo looper. Perfect for layering chords and riffs, the JamMan is a handy stompbox sized pedal meaning it will snuggly fit onto your pedalboard and look right at home.
You have the ability to plug the looper into your FX send/return in your amp, or If you're not using a modelling amp the footswitch plugs into the standard input channel also.
There is zero playback lag when switching between adjacent loops, so you can layer away till till the cows come home.
You can save a loop whilst the looper is still in playback, and your sounds are saved as high quality uncompressed .wav files. The JamMan is just the ticket then for home, live or studio use.
A nice added option is being able to move up/down between patches & stop control with the optional extra FS3X external footswitch (see Recommended Extras at the end of the post).
Best Bits
- Record time - 35 minutes with added 16 hours storage on microSD card
- Memory Presets - 100 internal + 200 external
- Power - Batteries or AC power supply (included)
- USB Connection - Yes
- 1/4" A and B input jacks, 1/8" mini auxiliary input jack
- PS0920-DC Power Supply included
- USB 2.0 port lets you import/export WAV audio
- JamManager Loop Librarian software to store your loops
You’ll love: The huge storage space you get when you stick a microSD card into the pedal.
You might not dig: Some glitches with the JamManager Loop software for a tiny handful of users reported.
Don't have any jamming buddys on hand? No problem. The versatile Digitech TRIO+ Band Creator is a looper pedal with all the bells and whistles. It produces bass and drum accompaniment, so you can layer and loop guitar chords, melodies, lead harmonies...whatever tickles your fancy.
With presents that cover 12 music genres including Rock, Pop, Country, Blues, Latin, and Jazz (each with 12 song styles) the TRIO+ looper pedal can even learn up to five different song parts.
If you're after a decent looper the TRIO+ goes the extra mile and, when used properly, will help you sculpt your overall musicianship skills - not just your guitar playing.
This looper and rhythm machine will make practice and trying out new ideas so much more fun!
Best Bits
- Memory Presets - record up to 12 songs
- Power - DC power supply (included)
- USB Connection - Yes; Mini-USB
- Audio Input: 1/4" instrument, FX return, stereo jack for footswitch
- Adjustable tempo with Audiolastic time stretching
- Audio Output: Line Out (Monaural, 1/4"), Headphone (Stereo, 1/8")
You’ll love: The ultimate band in a box experience.
You might not dig: Sime users felt the onboard bass guitar sounds could be more powerful.
With quality sounding drum machine loops and 256 memory slots you'll love the clear sound of your guitar loops through the NUX JTC looper pedal.
With 25 drum rhythms in timings such as 4/4, 3/4 and 5 in shuffle/swing the JTC allows you to overdub as many layers as you desire over your rhythm tracks.
Tap the left foot switch to control recording and overdubs, whilst the auto-recording function lets you tap the foot switch and won't start recording till you play your guitar strings.
Best Bits
- Record time - 6 hours
- Memory Presets - 10
- Power - 9V DC power supply (not included)
- USB Connection - Yes; Micro-B
- Loop & rhythm engines can be used together or individually
- 24-bit audio quality
You’ll love: The robust build and sound quality.
You might not dig: Can be a bit of a learning curve for looper novices.
