Guitar looper (1st post btw)

[van Sinn <vansinn@post.cybercity.dk>]

Hi all, first post here, though Loopers Delight cirtainly isn't unknown 
to me ;)  Ooups - or ist it looups.. :-D, turned into a longish post..


Building my new guitar rack, I need a (preferably) stereo looper.

As I'm not yet into the loop stuff, I'm unsure about features like 
autosizing phrases to tap tempo - whatsit called in the right terms?
I've read differing remarks on the difficulty of hitting buttons at the 
exact right timings..  others commented such autosizing often works in 
mysterious ways, not always sounding too musical ;)

I'm also unsure about being able to manage adding more phrases one after 
another and overdubbing, while actually _playing_ the guitars.
I can imagine doing some limited overdubbing, but not much more.

AFAICS, I'll have three stomp buttons available on my midi controller in 
case a looper should be midi-based.
However, it does seem most devices either have dedicated controllers or 
are stomps. Rack mounting stomps and interfacing DIY button arrangements 
won't present too much of a problem.


Poked around here and on the net, and haven't found many useful devices.
Two sync'd Echoplex's would do, but too much space and money; sorry..
A mem-upgraded Lex Jamman might do, though looptime is relatively short.
Being stereo in a 2U rackbox is an advantage, though, and it's midi 
implementation seems to allow my needed features..

Apart from rack mounted devices, I consider rebuilding two mono stomps 
into one box and synchronize them for stereo operation (I have 
electronics education).  The Akai E2 Headrush comes to mind..

Other stomps recommended on usenet is:
Boss RC-2/20/22, Boomerang Phrase Sampler, zoom 508, Digitech Jamman.

Recordings I've heard with mono looping sounds somewhat 'flat', even 
when the player continues playing other stuff with wide stereo effects.
I'm aware most stereo effects loose out in live performances; still, a 
good reason for looping, even in the studio, is that it reflects my 
immidiate moods and creative mind. So, I will prefer stereo..


Comments?

-- 
rgds,
van Sinn


"It begins with a blessing, and ends with a curse.
  Making life easy, by making it worse."
   -- Soft Machine