Loop switcher... Yes? No?

[esoxhntr]

Disclaimer... *** HONEST TO GOD I DID A SEARCH FIRST!!!***

With that out of the way... over the Christmas holidays I got sick, and spent way too much time on Talkbass. I managed to find my way into the effects forum, dug some old stuff out of boxes in the basement, hit a couple of Boxing Day sales, traded some stuff, and lo and behold I have a pedal board now. I have to admit - it's pretty cool to have a pedal board.

After reading literally thousands of pages here, I have to admit that I am a little puzzled... I would think that a loop switcher would be a necessary and very handy device, but it looks like the vast majority of boards pictured here don't have them. Is there an issue with loop switchers? Do they degrade signal? Add weight? Take up too much room? Add cost? Do folks just find them redundant?

I would have thought that mid-gig/mid-song it would be good to just hit a switch near the edge of your board as opposed to having to do a Mr Bojangles routine through your pedals to get the right combo...

 

[guitarflinger]

I use one of these:
White Loop

Mainly on Led Zepplin's "Whole Lotta Love". While our guitar player is futzing with his theramin, I switch in MXR carbon copy, fuzz, and other effects to go crazy. The white loop is perfect.

 

[DistortedBass]

I'm using this one and love it. Built in pre and tons of options -
Providence Releases the Bass FX Console BFX-1 | Premier Guitar

 

[theunknowndude]

I thought about getting one but don’t use one as my gator tote is jam packed already and I rarely step on more than one pedal... love to see guys use them in massive boards though!

 

[esoxhntr]

I thought about getting one but don’t use one as my gator tote is jam packed already and I rarely step on more than one pedal... love to see guys use them in massive boards though!

And there's the funny thing - on the PYPB threads a lot of the bigger boards don't have them. I likely don't need one (at least not yet), but the concept and utility for live playing seem pretty attractive.

 

[esoxhntr]

I'm using this one and love it. Built in pre and tons of options -
Providence Releases the Bass FX Console BFX-1 | Premier Guitar

I use one of these:
White Loop

Both of these look very cool.

 

[That Coyote]

The Boss ES-8 has changed the way I write and perform. It’s an incredible machine that allows you to have unlimited options at your feet.

 

[superheavyfunk]

The Boss ES-8 has changed the way I write and perform. It’s an incredible machine that allows you to have unlimited options at your feet.

Does the ES-8 offer a clean blend? I bought an MS-3 and am super frustrated with it not having one for the loops.

 

[bassbrad]

I have been using an effects loop pedal for a long time. For the longest time it was a Boss PSM5, later a Boss LS2, a RockTron TruLoop and now a 3 loop switcher. I have thought of using one of the programmable loopers but think that would be overkill for my needs.

 

[tfer]

I have thought many times about adding a loop switcher, but for my uses, it would be a waste.

If I want a particular effect, I just turn it on. If I want multiple effects, I tap the buttons I need. Most effects I use have a blend, so I don’t need it for that.

Honestly, it would add an unnecessary complication in my setup.

Lots of players use them, so I keep looking at them, trying to make one fit, but so far practicality has won out.

 

[Bassist30]

True Bypass Looper - Loop-Master Switcher Pedals - Loop Switcher - Pedal Switcher
Its a good idea....Its great to separate your signal.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I think they are great for people with massive pedalboards and or pedals that have bad bypasses and stuff. I use a very small board so they're kind of overkill for what I use.

 

[jchrisk1]

I use a single looper. I run my envelope filter, octave, and fuzz through it, so I can turn them on at the same time, for synth sounds. Works great. I have a relatively small board, but would like to have midi switching. I just can't justify the cost.

 

[anton72]

I had loop switcher when my pedalboad was bigger which helped me to avoid "pedal dance", and it was very helpful also to switch two or more pedal at once when you need a mix of them. Now I only have pedaltrain nano and 4 pedals, one of wich has internal effects loop so no need for an extra switcher.

 

[Crowd crusher]

I have 2. An rst custom 2 loop. And a boss ls-2. I like the ls-2 for a "clean" blend. And the rst for pedals w crappy bypass. But I haven't put my board together yet. So.....I don't use either. Lol

 

[el murdoque]

There are those modern Boss switchers that are nothing short of awesome - they let you change pedal positions and perform multiple operations with only one switch. These are quite advanced and require a big pedal board because the units themselves are quite big and with that many options, one should have enough pedals to make use of them.

Then there are the simpler ones. After some arguing with a guy, we rigged a 1 loop switcher with an 8 loop switcher where every loop was active and simply shorted with a patchcable - so that when you activated the 1 loop switcher,
the signal would pass through all 8 loops of the 8 loop switcher. The 'steal' in sound was comparable to a bad old wah. Nothing to argue about, it was plain to hear, at least with an unbuffered signal.

I decided on a switcher with 3 loops. The thoughts behind that were:

-I am able to activate/deactivate groups of pedals with a single switch
-When most pedals are off, the signal does not have to pass all the pedals
-The pedals in the upper tier of the board are sometimes hard to reach in stage situations.

With proper thought, you can switch on/off the pedals you will need for the next song and then just activate the respective groups with the switcher.

So once you reach a certain size of pedal board, a switcher really comes in handy.

 

[Alien8]

Disclaimer... *** HONEST TO GOD I DID A SEARCH FIRST!!!***

With that out of the way... over the Christmas holidays I got sick, and spent way too much time on Talkbass. I managed to find my way into the effects forum, dug some old stuff out of boxes in the basement, hit a couple of Boxing Day sales, traded some stuff, and lo and behold I have a pedal board now. I have to admit - it's pretty cool to have a pedal board.

After reading literally thousands of pages here, I have to admit that I am a little puzzled... I would think that a loop switcher would be a necessary and very handy device, but it looks like the vast majority of boards pictured here don't have them. Is there an issue with loop switchers? Do they degrade signal? Add weight? Take up too much room? Add cost? Do folks just find them redundant?

I would have thought that mid-gig/mid-song it would be good to just hit a switch near the edge of your board as opposed to having to do a Mr Bojangles routine through your pedals to get the right combo...

If you have pedal combinations that appeal to you or are used to sound like a certain song, then sure, they are great. With the release of the Boss ES-5\8 it is the ultimate solution. Change order, blend, control, and it keeps it all close. So many possibilities are opened with a creative implementation of one. Need one? No. Really want(ed) one? YES!

 

[allenhumble]

I use one. Its nice not to tap dance mid song if you are combong effects. Its also nice to take advantage of midi capable options for more complex pedals or to synce tap tempos

 

[TrevorR]

One reason more folks don’t use them is that they are a sort of “icing on the cake” item and some just don’t see a need. The two reasons to use them is to allow some form of pre-setting while using stomp boxes and to manage signal path so that the signal isn’t going through all pedals all the time.

Those are both nice to have features - the board will still work without them. A guitarist chum has three switchers to switch in three separate groups of pedals with a single click.

I’ve got a modest board entry recently added a Lehle switcher to it so that I can go direct from the bass and tuner to the preamp/DI when not using any effects. Has it changed my sonic world? No, but it’s a nice little icing on the cake feature and I had some extra music cash saved so I decided to indulge myself.

Before:

After:

Totally unNECESSARY but it pleased me. Since I use the effects more as occasional texture on most tunes I set the pedal mix at the start of the song and switch them in and out as needed. But when they’re not being used I’ve supposedly got a “purer” signal path. But I’ll happily admit, pure indulgence on my part.

 

[knumbskull]

i see them on the really big board guys' setups sometimes.

they can improve your tone (well, preserve it) if you are switching in and out of pedals with noise or sub-standard bypass. though this is increasingly rare these days, i think.

I sometimes use a Swift A-B-Y loop switcher when recording, which works great except it's BIG. for live i usually use a much simpler setup and it's not necessary.