The
wonderful world of loopers and switchers. Where would we be with out
them? These are pedals that can really be secret weapons for us. Not
every pedal on board has to function as an actual effect pedal, no
sir. A couple of the pedals I use on my board are actually used as
tools for either combining sounds or helping certain pedals sound
better. With the
pedal
boom
came an
array of different catch phrases that many of us got hooked to, one
of them being "True Bypass". For those of us who did our homework
things like true bypass can be a useful and excellent tool for our
sound. Throughout this past year I have been noticing that many more
cats are getting into the science of true bypass loopers and
swicthers, you'd be impressed at what some cats are doing with this
simple yet useful idea. One of the companies that has stood out to
me is Loop-Master, a independent pedal company with some tasty
little tools. Loop-Master is run by one Brian Price, it is apparent
by looking at Brian's range of gear that it is his goal to help us
sound better, make our playing easier, and give our setups some
special little tricks. On the Loop-Master website you will find a
sea of cool gadgets that will make your setup a much easier ship to
steer. We had a chance to try a few of these pedals... now both of
them live on my small gigging board.
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Mini Tap
Tempo Pedal
Ever
since tap-tempo first landed on the scene it has been a huge must,
this is an option that now comes on most newer delay units.
Tap-tempo not only makes using delay much easier, but has also been
seen in a number of other style effects pedals such as tremolo and
vibrato. When I first spoke to Brian about which pedals to feature
on our site I mentioned this little gem, it is a perfect little tool
for those of us who have tap-tempo inputs in our pedals, and it's
size makes for one awesome space saver. The Loop-Master Mini Tap
Tempo Pedal does not require any power to operate, simply plug it
into whichever unit is compatible with it and that's that. The pedal
can also work to access certain amp's effects and amp channels. The
Mini Tap Tempo comes housed in a solid aluminum enclosure, sports a
momentary switch, a Switchcraft jack, and a sub-miniature Polarity
toggle switch for calibrating to your delay unit. For a tiny little
pedal this baby can do a lot. To run this pedal I plugged it into my
Boss DD-5, used a Tele, and played through my Deville. The DD-5 is a
delay that lives on the upper level of my small pedalboard, I was
able to run a George L cable down to the right hand corner of my
board which made it perfect for working in my delays when playing
live. I set the Polarity switch to it's proper setting and was ready
to go. If you do get one of these and you notice that the swing of
the delay effect is backwards, simply flip the toggle switch and
that should take care of it. If you've ever used the FS-FU
footswitch that Boss makes you know how big and dinky that thing can
be. The Loop-Master Mini Tap Tempo makes things much much easier and
the pedal is built to last. I pumped it down a few times and low and
behold I had the exact delay time I needed, it was absolutely
wonderful to finally be able to use this option on my DD-5. Another
super cool use I got out of it was by plugging the DD-5 into a true
bypass looper and leaving the pedal on. Not only did my signal stay
cleaner but I was able to set delay times ahead of time. My guitar
player also pulled his DD-20 out and the Mini Tap Tempo worked
killer with it as well. The tap switch itself is smooth, consistent,
and spot-on. As far as which other pedals it can work with I am not
sure, I do know that there are a bunch of pedals out there with 1/4
inch input tap tempo options. For the price, the size, and it's
ability you can't beat this little pedal. This makes for the perfect
gift for anyone in need of a tap-tempo switch. Other than the Mini
Tap Tempo Pedal Loop-Master also makes 2-Way Duel Tap Tempo switch
which lets you set tempo on two effects at the same time, very very
cool if you as me. Brain also makes a Channel Switcher/Tap Tempo
pedal which works beautifully for saving space, this way you can
switch your amps effects/channels, and control your pedal's delay
time on the fly. I highly suggest you make a stop and check some of
these out.
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Clean/Dirty Effects Switcher
w/Master Bypass
Next
on the horizon from Loop-Master is the Clean/Dirty Effects
Switcher, one of the baddest little gadgets I have ever had the
pleasure of using. This thing is almost magical with what it's
capable of doing, once you plug into one of these you'll never
go about any other way. The first time I plugged into this pedal
I was stuck for hours trying different combinations of sounds, I
was hooked from the get-go. This here my friends is the perfect
little box for those of you who use multiple effects out of one
amplifier, and use different combinations of effects for your
dirty and clean settings. Ever set up the perfect combo of
pedals for a clean sound, then need to switch into a combo if
effects for a dirty sound? Not easy is it? You'll end up dancing
on stage instead of playing guitar, and look silly too. I had
this problem for a long time... that is until now. The
Loop-Master Clean/Dirty Effects Switcher lets you switch between
2 channels of different pedal mixtures, and let's you bypass the
pedal entirely if you want, it's freakin genius! It's like
playing through two different amps in one! Before I saw this
pedal the only other way I knew to do this was an A/B/ switcher
into two amps. Who has two amps to carry around to gigs? Not me,
it's a pain in the ass. You might think setting this pedal up is
tuff right? Well you're wrong. The pedal's layout is actually
quite simple, a Bypass switch for engaging the pedal, a Loop 1
0r 2 switch which lets you choose between two setups, and two
loops to set your effects in. In less than a few minutes you'll
have the ability to do what you've never been able to do before.
The Clean/Dirty Effects Switcher is built into a tuff-as-nails
diecast aluminum enclosure, has two 3PDT switches, six
Switchcraft #11 jacks, DC jack for 9V power, and is wired with
extra heavy-duty 22 gauge silver plated military spec wire. Can
you say built to last? The pedal also has three LED's which in
order to function must be powered by a 9V Boss style power
adapter. The unit will work fine without the LED's and this will
not affect the tone of the pedal. When you order your
Clean/Dirty Effects Switcher you can also choose from a rainbow
of different colors for each LED, this gives your pedal a bit
flavor and keeps things in order if you already have a color
scheme going. Ok now to the pedal's capabilities. First I used
the pedal on it's own, by which I mean I set up two different
loops and plugged straight from my guitar into my amp, not
before or after any other pedals. In the first channel I setup a
lush, swimming clean tone by mixing a vibe pedal with a
compressor. In the second channel I set up a dirty rhythm sound
by plugging in a overdrive and a delay pedal set low. With this
setup I was able to get three different sounds, the straight
clean tone from my amp, the spacey clean tone from channel 1,
and the dirty rhythm tone from channel 2. How cool is that!? I
did it without letting my partner know what I was doing, when I
flipped in between each sound with a stomp of one switch he
couldn't figure out how the hell I was doing it. I finally had
to show him how I did it and he was quite impressed. Really you
can set up even more sounds with this pedal by plugging in a
bunch of different pedals and switching them on and off in
different combos. Example: If I wanted that same dirty sound I
had set up only without delay all I would have to do is shut the
delay off, easy as pie. Next came the real thrill, plugging the
Clean/Dirty Effects Switcher between a bunch of other pedals,
here is where the possibilities became endless, literally
endless. Here you can run an effect you use with both a clean
and dirty sound, simply set it after the Switcher and leave it
on, it will blend in with both channels. This way you can set an
effect like delay after the pedal and when you switch from
channel 2 to channel 2 you will still have delay in both sounds.
There are so many more things that are possible with this pedal
I'm sure, when I sit down and start thinking about it my mind
starts getting excited. I really have to give to Brian for this
one, an automatic two thumbs up for this puppy. This makes me
want to raid his website of everything he has available, I can
only imagine what else he has in store for us. So if anyone is
looking for that two amp sound, or needs a way to pull an army
of sounds from one amp, this is your pedal. The Clean/Dirty
Effects Switcher will most likely deliver a sound all your own,
and keep you busy forever more... all you have to do is sit down
and plug into it. Enjoy kids.
For
more info on Loop-Master products go to www.loop-master.com or
click the little direct link in our sidebar. Make sure and
support these indie pedal companies guys, they are the real
backbone of our industry. Remember, let'em hear you scream!
This article is courtesy of Analog War Cry. Thanks Alfie!
Home >
Gear Setup > Loop-Master saves the Delay!
Loop-Master saves the Delay!
My Boss DD-6 has been a problem. It has a good digital delay sound, but the internal tap-tempo is impossible to use live. At least impossible for me. To get it into tap tempo mode you hold it down for 2 seconds then have to do 2 more seconds to get out. So if you are in tap-tempo mode you can't just click off the effect. So I really have not been using the tap-tempo feature at all when I play.
I got a single loop switcher unit from Loop Master not quite sure where I was going to use it. If you are not familiar with a loop switcher, it takes your signal, and if the loop is engaged, sends it out to some other unit or units , then expects the signal back in, then it sends it back into your chain (an effects loop). If it is off, the effects loop is bypassed.
Then it hit me. If I placed the DD-6 in the loop by itself and placed the pedal in Tap-Tempo mode, I could use the loop as the instant on/off switch while remaining in tap tempo mode. I will eventually replace the DD-6 with something with an external tap, but for now I think this will do just fine.
So if you have a DD-6 and are frustrated with it's tap-tempo mode, this might be a good solution for you too.
Loop-Master is a 'Friend of Pedalboard Planner'. See the Pedalboard Planner site help menu for more information.
