Digitech JamMan

[ted s]

Hey fretters, I picked up a lightly used one today, not a mark on it, with 1 yr. warr. for retail less $100.
Anyway, I haven't tried it yet, I searched through some old posts and recall Robert and maybe Oldguy have the Digitech ?
Can I hear some opinions ?

thanks all.

Ted

[Robert****]

Yes, I have one. I haven't used it enough really. It's fun to mess around with. You can load it up with drum loops from your computer, if you have some. They have to be mono though, kinda dumb, but that's the requirement. It's a good tool for practicing, but since I hardly have time to practice, my JamMan doesn't see enough usage from me!

[sunvalleylaw]

I don't have the JamMan, but got a used Boss RC20XL which seems similar. Best thing I did for my practice and playing time. I like to load songs in that I am trying to learn and play along till I get it. I also like to do my own loops. Have not used the drum features enough yet.

[oldguy]

I don't have the JamMan, but got a used Boss RC20XL which seems similar. Best thing I did for my practice and playing time. I like to load songs in that I am trying to learn and play along till I get it. I also like to do my own loops. Have not used the drum features enough yet.

Sunvalley,
I haven't been home enough to check, but have you got JamStudio.com yet?
Tons of good stuff for free, tho not like the pay-to-play big boys, but still a great tool for learning.
Guitars, bass, drums, pianos, organs, synths, etc.
The 4/4 only is limiting, but 3/4 is coming soon (I guess), and you're only a few clicks away from all those great Neil Y. backings, if you take the time...

[sunvalleylaw]

Sunvalley,
I haven't been home enough to check, but have you got JamStudio.com yet?
Tons of good stuff for free, tho not like the pay-to-play big boys, but still a great tool for learning.
Guitars, bass, drums, pianos, organs, synths, etc.
The 4/4 only is limiting, but 3/4 is coming soon (I guess), and you're only a few clicks away from all those great Neil Y. backings, if you take the time...

I have NOT checked that out yet. I must have missed or forgotten any discussion of it. I will have to check it out! What I really want right now is a good Blues Shuffle drum backer. I have not figured out how to use a standard drumbeat with a shuffle 12 bar. The drum samples I got with the Boss looper, and the drum loops in Garageband, do not seem to include a shuffle.


Ted, apologies for hijacking, but you can get a sense of all the different things you can do with your new tool. (and I do mean tool). I have even recorded something in my looper, then connected it via garageband cable to my mac to record it into Garageband. Sometimes it is easier to record a loop I want with the foot pedals than try to record it directly into the computer. Have fun with it!

[ted s]

No worries of hijacking Steve, this is all good info.
I haven't been able to use it much, my Mom was in a bad motorcycle accident so most time is taken up looking after stuff dor her. (Crazy old gal!)
What I have to work on is nice clean start stop with the pedal. It would appear that when my feet have to do something other than keep time I turn into 20 thumbs and it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

[sunvalleylaw]

No worries of hijacking Steve, this is all good info.
I haven't been able to use it much, my Mom was in a bad motorcycle accident so most time is taken up looking after stuff dor her. (Crazy old gal!)
What I have to work on is nice clean start stop with the pedal. It would appear that when my feet have to do something other than keep time I turn into 20 thumbs and it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

Wow, sorry about your Mom! Hope she is okay and good on her for getting out there.

Aboot the start stop issue, I had that problem at first too (I suppose I still do sometimes), and I do not always keep time with my foot. What I ended up doing was playing the loop a while, keeping time with my foot, and then did the same thing with my foot near the pedal, then just hit the start pedal with my timing foot as part of my timing when the loop I was playing came around to the beginning. That really cleaned up how my loops played. The cool thing is it is all digital, and you just erase and start over anyway, kind a like a digital camera. With one of those, I can shoot the huge number of frames the pros say they do to get the one or two frames they really want. As you can imagine, it just makes you play more, recording, erasing, recording, saving those takes!

[just strum]

I'm not familiar with any type of pedals and am slowly trying to learn. I think at this point of my playing capability I really don't need to spend too much time focusing on them. However, one thing has caught my attention when I was watching video of Phil Keaggy and that is the looping machines (or whatever the correct terminology is).

Today I was watching Robert's video of Big Legged Woman and saw that he is using a Digitech JamMan. I checked out the price and I was wondering if there were other options available that cost less? I like the Digitech JamMan, but really am not looking to spend that kind of money.

[ted s]

I think the next closest would be the Boss RC2 in the $200-$300 range. I may be wrong though.

[Justaguyin_nc]

I think the online stores sell the rc2 for 179.99...

I have the RC20XL also.. it's about 249.99..

I think they are all good.. the rc2 has everything the XL has except reverse I think.... and is in a smaller format to sit on your pedalboard..

Using these.. well, I wish I could say I use it more often..
I like the feature of puttng a backing track into them..
or creating a strum pattern and then trying to jam over it..
(actually trying with it and Roberts Bigg Legged woman tutorial.)

Having a computer in the same room..
I usually just run a backing track on it, out of convenience.

But, it does sound better having something comming out of the amp along with the guitar...

The few druming tracks it has got boring to me quickly.. although useful I never have applied myself with them.

I really need to mess with it more often and align loops with proper volume from one to the other etc.. but to date..have not.

It will always be around though.. at times its a wonderful device to mess with.

Jamman or Boss..you probably get your money's worth



Edit: oops meant rc-2 not 20

[Spudman***]

The RC20 has far less memory than the XL version.

If you are patient and search the web at places like Craigslist, Harmony Central Classifieds and Ebay you can get a Jam Man or an RC20XL used for quite a bit less than the suggested retail price.

This is one piece of gear that can seriously help your learning and solo playing enjoyment. It's a jam partner that is always ready when you are and never have to buy beer for.

[just strum]

The RC20 has far less memory than the XL version.


This is one piece of gear that can seriously help your learning and solo playing enjoyment. It's a jam partner that is always ready when you are and never have to buy beer for.

Or can't get together because they're cutting the grass (actually that's usually my excuse).

What is the durability of these things? If I am picking one up used, is there anything that I should be looking for or asking? I have no clue what can go wrong with these things that I would have to be cautious of.

[Spudman***]

The one thing that I have found with the Boss unit is that it is sensitive to its power supply. Get a good filtered adapter to use just with this unit. All your other pedals go on another supply. Batteries will last a while in the XL but it is still more costly to use them and less reliable.

Now that I said that the physical construction is very durable with all the units. The only concern would be if the unit had poor quality power and experienced a surge or spike that somehow messed up its operation function. I've not heard of this happening yet with any of these pedals, but the power does seem to be the weakest link. Otherwise...bomb proof.

[just strum]

Spud,

Thanks for the info.

[Justaguyin_nc]

oops..I meant rc-2...sorry about that... same memory as rc-20xl but one less pedal to press.. and no reverse..