Boss RC-20XL Loop Station

[Spudman***]

You guitarists and your technical terms!

It's got to be kept simple cause, well, they are guitarists ya know.

I've been curious about these things for a while and I have a few basic questions. The first one is: where in the chain does it go: is it guitar->loop station->amp?

I've found if it is the last thing before going into the amp then I have all the versatility of the pedals that come before it to alter what I play for the next loop or layer. ie: record a clean phrase then while that is playing add some distortion and Rotovibe to play a lead over the recorded phrase.

I haven't tried it in the effects loop yet.

[ShortBuSX]

Oh, and BTW...if you buy one of these, you will be losing sleep!
I was up again last night until 2am...works @ 8am. :

[ShortBuSX]

Im having a lil toruble figuring out this "tempo" "time signature" and "quantizied" stuff.
I pretty much got the tempo thing...you tap that...but how is this any different than the signature???

And BTW, Ive been studying the manual, but some of this stuff is still unclear.

[tjcurtin1]

My brother has one and has also had trouble getting a loop end caught exactly 'on time', and can't seem to get the 'auto-end' feature to work. Anyone figured this all out?

[ShortBuSX]

My brother has one and has also had trouble getting a loop end caught exactly 'on time', and can't seem to get the 'auto-end' feature to work.

Somehow, luckily mine are ending on time, seamlessly.

I think youre talking about the "one shot"...I think you have to use the #11 bank for that...or maybe you mean the fade out feature? I havent had to use either of those yet.

Anyone figured this all out?

After doing some readin, seems like this is THE toy to have around here...but not really alot of conversation or sharing of ideas about it.
And it seems like most of yall are coming up on 2 years of ownership...

"...Im just sayin" :

[Spudman***]

After doing some readin, seems like this is THE toy to have around here...but not really alot of conversation or sharing of ideas about it.
And it seems like most of yall are coming up on 2 years of ownership...

"...Im just sayin" :

I can never figure out what to say. I plug it in, turn it on and play away. I don't feel like there is any mystery except the creative kind. Sure you have to tap the off pedal in time to end phrases correctly but that doesn't seem to be too hard.

Probably the most difficult thing for me is getting the layers at the right volume. My tendency is to play too hard and then after 4 layers it's all just a noisy wash. Then I start over. IF I can master the layer volume thing I might get brave enough to go gig solo with it.

[ShortBuSX]

I reckon I wish somebody would say something like, "lay down a I IV V pattern, play this mode over this chord and this over another."

Just seems there are some killer lessons that could be done...but more importantly, LEARNED with a tool like this...I reckon Im just lookin for direction.

[Spudman***]

..I reckon Im just lookin for direction.

Just play Grasshopper. It will all come.

[ShortBuSX]

Just play Grasshopper. It will all come.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...Ive been steady working on my rhythms by playing over backing tracks and I already see a major improvement.

I just figure after 2 years of use, maybe one of yall had a moment where it all came together, a light came on and ever since...

But dont worry future newbs...when that moment arrives for me, I'll post my secrets:

[Spudman***]

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I just figure after 2 years of use, maybe one of yall had a moment where it all came together, a light came on and ever since...

I wish.

The looper is always an ongoing experiment for me. I'm more comfortable with it's functioning but I haven't gotten to 'ah ha' yet.

[ShortBuSX]

...but I haven't gotten to 'ah ha' yet.

Well Im 'ah ha" bound and I aint stoppin til I get there

BTW, thanks Spud, youve been pretty helpful with this.:
(even if you havent given me any actual answers):

[ShortBuSX]

I had some fun with this last night, theres tons of songs I know that almost have seemed pointless to learn without anybody backing it up...Radar Love is a perfect example, so I looped me playing the bass line on my guitar and then went on with the guitar parts over the top...there are a few short pauses throughout, that right pedal works nicely to cut it out for a few beats and then hit the left again and its back on...I thought it was pretty sweet....and it gave me a couple more ideas.

[tjcurtin1]

Somehow, luckily mine are ending on time, seamlessly.

I think youre talking about the "one shot"...I think you have to use the #11 bank for that...or maybe you mean the fade out feature? I havent had to use either of those yet.

It's the 'auto quantize' that's supposed to make it easier to end your loop - it doesn't seem to work/do anything.

[ShortBuSX]

Does he have the 20 or the 20XL?

I reckon thats all in the tempo setting, and that tempo setting I find confusing, but my loops are coming out seemless(so far)...so I dunno what to say...I hope others will chime in on quantizing, tempo and signature.

FWIW Ive been keeping the owners manual with me and studying it when I can.

Also, Im so excited about this damn thing...Ive only had it 4 days and have already learned more than I had in the last 3 months. Ive got 3 songs, one solo and my time just about down on all of them...and Ive got somebody(actually something) to jam with! Flippin sweet...money well spent!:

[Spudman***]

Also, Im so excited about this damn thing...Ive only had it 4 days and have already learned more than I had in the last 3 months. Ive got 3 songs, one solo and my time just about down on all of them...and Ive got somebody(actually something) to jam with! Flippin sweet...money well spent!:

Amen. Improvement comes at a much faster rate than without one and your jamming buddy doesn't ever get tired of playing the same old thing. Priceless!