Acoustic Loop1 Review

Summary

• Pros: The Acoustic Loop1 is an affordable and simple looper, with good sound quality and undo/redo functionality
• Cons: No included power supply. Missing many features you’ll find on modern loopers.
• Overall: The Loop1 is a great option if you want something inexpensive and simple, but you’ll want to upgrade if you really get into looping.

Check Price

• Guitar Center: Acoustic Amplification Loop1

Full Review

You don’t need a vast array of buttons and 15 footswitches to produce a truly amazing looper pedal. From the very simple options like the TC Electronic Ditto to the more complex but still compact options like the Boss RC-3, there are plenty of looper pedals out there that provide excellent performance while still keeping the footprint small and the operation intuitive and simple.

This is a specific market, though. Some guitarists who like loopers need something multi-track and with a dizzying array of footswitches and dials. But for many of us, especially if you’re just looking for something to jam along with at home, choosing a simpler looper saves you money while still offering what you need.

The Acoustic Loop1 is in the class of bare-bones loopers. And while it may look simple, they’ve done a good job of offering plenty of functionality in a minimalistic pedal.

The Acoustic Loop1 Is a No Nonsense Looper

The Loop1 is simple enough that you will probably know how to use it the first time you see it. The blue chassis only has a few components sticking out of the front panel. There is a rugged-looking footswitch, a series of LED indicator lights and a “Level” knob. The input and output jacks are on the sides, and are staggered so it’s easier to fit into your pedalboard. There’s also DC input jack on the back.

To start looping, unsurprisingly, you hit the footswitch and start playing. When you’ve laid down the first layer of your loop, you hit the footswitch again and it starts playing back. Then, when you’re ready to record an overdub, you hit the footswitch again and it starts recording again. This process can be continued essentially however long you want, with the Loop1 offering unlimited overdubs. In reality you will hit a practical barrier at some point – unless you want a literal wall of sound – but for all intents and purposes, you can overdub as much as you like.

The “Level” dial allows you to adjust the volume of the loop playback, so it doesn’t drown out anything else you have going on. If you’re just playing with the Loop1 at home, you can pretty much set this and leave it alone.

Just Remember One Thing…

The Loop1 doesn’t have memory locations like some of the more feature-packed loopers. It does store the one loop you’re working on in its memory, however, even when the pedal is switched off. It also offers an impressive 30 minutes of looping time, which is much more than most pedals in its class. I don’t really think this much time is all though useful without dedicated storage spots, though. What kind of composition would go on for 30 minutes and then loop back? Still, it’s good that you’re never realistically going to hit a memory wall when you’re looping.

Undo/Redo Functionality

The bare-bones functionality of the Loop1 doesn’t mean there is nothing extra on-board, though. In fact, the Loop1 has one of the most important features for any looper: undo/redo. This is good because if you make a mistake, you can fix it without having to kill the whole loop. Additionally, you can also use this function to bring an element of your composition in and out at will. For example, if you want a melody playing over your chord progression for the chorus, you can play it the first time through, take it out for the next verse and then “redo” it to bring it back the next time. All you have to do on the Loop1 is hold down the footswitch for two seconds to undo or redo.

You can also stop playback easily by pressing the footswitch twice. If you want to delete the loop, just hold the switch down after the second press. These are the most complex combination of switch-presses you need for the Loop1, though, so it’s pretty easy to use.

Cool Progress/Status Indicators

Finally, the series of “Loop Progress” LED lights gives you a constant visual of where you are in the loop. There are four lights and these work as you’d expect. The first lights up a quarter of the way through, two of them are lit halfway through, and so on. The main status LED below these also shows whether you’re recording or playing back, and whether there is a loop in memory.

Should You Buy the Acoustic Loop1?

The Loop1 performs really well for a basic, bare-bones looper pedal. The sound quality is good, it’s easy to learn to use (basically no learning curve at all). It also manages to incorporate undo/redo functionality without complicating the interface. All of this for a great price (check price at Guitar Center Price) makes it a pretty great deal if you’re only looking for something to jam along to at home.

It doesn’t come with a power supply, though, and you need one, so add that to the price. There are some other issues, too. For example, the long memory time is good but with no storage spots (apart from the one you’re working on) it’s kind of useless to have so much time for a single loop. It also goes without saying that if you want a more feature-packed looping experience (for example, with stop modes, octave shifting, rhythm backing and more) you’ll need to explore other options.

But if you’re just trying out the world of looping and you don’t intend to perform any complex compositions live on stage, and if you don’t want something with a little more potential for songwriting, then the Loop1 is a fantastic option for the price. There are plenty of competitors, for example the Electro-Harmonix Nano Looper 360 and the Boss RC-1, but for the same price there isn’t much with a comparable feature-set. The Acoustic Loop1 isn’t the looper to end all loopers, but it’s a solid place to start your journey.

Where to Buy the Acoustic Loop1?

• Guitar Center: Acoustic Amplification Loop1