Summary
• Pros: The Outlaw Effects Lasso Looper offers the core looping functions in an easy-to-use and affordable package.
• Cons: No power supply. Does very little in the way of features and competitors have more to offer.
• Overall: A good choice if you want the basics and you’re on a tight budget. Otherwise, you should get something else.
Compare Prices:
- Amazon: Outlaw Effects Lasso Loope
- Guitar Center: Outlaw Effects Lasso Looper
Full Review
There are two extremes when it comes to looper pedals. On one side, you have things like the Boss RC-600, which cram as much functionality as possible into a single, obnoxiously large unit. On the other, you have pedals like the TC Electronic Ditto, which scale things back to the key offering, reducing the footprint of the pedal (not to mention the price) while still providing the core functionality you need.
The Lasso Looper from Outlaw Effects is firmly in the latter camp. It has a very affordable price, 24-bit audio and a simple, intuitive layout. But would you be better off with something more complicated? Are there better options with the same minimalistic approach?
Compact and Simple Design
The Lasso Looper is about as simple as it gets for a looper pedal in terms of design. It’s the size of a small stompbox and the face has just one switch, one dial and an LED light. The body is aluminum alloy and it has a cool, lasso-like pattern on the front to provide some visual flair. The input and output jacks are on the left and right, offset so you can position it nicely among your other pedals. Finally, there’s a 9V DC input on the top side.
The basic functionality of the Lasso Looper is no surprise. You hit the main footswitch to start recording, and then hit it again when you’ve done to start playback. Then you can hit it again to record an overdub, and can continue doing that as much as you like to create a multi-layered sound. Of course, you can also stop the playback and clear your loop using the same footswitch.
The Lasso Looper gives you 10 minutes of recording time. There’s also a USB cable (included) and port so you can store loops on your computer (using Outlaw Effects’ free software). This also allows you to import previously saved loops if you want to jam over them again.
The downside is already pretty clear: this is all you can do. Nevertheless, there is a lot of fun to be had with the basic functions. You can put together the beginning parts of a song or lay down a chord progression for some endless soloing. And the sound quality is good too, at 24-bit, 44 kHz. The Lasso Looper also has with true bypass so it doesn’t affect your signal when you aren’t using it.
The dial on the top half of the looper adjusts the level of the playback for your loop. This is pretty much a case of setting it to an appropriate level and leaving it alone. The good news is that everything is so easy that you won’t need the manual to start having fun. And the simplicity also means that everything works just as you’d hope it to.
There is one downside worth mentioning, though. The pedal depends on a power supply, because it can’t be run from a batter. The power supply isn’t included when you buy the pedal, though, so you have to pick one up elsewhere. This effectively adds to the price – because it’s no good having the pedal without the power supply. While you’d think a power adapter could have been included, a lot of budget pedals also don’t include one. This allows the manufacturer to get the price way down.
It’s Basic, But Should You Buy the Lasso Looper?
Deciding whether to buy the Lasso Looper isn’t like choosing any other looper. Where you might think about different features – does it have quantization features to help me stay in time, does it have rhythm backings, does it have undo/redo functionality, and so on – here the answer is basically always no. What you get is a looper, and just a looper. The sound quality is good and it is of course much simpler to use than more feature-packed pedals, but it’s very much a bare-bones offering.
So the decision depends on what you want, and crucially, on the price you’re willing to pay. It’s comparable to the Ditto Looper, in that it basically has exactly the same functionality, the same audio quality and twice as much recording time. But where the Ditto was a fresh approach to looper pedals when it first hit the market, there are plenty of comparable loopers out now and it’s hard to really recommend the Lasso Looper over anything else.
In fact, the Ditto X2 in particular took the same minimalistic approach but incorporated effects into the mix too, drastically increasing the capability while still keeping the price fairly low. The Electro Harmonix Nano 360 is a similar price and offers 11 memory locations in addition to the basic looping functions you find on devices like the Lasso.
And so we hit the crux of the decision: if you only want the most basic functionality in a looper pedal (e.g. if you’re just looking for an at-home jamming companion) and you want something as cheap as possible, absolutely go for the Lasso Looper. It does what it sets out to well.
If, however, you don’t mind spending a little bit more – and especially if you want more functionality or may do in future – seriously think about investing in a mid-range unit or even something similarly small and simple but with more features packed into the chassis. There are loads of options out there and it isn’t difficult to find something with more capability.
Where to Buy the Lasso Looper
- Amazon: Outlaw Effects Lasso Loope
- Guitar Center: Outlaw Effects Lasso Looper
Outlaw Effects Lasso Looper Product Clip
