The 10 Best Loop Pedals

Editor's Notes

December 16, 2020:

There were a few notable introductions to the loop pedal market, but not a tremendous shift. In general, we've been noticing a trend towards simpler designs and more user-friendly layouts, as opposed to complicated boards with dozens of buttons. Beyond the few new models that came out recently, we also moved around a few items and tried to balance out the list to have a better price spread, although we left the most expensive units to the special honors section, as most buyers won't have a need for a fair number of the features they offer.

In terms of specific changes, the Boss RC-500 was introduced as a newer version of the RC-30 with a simplified layout. It offers much of the same functionality, though the one element that seems to be missing that its predecessor offered is the ability to turn off loop sync independently of tempo sync, so if this was an important feature for you, the RC-30 may be the way to go. It also lacks built-in effects that many of its competitors offer, though you can always expect better sound from a separate effects pedal anyway. Pigtronix also introduced the Infinity 2, though it's getting less than stellar reviews, so we opted to leave it out and keep the original Pigtronix SPL Infinity instead.

We decided to remove the Boss RC-3, not because it is anything less than a great pedal, but because the Nux Loop Core offers nearly identical functionality at a fraction of the cost, and with it continuing to get positive reviews, we feel comfortable recommending it over the more established Boss brand. Instead, we added the Boss RC-1 as an alternative budget option. We think it's a great option for someone who wants to experiment a bit with their electric guitar but isn't ready to commit a lot of money. The simplicity of its design makes it appealing for beginners, but if you want something that can store multiple loops at once, the Electro-Harmonix 360 might be the better choice.

August 07, 2019:

In creating this ranking, we wanted to avoid any of the cheap loopers out there that might be able to provide you with the effect that you need, but can't boast the durability or signal cleanliness of the models we included. Electro-Harmonix bookends the selection, with their massive and utterly capable 22500 in the number one slot, and their Canyon Delay and Looper at number 10. That number 10 offering is actually pretty impressive if you're looking for a small pedal that can give you a taste of several different effects like looping, delay, reverb, and something the company calls shimmer.

Boss has its two most popular loop stations on the list, as well, with the RCs 3 and 30. There is an RC-300 on the market, but it's more of a comprehensive effects station that also has looping capabilities than anything else, and it belongs on a ranking of multi-effects processors more than it belongs here.

A couple of surprises were the Pigtronix Infinity (which may rightfully suffer from some musicians judging it by its ridiculous name) and the Digitech Trio Plus. In the case of the Digitech's ability to create tracks for drum and bass to back you up, the assumption was that these were going to sound rather canned — not unlike the drum effects on an old mid-90s Casio keyboard. But they proved rather impressive in their expressiveness, even if they still lacked the imperfections that make human players sound, well, human.