Jamming/looping pedals for my gf

SomeCluelessGuy

Hello, I'll start by saying I do not know lots about audio equipment I'm not so musically inclined but my girlfriend is a pretty talented guitar player and became really interested after seeing my musician and DJ buddies work with a looping pedal/drum machine. Since her birthday's coming up I thought it the perfect gift. She hasn't worked with foot pedals/loopers lots but I have no doubt she'll pick it up in no time. 

I've been looking at the following setup which will be used for jamming, recording loops for some song writing (not so much dedicated for recording full songs) and the option for live jamming (open mic nights) which is why I opted for the trio, so she doesn't need to mess around with software and can just play on the fly.

1) Digitech Trio - for bass and drum/jamming over, and to send the tracks to a looper. Jamming on the fly, not having to program/work tons on a laptop or rely on software

2) Digitech JamMan Solo XT - Looper, storing tracks/exporting them to a laptop

3) FS3X Foot Switch - To make transitions during jamming more fluent

Those 3 items will run me about $400 CAD so I'm looking at a budget around there.

A few questions:

- Do you see any issues with the above setup in terms of compatibility/other issues, or does it look like something decent for the purpose?

- I just want to double check the JMSXT will be able to recognize what's being played on the Trio and loop it to allow for further layers

- Do you recommend a different setup? If so what?

-  It seems like I could get an all-in-one looper/drum machine type thing like the Trio+ but I feel like this setup allows for more overall options, as well as upgrade-ability from the Trio if that's what she wants in the future.

Like I said, I'm no musician besides singing so I came to the experts to make sure I don't spend that money on the wrong equipment. I found a similar setup in a youtube video although he's using the Ditto Looper, whereas I decided the JMSXT seemed a bit more useful/versatile. 

Thanks in advance!

-SomeCluelessGuy looking to make his girlfriend happy

mrkb

Digitech trio PLUS integrates the trio with a looper so will save you money. Will also sync the start stop of loops, which I don't think separate items will, unless the jamman trio has jamsync which I don't think it does.

SomeCluelessGuy

mrkb said:

Digitech trio PLUS integrates the trio with a looper so will save you money. Will also sync the start stop of loops, which I don't think separate items will, unless the jamman trio has jamsync which I don't think it does.

It actually runs more expensive for the one Trio+ unit at $425 before shipping/tax and without the foot switch putting it above $500. I know the trio doesn't have JamSync so getting timing down can be a bit of a learning curve, but I also figured she could upgrade to something better than the Trio once accustomed to it whilst still keeping the JamMan SXT. I got the idea of the setup from this video:

Spoiler:

(If I'm not allowed to post that I apologize and will edit) although I opted for the bit more expensive JamMan as it has the option to save loops.

*EDIT* I actually found the Trio+ for about $350 taxes and shipping in, so maybe thats the route I'll go with the Trio+ and FS3X footswitch, The downside here is the Trio+ does not store/save loops, which was one of the reasons I wanted to go with a seperate looper like the JMSXT.

neilg

*EDIT* I actually found the Trio+ for about $350 taxes and shipping in, so maybe thats the route I'll go with the Trio+ and FS3X footswitch, The downside here is the Trio+ does not store/save loops, which was one of the reasons I wanted to go with a seperate looper like the JMSXT.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you because mine does save what I've been doing from one session to the next, it's even got an sd card.

Legionreturns

The Trio+ has a memory card in it which can save 12 different songs, each with up to 5 different parts. You can then tell it to sequence the parts e.g. Intro/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chous/Outro.  It will also send the drums and bass out via a separate output to a second amp / pa so you get to keep the main amp for guitar. Honestly, it's brilliant. 

mrkb

You really do need to sync the loops with the backing- if you are even 0.1sec short in the guitar loop, that will accumulate to 1 second by the time the drums loop has done 10 repeats. Get the trio +

Legionreturns

Also, with the trio+, because of the sequencer you wouldn't need a separate footswitch. It'll do all that for you.