“Its simplicity makes it a compelling, easy-to-use pedal – one that can inspire you to create new music in an organic way”: Sheeran Loopers Looper + review

There’s no bigger champion of looping right now than Ed Sheeran, with much of his live show built around an acoustic guitar and Ed’s voice – all sent, of course, through his custom-built Chewie II looper ’board. 

Ed’s well established in the signature guitar game, with his Sheeran By Lowden brand delivering high-quality instruments for over five years now. It’s a surprise, then, that we’ve had to wait as long as we have for a looper pedal bearing his name. The question is, was it worth the wait?

Upon first look, we’re in no doubt the Looper + (co-designed with multi-FX experts HeadRush) is intended for pros. It’s built like a tank! Unless your live show includes a speeding steam roller, no onstage mishap is ever likely to inflict major damage on the die-cast aluminium chassis and pedals. The rotary Function/Menu encoder inspires less confidence – but its position behind the left foot pedal keeps it safe from harm.

The biggest challenge with live looping is delivering well-timed takes, and you need confidence in the pedal response as you switch between dubs. We prefer the Looper +’s chunky foot pedals to push-button stomp switches, which are easily mis-hit in the heat of battle. The Looper + really performs well in this respect, and it ticks other useful boxes, too.

First, it runs from a 9 volt DC adapter, but it’s also battery powered – ideal for busking. The three inputs include two 1/4” instrument jacks and a combo XLR/1/4” input for a microphone.

USB connectivity allows software updates and file transfer with your PC or Mac and doubles as an audio interface, too. You can save up to 128 loops to internal storage and the 1.8” full-colour display is very clear, and doesn’t overwhelm the user with information.

You can run two independent tracks on the Looper + (eg, a verse and a chorus) in four different modes, layering up overdubs as you go. If you want to drop earlier takes out, well, you’ll need the Looper +’s big brother, the Looper X, for that, but that’s not really the point here because the feature set is relatively stripped back – and it’s all rather intuitive in use as a result.

Just a single-tap or tap-and-hold of each pedal will access most of the play, record, undo and clear-all functions you’ll need – and a double-tap switches between the two tracks.

Its simplicity makes the Looper + a compelling, easy-to-use pedal. One that can inspire you to create new music in an organic way – by jamming over your own ideas. And even if you never write or perform a song, it’s just great fun. Definitely worth the wait!

Specs

• PRICE: $/£299
• TYPE: Looper
• CONTROLS: Function/menu rotary encoder, instrument level, mic level, main output level, multi-function foot pedals
• SOCKETS: Mic input, instrument input x2, output x2, external footswitch, MIDI in, USB, DC power in
• POWER: 9v psu, included
• CONTACT: Sheeran Guitars