Straightforward and Fun

For 180€ in Europe this is certainly a looper on the expensive side, compare it to the RC30 by Boss (which is the same price) and Boss gives you just way more features. But some times less is more, and this was one of the cases. I went on a musicstore and tried the RC30... I really didn't like it, so many buttons and tweaking and crazy zapateado instructions of tap twice on right and tap once on left... Then I tried the clone looper, instant musicality. No doubt it appealed to me much more than the RC30, and it sounded way better also. It's a really clever no frills MXR design, because it has all the features (undo, redo, half/double speed, reverse, buffer/true-bypass, analog dry-through) and it only has a goddamn knob!

No more double taps to stop a loop!! I never imagined this would feel so right! It just instantly stops whenever you tap the right footswitch, and instantly restarts from the beginning once you tap again! Everything is just right on this pedal, it's small, it's simple and easy to operate, it has the most basic features and effects, and sounds great! I think MXR really nailed it right, I've had tiny complaints about other loopers I owned, but the Clone Looper I just can't find any flaw really.

But if I reaaaaally have to point something (very picky stuff...) this would be it: - It's machined out of aluminium I believe, it makes the pedal lighter, and although it is sturdy it's just not as war resistant as other mxr enclosures, such as the M134 Stereo Chorus for example... Easily collects dents if you drop something on it. - Volume knob is kinda small and low height. Just replace it with a bigger knob... Also the tapper on the knob is not as silky smooth as usual, it's like the M300 Reverb, rotating it you feel this grainy friction. - The press to reach reverse effect or silent erase takes a bit of a long time to engage, 1 and half second for reverse, and 4 seconds for silent erasing. Also it has a bit of a delay when engaging half/double speed. Anyway, via the External input you can engage any effect instantly.

It's assembled in China but feels solid and well made as any MXR product. I think it was a great idea having a dedicated start/stop footswitch and dedicated rec/dub. Everything just flows way better, I can stop my loop and launch it again instantly with no crazy zapateado. Effects work great, you can record a loop with speed set to double time for more resolution, and then you can do a double octave down which is crazy. Another thing I personally love is the silent delete of a loop, long press volume knob and when Rec/Dub starts to blink just hit it and your loop is deleted silently (great!). The fact it has True Bypass / Buffered option was another selling point for me since I'm running long cables through my fx loop. Analog Dry-Though and 88.2kHz of max resolution (when double speed is engaged, also shortening by half the max recording time to 3 min) proves MXR's commitment on putting out a great future proof looper that's simple, fun and reliable. Highly recommend!

*issues I had with other loopers: Double tapping the mini TC Ditto to stop it just on time requires a bit of effort/concentration that I disliked while playing, because you have to double press relatively quick. Of course you can press and hold once to stop it, but that also erase your loop. Not good if you want to restart it later - The Clone Looper just hit once to stop!;

With the Ditto X4 if I stoped all loops and then resumed their playing, undo function is not possible, it just erases the loop. - Clone Looper ALWAYS allows you to Undo or Redo, no matter what instructions you gave it before. It even does so after power cycling! Bravo MXR!;

Boss DD8 / EHX Canyon - Are great pedals and the looping capability is just a great feature for the money! But you can't have any delays while looping...

2020 EDIT: I noticed while playing quieter loops the unit is susceptible to capture noises/interferences, Including the press of the rec switch. Solved it by inserting small foam washer under the footswitch head, so the metal parts dont bang on each other when pressing

From Gear Setup

No brainer looping made easy

This is a great loop pedal! What really stands out is the double switches. No need to double tap the same switch and all that annoying perfect timing required. Tap record to start, and press play to stop recording. As simple as that. Then on top of this perfect and simple features, you can record another layer by tapping record again and so on. If you didn’t like the last layer, play switch will delete it, without deleting the rest. It’s marvellous really. I don’t really use the other features, like external tap, double speed/half speed or play in reverse, but just because my main goal is to practice rhythm, riffs and leads. It can be buffered or true bypass, and as it goes last in the signal chain, having it on buffered helps sending a strong signal to the amp. It’s not the cheapest looper, but it will only be expensive until you buy it. After that the money won’t matter anymore, just it’s value to your rig. Same as all the other awesome pedals out there.