Boomerang Phrase Sampler

very easy to use, very easy to use, great manual

sounds great, no noise

very reliable, no problems

don't know

this is what i recommend, they sell a 4 meg and a 1 meg.
buy the 1 meg and put 4 meg of memory in it. you'll save big $$$.
i got my unit, which was a 1 meg, at a 1/2 off sale. then i put 4 meg in it. there aren't many products i keep for a long period, but this unit i will always keep. its just some nice to have. its a fun toy.
but, its pricy......... too pricy. so, look for a deal on a 1 meg unit.

Plug and play here. Can you tap your foot on the beat? If not, put your instrument down, and please don't pick it up again. Very easy to record,loop and stack. In fact, suprisingly so. The machine knows exactly what it was created for and does it exceedingly well. The most difficult part is the setup. There is a switch in the back with 3 different sensitivity settings Line, Inst, and Mic. from least to most sensitive respectively. Then there is a trim knob which adjusts (fine tunes) the sensitivity within each setting. You must figure out how to get the most sound and the least hiss without breaking up a good clean signal. This can be a little tricky when you factor in a strat a paul and a boost pedal. The boomerang will play back at the same volume as your guitar if the volume roller is set on halfway. That's where I keep it because during a gig, you don't want to lay down chords and then have the volume drop as soon as you complete the loop. My strat is has beatiful tone but no volume, so I need a boost pedal to help cut through the chords. Problem is it lights up the clip led quite a bit. I tried adjusting and readjusting but finaly just gave up. Now I just dial in the best sound and if the clip lights up, well, so be it, the sound is still clean. With the paul all I have to do is cut the vol on the guitar, lay the chords, then turn it back up for a solo. Easy as pie.

I play both a Korean Squire, and an Epiphone (Korean) Les Paul. My signal for both is dry right now. It goes Strat> Marshall bluesbreakerII> Boomerang> Fender Bx-100 bass amp> Crate Gx15. Kinda strange I know, but I can play loud and clean with the strat and get all the bass I want without breaking up at all. The Crate adds the highs. The result (if mixed tastefully) is big booming honey tone that can only come from a strat in the out of phase switch positions. This setup is fine for the strat, but the signal from the paul is hotter than hell. It's very hard to control through a base amp and the base is overpowering (go figure). I have to cut it down to nothing just to make it sound halfway decent. For this reason I usually just jack into the Gx15 for practice, unless I'm getting ready for a gig and need *live* sound. The sound from the boomerang is good. It's fine for guitar. I notice only a slight difference from guitar to recorded sound. I haven't recorded on half speed yet, haven't needed to. (2min is a hell of alot of room to play if your just looping chords and rythms, I haven't needed to venture into the four minute zone yet so I can't really comment on sound quality there) Keep in mind I'm not a tube man I'm only as picky as my wallet will allow. It sounds great. If you want to bitch about sonic timbre and the fine subtleties of tone, go spend $3000 on a keyboard rig or some other such device. The Rang is excellent equipment, certainly capable of live performance, that is exactly what it is designed for, and the contols are almost intuitive. when it comes to practice and self instruction, this thing is positively outstanding.

I just got it. It's not broken yet... Seems to be pretty solid. At $400 a pop I'll just as soon not test that assumption. Keep in mind this thing is produced by a small company which only makes one product. They have a vested intrest in making sure it's a good one. No mass produced cheap plastic crap churned out by a huge corporation that make so many things it doesn't care if some of them are crap. I would gig without backup (assuming I had I choice).

Excellent! Have had communication with the man himself. Awesome.

Do you think you have what it takes to become an oustanding musician? Are you willing to bet $400 that you do? The Boomerang is as indespensable to a serious guitarist as the instrument itself. It throws the doors wide open on the exploration of harmony. With the Rang in tow, there are no more excuses, no limitations. It will bring you face to face with your own abilities, and ,if you have what it takes, it will challange and enable you to become the best you can be. You'll be free to develop YOUR OWN SOUND free from other creative infuences and limitations. But if you lack the ambition and the will to succeed, then you've wasted $400. Of course, if you're some rich bastard that can spend that kind of money just to noodle around on the weekends, then have at it. It's a great machine. If you don't like it, it's not the Rang's fault, you suck. I'm 22 and I've been playing for 8 yrs. About a year ago I decided that it was time to get serious. I studied music in a big way, did my homework and learned my scales. Now it's time to learn how to use them well. I've never had a lesson in my life and don't sound like anybody else. I'm pioneering my own sound and am both teacher and student simultaneously. This is the HARD SLOW way to learn. But for me, it's the right way. It takes huge effort, but we wouldn't have guitarist like Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Allan Holdworth, Loe Kottke, Eric Johnson and others, if they weren't willing to bust thier ass creating and perfecting a new sound. If you are like me, then the rang is a must have. I give it a 9 cause it's not cheap, but it IS worth every penny! Consider it an investment in your future.

very straight forward, similar to my jaman with a few added xtras. cool volume knob, the trim was kind of unstrategically placed though.

this is where I really found my self dissatisfied with this machine. I was processing a guitar thru an mpx 1 into the boomerang into a mackie 1402 monitoring via akg 240 df headphones. the first thing that stood out to me was how much noise was produced by it at its own unity gain. the sample was kind of hazy and had an air of dirt to it as well. one thing that really bothered me was every time I went to punch in a sound it left a tell tale 'click' imprinted on the loop. this is not something Ive grown accustomed to with the jaman, which leaves no click and records solid and clear (although its sampling rate is less than that of the boomerang.) the diminishing layer effect was also a creative bummer.

built like a tank. it SEEMS reliable

punk rock looping machine.

it's fairly simple to use. i'm not exactly fond of the tap-dancing that's necessary to make it happen, but this is something i was already apprised of. another slight problem in its use is trying to get the timing right. but i realize this might be because i have the timing of an ox. nevertheless, once you get beyond these 2 problems, the boomerang's pretty straightfoward, and the manual is pretty good and helpful.

does a very good job of recreating guitar loops. however, i've noticed a phasing sound when parts get repeatedly layered. but so what- it's almost cool, if you ask me. i run it through the effects loop of my boogie dual rec.

i confess i have some slight reservations about the pedal's reliability. i discovered that the "trim" knob in the back has mysteriously become bent. i'm hoping that this doesn't lead to further damage, but i definitely pay more attention to it that i'd probably like to.

aside from the problems i've raised, i still think it's a fun pedal and a great idea. i use it to loop back certain riffs or melodies, and then reverse them for the bonus effect. although i have problems trying to stay in time when i record the loops, the out-of-timeness can make a riff sound even more interesting. and with the reverse function, i lose ALL sense of time and let a riff stick out like a sore thumb (i realize i may be making myself sound less and less like a musician with these admissions, but c'est la vie). i'm very glad i came across this pedal, and would have no problem recommending it to someone who needs a little adventure in their playing.

It's quite easy to get the hang of--most of it can be figured out just by looking at it, the rest with a quick read of the manual. Like others have said, the key to getting even loops (without "skipping" at the end of the phrase) is to tap the record/stop button ON the beat. Tap your foot along with the phrase you're playing, and hit both start and stop right on the beat. I found it quite simple, and was getting smooth transitions almost right away.

The ease of use is helped by the fact that nothing can be "edited" or stored--when you unplug it, your phrase is erased and everything resets to default. So all the controls are really real-time. And there are no tone controls--so whatever sound comes out of it is what you get. The key is having a good input signal and playing around with the trim control & output level. Mess with the trim control and "clip" LED and you can get a good level fairly quickly.

The output roller is a good space-saver, but inferior to an expression-pedal-style control. But it's good to have it as it removes the need for more knob-tweaking during performance.

I used this with bass (Music Man Sterling, Godin Acoustibass fretless), acoustic guitar & bouzouki, through a G-K amp, and into a multitrack. The sound is solid and clear, with a slightly muted top end.

One aspect of the unit which will either be handy or annoying (depending on your intent for the unit) is that each time you overdub a new layer onto the loop, the previous layer's volume is decreased slightly. This is to keep the sound clear (which is an issue with the reduced treble response), but it limits the amount of "stacking" that you can do before the original loop is erased. I would personally prefer having better high-frequency response and being able to stack as I see fit.

I didn't have any troubles with noise. No tone controls--it's a recorder and player only. Inputs and outputs are both mono.

It seems quite reliable--the body of the unit is sturdy metal, and the output roller has a rugged-looking textured rubber covering. The buttons are solid and easy to use, but are plastic--they should really be of metal, IMO, and this is the only weak link in the unit's construction. But they're the best-quality plastic buttons I've seen.

It's too expensive to have a backup! I would use it without fear of it breaking, though.

Overall this is a solid and effective tool. There's really not much else like it out there. The main issue for me is the PRICE. Over $400 for a mono phrase sampler with less than ideal high-frequency response seems excessive to me, especially since there's very little way to tweak existing loops and no way to save them.

I returned this and bought an Akai Headrush pedal--$270 less than the 'Rang, and you get terrific delay and tape-echo functions as well. It only samples 23 seconds (compared to the Boomerang's 2 minutes), but to me it was a much better value (with better sound quality too).

So if you're aware of what the Boomerang does and you want that, and you're willing to pay the price, you should enjoy it. It's a quality tool that's built to last, and it can certainly help you make music--either through loop-building or as a practice tool. And it has features like reverse playback and live reverse record/play that are pretty unique at this point.

This rating reflects the overall quality of the unit (an 8 or so) minus 2 for not being a good value.

Wow. really easy to use - everything is on the floor in front of u.

I go from an ESP M2 to a electro-harmonix big muff, ice man chorus, flange, tremelo, reverb, delay then the phrase sampler. I heard about this thing in a magazine and wanted one striaght away. Even with all my pedals in front of it, it makes an amazing sound. I absolutely LOVE this pedal.

Built like a tank. Very sturdy, hasn't ever given out on me in three years of continuous use.

I love this thing. It's like you've got a band full of guitar players with you. I have a hughes and kettner amp going to four cabs and it sounds so huge when everything is cranked. I heard the guy from Will Haven has/uses one, as does several other well known metal/noise players. For ANY experimental guitarist out there - GET THIS PEDAL!!!

This is one of the easiest pieces of equipment I have ever used. 5 minutes after I plugged it in, I had awesome loops going with no problem. Everything is foot controlled, which is essential if you're playing guitar. Buttons are very clear in what their function is and are easily manipulated.

My Boomerang is one of the last things in my chain. I have an old Peavey Predator, (and soon my own built guitar), going into an Ibanez TS9, andother TS9, a Ross Compressor, a Digitech xp100, the boomerang, a dod gate/loop pedal which runs a loop to a yamaha R100 reverb into a Peavey amp. Even with all the equipment in front of it, the Boomerang still sounds wonderful.

It is very rugged and built to last. It's body is hard steel which I'm not worried at all about damaging. The buttoins are hard plastic which I'm a little careful about but I'm just being cautious. I would definately gig without a backup. If I ever lost it or it was stolen I would die, come back to life, and get another one. It's that great.

I've never dealt with the company and never hope to unless it's concerning a new product.

I play lots of diferent music but mostly jam stuff like Phish, and I play some blues. It's a very cool tool to help you practice cause it'll play rhythm guitar for hours and never get tired! It's also cool for getting neat-sounding effects and loops. If you don't own one of these, get off your butt right now and get one. Boomerang has created a fantastic unit and I praise them to no end. It's the best investment you can make.

The Boomerang is really simple to use. I had everything down in just a few minutes after I got it home. It comes with a little users manual which can suggest a few things that you might find interesting.This unit has five buttons: record(play), play(stop), once, direction, and stack(speed). I bought the 1 Mbyte version which can sample a loop for 32 seconds at the high rate and a little more than a minute at the slow rate. A friend of mine was showing me what it could do at the music store and I knew I had to have one. It's the best investment I've ever made as far as a learning and practice tool. I've had it for a little over 2 years now and can honestly say I have learned more new techniques and discovered more licks just fooling around with this thing. I've been playing about 30 years but haven't been in a band for a long time. If you have to play by yourself a lot it gets kinda old after a while. But the boomerang allows you to lay down a loop of anything you like and will loop it while you practice as long as you want to. I've sat there and played leads over the same loop for an hour without realizing the time that's gone by. It's just too cool! I understand the new ones come only with 4 Mbytes which means a longer loop time but it'll cost a little more than mine did. I'm thinking about trading mine in for one of them.

I'm playing mine through a Fender DeVille 410 with an '85 LP Standard and a little import Squier tele I can't seem to part with. I usually put my multi-fx unit in front of it. This let's me layer on parts with various effects. The setting level on the back is a 3 position switch which I keep on the inst. setting the other two (mic & line) produce some hiss. These are my only gripes: the trim knob on the back which is similar to a clip adjustment, I guess, is too easy to turn. You usually have to readjust when you take out of the box or if you breathe on it, maybe. Also, since I've had it I've cracked two of the buttons. I'm usually sitting when I play so there's no undue pressure being applied here. Once it was the record button, next time it was the play button. They are plastic when they should be metal. What I did was open the unit up take super glue and glue up the crack. I also strengthened the spot with a piece of model car framework plastic which has held up great so far. But these are pretty minor things when you consider how this thing can improve your playing. If you are thinking of getting one take it from me, you won't regret it. If you've got one here's a neat little thing I like to do; lay down a rhythm part at half speed then hit the speed button and play it back at full speed. If your quick enough you can lay down a bass line with your E and A strings (sounds best done without a pick). Put it back on half speed and you've got a bass player in the mix! (sort of).

Well, like I said earlier, I've had a little trouble with the buttons. Those guys really ought to consider using metal buttons. If anybody else has had this prob drop me a line. I don't play with anybody right now so I don't know about gigging with it. The case is really heavy and well made, just don't stand on those buttons!

Never have talked to them so I don't know. I've heard they are really nice guys. So far I've done my own repairs on the buttons. Anybody can do it. They just pop out and pop back in.

I play whatever I'm in the mood for. Usually rock, sometimes country (chicken pickin' stuff). I also have a guild D4 and an LG1 Gibson. My other amp is a little Blues Junior that I like a lot. It just sings like a fat lady! If my boomerang were stolen I'd be mighty pissed. I would have to have another ASAP. When I play at home I NEVER plug in without it. My favorite feature is that I can practice and play what I want to anytime for as long as I feel like it. It never gets tired of playing backup. I haven't compared it to other samplers but you can't get any more simple and straightforward than this. It would be nice if I could store some of my favorite loops but when you unplug it everything is gone. I really haven't found much use for the direction or "once" buttons yet. Anyone out there that wants to learn to play better(and who doesn't) will want to check these out. They are LOADS of fun!

I had seen the ads in Guitar Player for this thing and was impressed by its seemingly logical and relatively simple layout. 5 SENSITIVE micro switches to control record/play, play/stop, once, direction, and stack/speed right on the unit itself. ( no racks with extra cables to make spagetti with ) Icing on the cake, a roller volume Knob built into the unit. It looked intriguing.
I tried one out at my local dealer. I took one home a week later. It works folks! I was cruising on this thing 5 minutes after I touched it. Mine is the upgraded model.( 2 minutes high, 4.5 low ) It will jump seamlessly from Record mode to Playback with no audio or timing artifacts. Holding down the Stack button enables layering. Reverse will pull your loop the other direction from the point you press the button. ( think about that ) You can stack parts while in reverse at high or low speed. ( think again ) The Once button will start your loop in forward or reverse for one-shot or staccato efx. The Roller Volume keeps the loop volume in control for soloing. It all works with little effort. The switches are fast and quiet and the unit is built like a brick. Three down sides. Big feet will accidently activate record mode, erasing wonderful loops in the process, while trying to manipulate the Volume Wheel. ( SENSITIVE switch, too close ) The Volume Wheel does not taper out to absolute silence, leaving phantom loops playing unless you stop them with a switch. ( or use a seperate volume pedal ) This is petty after all the great things this unit does...but... It would be cool to be able to switch speeds without stopping the unit. ( this probably requires a breach of physics ) I recently got a chance to use a JAMMAN and compare. The JAMMAN's switching system is much more difficult to use. The Boomerang has the ability to playback loops more like a sampler, on demand. The JAMMAN syncs to either a midi or internal clock ( which is precise ) and its loops, once started, continue to play in time to it. The only way start/stop a sample is to mute ( a four switch press operation ) and unmute in time to the clock. If you bypass a loop, it's gone. The JAMMAN will do multiple sample loops and sync to midi clock so it obviously has its place, but I passed on getting one in favor of another Boomerang.

I am using my Boomerang thru the effects loop of a Mesa Boogie DC-3. I have found the best results in signal to noise is to run the Boomer with the amp send mix on 100%, the Boomer on INST input level set to -5 to -10. I dont know why, but the line input level seems to introduce more noise. The Aux in and out also seem weak. I have tried hooking my Boss SP-202 sampler and my CD player thru the Aux's and have not been impressed. Once a good setup has been acheived, the unit sounds great. I won't say that it's got the clarity of the Lexicon JAMMAN. It has more of an analog vibe to it. Layering will eventually erode and replace previous material. I find this to be more useful than annoying. I also did not notice an undue amount of hiss added to layers even when holding STACK with no input. ( this fades the loop out of existence ) The DC-3 is a hiss factory at low volumes, but the Boomerang does not seem to be adding to this problem. I would be surprised not to see this box with David Torn, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp and Co. very soon.

Steel ala Mackie. A Tank. We'll see how the switches hold up. So far, so good.

This is a GREAT product. It does truly original things with uncommon grace. Since getting mine I have looped, reverse soloed, practiced, composed and been generally a better human. ( really ) The Lexicon JAMMAN has better clarity, but who cares about that if it's a pain to use. The Boomerang does everything it sets out to do with about the lowest learning curve out there. I look forward to their next model. ( hopefully with memory banks so I can store my loops )

The guys at Boomerang really did their homework on this! It is STILL the easiest to use looping device on the market- after nearly 5 years! I saw Mike demo one at the NAMM Show in L.A., and bought it! I then bought a second one, for another purpose. These are the best tools a guitarist can own besides an amp & guitar! Guitarists are an odd lot- they see their favorite guitarist play, and then go on an endless search for effects, amps, and guitars. The BEST IMPROVEMENT they could make in their sound is practice !!! Learn which notes are 'friendly' and which are 'not friendly' buy learning where to put your fingers! Don't bore your poor drummer and bass player friends while you try to get it together. The tracks you create are S E E M L E S S, and play over and over endlessly, with no 'pops' or gaps, like a CD looper.
Adding layer of your leads to the track is easy....hit 'STACK" The coolest....backwards "Hendrix-style" reverse leads.....played by you L I V E are a really cool use, and sound entirely authentic!

Great set-up example: From your CD player, cue-up the Allmond Brother's version of "Stormy Monday". Make a seemless sample of the complete intro right where the entire band starts the progression. The BOOMERANG will hold 120 seconds of material- almost as long as any entire song. Now- jam along to "Stormy" in the key of "G" for 2 hours..........press stop......go to the restroom...... pop-open a fresh beer......get comfortable again......press play! The Allmond Brothers have been patiently waiting for you to return. Play your leads in different scales....up the neck, down the neck...... keep playing the 'friendly' notes, and remember what you did. Take some chances- this is where you grow as a player! The band won't mind, and you have nobody to impress except yourself. This style works well with any blues song that has a progression that comes around- preferably with no singing or other lead playing. (You'll get sick of hearing the same words over & over again!) You can of course play your own chord progression into the Boomerang, but the entire band sounds best! There is NO LOSS of quality! People that have complained in other reviews are either putting a distorted signal into the unit, or are recording at 1/2 sample rate initially. Run it on normal speed, match your input and output levels, and enjoy it forever. Keep in mind- some people say the old 33 albums sound terrible, and some say that CDs sound terrible!! And some people can not operate simple electronic devices. I save the rating "10" for live performances.

As I mentioned earlier, I bought a 2nd BOOMERANG. I use it 24 hours a day............and it has been running for 3 years, and I have never had a problem with it. I made a musical cassette tape, and included a 30 second pitch on what our company does. I loaded it into the BOOMERANG.....the full 2+ minutes, and presto.......we have a tapeless "music-on-hold" custom message. It has never needed any tweaking!! This outgoing message is pleasant to listen to for our customers, and has paid for the Boomerang 1,000 times over! Want a back-up, in case of a power failure? Just re-load the cassette tape. Still want a back-up? Use a small UPS, like for your PC. They are very cheap these days. The Boomerang is just plain rugged- designed to last a lifetime!! Do not place it behind the wheels of your car- you may back over the unit.....but it would most likely still work. This is a piece of eqipement you can be proud to own. Cauton- DO NOT LOAN IT TO YOUR FRIENDS- even your closest pals. They will NOT want to return it without a fight! And most cheap smacks will never buy one anyway. Again, loaning not recommended.

The guys that run Boomerang are ultra-friendly, and should win an award for the BOOMERANG!! The word "GENIUS" comes quickly to mind!
No guitar or amp has EVER helped me sound as good as working with the Boomerang, and I have more than most. Remember- Stevie Ray sounded great with a Guild Thunderbird thru a Blackface Champ! I will always be grateful to Mike and his partner! Spend the $$$!

Here's the real deal- the BEST IMPROVEMENT IN YOUR TONE will NOT come from better equipment, amps, effects, guitars, etc.
Lessons from a great player whose style you want to emulate is really good..........but PRACTICING is the absolute best. And the best deal for ENJOYING PRACTICE is the Boomerang!! Before this, practice was a necessary DRAG. But jamming with other guys was great! But who wants to jam with you endlessly. while you try lick after lick???? The B O O M E R A N G !! Buy one, and you'll dig using it. You and your friends will see and hear vast improvments in your phasing, licks, speed, etc., etc!! Then they will want to borrow yours...........JUST SAY NO !!!