DigiTech JamMan

For a looper with a few more options it's fairly easy to use.
For two or three things I needed the manual. That's reasonable.

I use it with a roland cm30 (cube monitor).
I use it with a vioin when I'm trying to compose, and I use a guitar and a microphone when I'm teaching music in classrooms. I can record singing children and hear the result instantly.
apart from singing and playing instruments you can record all kinds of things: younger pupils like to record noises and create a house full of ghosts, a beach, a jungle or whatever.
the sound is good enough for all these things.

when you use it at several schools and it's still working after three years, it's reliable.
however, sometimes it does strange things (I too had the 'skipping loop' problem).

it's perfect for what I do with it: straightforward looping.
the undo/redo function is absolutely nessecary in a class room,
also when you compose crappy things from time to time.
and it's great to have an xlr-input.

I really have become a loop-lover so tomorrow I'm going to buy the boss rc50.
the possibility of playing a song that consists of three different loops is very appealing.
most songs have some sort of verse and chorus and a bridge, so being able to play that live would be nice.

the jamman will still be used in the classroom.

maybe this unit was defective from the get go, I had a hard time getting the ins and outs where I wanted them....but this was my first looper so I didn't have anything to compare it with. When it was working it was a blast and I am going to look for a better one to use in my act....something I can depend on...

using a new crate mixer for mics and into the aux input with out going into a BOSE LT-1 I was getting some pretty bad distortion...before I could sort out the problem it quit working all together ....see below

it works and then it dosen't...6 months old...extremely frustrating...just played a gig in front of about 1000 people and it quit on me in the middle of my set,,,aaargh! can't find any trouble shooting info either so I guess it's going in the trash...it was fun while it lasted.

I found this pedal pretty easy to use. I found the more relaxed you are with it and the more you trust it the better it performs.

I spent a couple of nights a week for two months in a rehearsal room playing around with it and eventually i actually started to compose songs based around it. Ultimately the opening and closing songs in my set which I took on tour around Europe were based purely around compositions I had created on the Jamman in rehearsal and I just used it sporadically in between (for some percussion or to have a long droney bass note).

I put a Casio MT70 old skool synth through it to lay down a live drum beat then added bass guitars and loads of stuff. It is tremendous fun and when you pull it off live it is an absolute treat. But you obviously only get one go so practise like hell before you take it out in public.

The sound quality is fine. If you play around with it in advance of performing live with it you get to know what it can and can't do and what it's strengths and weaknesses are. Then play to the strengths of it.

Once you work out the levels for all your equipment that is to go through it the possibilities are endless and i often found myself getting completely lost in it. In a good way.

Hmm. I bought mine from ebay. It worked fine for a while but then i did have a couple of problems with the rec and stop buttons stopping working.

Thankfully a girl I work with was confident enough to open it up, find the problem and perform some DIY repairs that worked a treat. For a while, then I had to open it up again and perform some similar repairs after which it worked great - until I had it stolen a couple of weeks back :-(

Basically we fixed it with a pair of scissors and a standard pencil eraser. the button wasn't clicking on and off so we added a bit of rubber to bridge the gap.

It was second hand and that is the risk you run I guess. Am going to buy a replacement next month and hopefully first hand I will have less problems.

It is a charming pedal. Get to know it really well before you take it out live.

Before I got this I spent some time on YouTube watching videos of people using it - it appeared very straight forward there, and after reading the manual which is online available at the DigiTech website, I had no concerns regarding the ease of use. If you have problems playing along with a metronome or any timing issues, you may have a hard time getting a clean loop. Apart from this, there are no problems to be expected when using the basic features of this product.

The hard time starts when you take the Jam Man onto stage. Without the optional footswitch it is not possible to change over from one prerecorded loop to another, so you are pretty much stuck with one. No drama as you can still ape around on that one until wisdom come, but the crowd will get bored if your performance consists of jams based on a single groove template. Might work once or twice during a show, but that's about it.

But even with the optional footswitch you will not be able to, lets say, start with a verse part, then move on to a NON PRE-RECORDED bridge and/or chorus as the device is unable to store any data while playing a loop - so once you have moved on to a next patch, all unstored stuff from the previous groove will be lost. Baaaaaa. So the footswitch in my opinion is only useful if you use the Jam Man as a "Band-in-a-box", a backing band with (how I use it) a 12-string and acoustic bass. I use the switch to go from song to song, nothing else.

Another thing that makes me almost sure that the Jam Man had never been intended for live use is the fact that both the microphone and the guitar signal get mixed down to the guitar signal, so while there are seperate inputs for mic and guitar, there is only ONE mono (!) out for both together. Now I thought I was wise and split the mic signal before the Jam Man, sending one line directly to the stagebox while the other went through the Jam Man - bad idea, as the microphone input of the Jam Man can not me muted when not recording, meaning that the vocals now eere arriving both via the voc channel AND the guitar channel. The ONLY way around is to have a seperate mic with a switch (!) connected to the Jam Man and to turn it on ONLY when you want to send a signal to the Jam Man.

Next: there is no reverb/delay option for the mic input, forcing you to use the same effect for both the guitar and the microphone. I therefore have a Digi Verb pedal between the mic and the Jam Man.

Last, the entire thing is MONO, so whatever stereo fx you might be using on the guitar will get mixed down to mono.

More on this and other thoughts below.

I am using quite expensive gear and would not tolerate anything down the lane to the mixer to have a negative effect on the sound. What I found out was that if you set the input levels correctly and unless you use more than 8-9 overdubs you will get very little negative impact on your sound. The included drum sounds are not very convincing, but then again, these are only meant to be used as a metronome, so why bother.

On stage things are a bit more tricky though: while there are no problems when using ONE guitar and ONE percussion instrument, as soon as you change gear (e.g. grab a bass guitar to lay down a bass line onto a loop) it will become neccessary to re-adjust the input level of that instrument, otherwise it will be either too loud or too soft on the loop. It might be easier to crank up the input of the Jam Man and adjust the instruments output instead (can be done before the show).

When using various percussion instruments via the microphone you must keep in mind that they too have various volume levels, so keeping the correct distance to the microphone becomes very important in terms of matching volumes in the mix. I use my own in-ear monitoring system which helps a lot to get the volumes right.

You definitely have to spend some time with the Jam Man under live conditions (rehearsal room) before you can take it on stage.

One reads occasionally that the Jam Man sometimes tends to "stumble" while playing a loop. I had this occur once so far in the very beginning. I have read than users had their devices sent in for repair, and when it returned it still had the same flaw - but as I said, there are only a few such incidents reported on the web, and I didn't have this happen ever since.

The unit looks and feels very sturdy and weights as much as a brick.

Never had to deal with them, however the official German DigiTech board is very well organized and issues seem to be looked into very quickly and friendly by the staff.

What I liked A LOT about DigiTech was the fact that my unit came with a 1GB DigiTech Memory Card instead of the standard 128MB. All other companies I know still ship their products with poopy 128MB or 512MB cards. Thumbs up!

I play acoustic rock (when using the Jam Man), and the Jam Man is mostly used as a backing band for another guitar and a bass. I record the tracks using Cubase and send them to the Jam Man via USB. The reason why I use Cubase is because it offers a better control over the volume levels.

The Jam Man is great for practicing as it offers speed changes without pitch change, and it helps big deal in tweaking riffs and difficult lines. If you have the optional footswitch, you can also check out a certain chorus with various bridge versions etc. Much easier to set up than a multitracker, but then again also very limited (why no headphone jack? why no bpm readout for the metronome? arrrgh!).

Live on stage it *can* be a real weapon, but as with every weapon you should really, really know what you are doing. Practice every little thing you intend to do - the art is to let things *look* improvised. This box bears a lot of slings and arrows, it can embaress you in no time but also let you shine like the star you are. Learn how to use it and adapt your show to overcome it's little flaws.

You have to understand how this thing works. That's the secret. I've heard about problems with reliability and I can't comment on that but some of the problems come down to the sequence of operation. If you want to start from the beginning by playing directly into it then when you lay down the first track, you need to tap out the tempo and make sure that the tempo beat is audible. From there, when you step on the record pedal, you need to wait one bar before starting. It makes sense but it is not obvious. When you overdub, you have your original rhythm guide. Here is a typical exercise.

. Turn up the tempo metronome volume.
. Choose a new track.
. Tap the tempo with the stop/tempo pedal.
. Press the record pedal and wait a bar of tempo beats.
. Record your masterpiece.
. Stop pedal to stop.
. Undo is press and hold the stop pedal.
. To overdub, press the start button then when your loop comes around again, press the start pedal again (there are other ways too).

As far as loading wav files via the PC is concerned, you must copy one of the .xml files into the same folder as that which you want to transfer to. Secondly, in order for the wav to synchronize properly, you need to open it up and edit the tempo value. Yhe way to do this is simple and requires a simple use of a calculator but a superb dewcription of how to do this is found at the following web address: http://www_dot_normbowler_dot_com/jamman/. No, I don't know the guy. Thirdly, you must convert any stereo wav files to mono or you'll have problems. Use a freeware program to do this.

Well, here's another thing. 44.1kHz...fine if you allow a little headroom. You see, if you are maxing out all the time then you will meet some distortion. The manual says that you should just let the input peak LED flicker occasionally when you are recording. I disagree. I believe that you should just turn the volume down enough that you barely DON'T clip at max strumming power. Maybe others have had faulty gear but thankfully, I haven't. I'm actually really happy with the sound.

Here's one I can't answer yet. All works fine so far.

Can't comment, as it ain't broke. Here's a hint though. Buy a Laney amp. Their quality of customer care is 10/10. I had a problem with the FX loop and also (seperately) whinged about my reverb being too quiet. They fixed the FX loop problem and as a personal touch, changed the balance on the reverb. Fair play (I appreciate their work).

So far, I'd buy it again if it was stolen. It's a nice bit of kit. One thing I like is that it doesn't have amp modelling to mess you about. Also, in a parallel FX loop, it doesn't seem to suffer from phase cancellation. It's solidly built too. My gripe is that it doesn't have an On/Off switch.

I bought a Digitech 'JamMan' looper/phrase sampler after selling an Epiphone Les Paul Custom about 15 months ago. As far as using it, recording loops and over dubbing new tracks onto the original was fairly easy. the manual is pretty clear, and explains what all the buttons do. I did find that quite a few had several functions, which made it difficult to memorise without having to refer to the manual. This thing didn't work long enough for me to really explore its settings.

Originally, I was using a Washburn w-166 pro through a boss ME-50 effects processor, into the Jamman, and output to my VOX AD30-VT amp. "Is it noisy?" it's the opposite, after just over a year there's no sound whatsoever coming out of it!

Ahh, this is the catagory I was waiting for!!! I bought this thing just over a year ago on an impulse buy. I'm just learning how to play guitar and couldn't really get much out of this product so it went into the cubbard ready for a time when I could actually play and make use of it. I'd say in total I've used this maybe 10 times in all.

I can play a little now so I thought I'd have another go with it, only to find when I got it all setup there's no output coming from it. If I turned the loop level right up full and my amp right up I could just make out the saved loops, that was when I first tried it... now it's dead completely! I got in touch with Digitech by email explaining it was just out of warranty, they give me an address and number for the UK which turned out to be a probation service!!

This thing cost me ??250 just over a year ago, Ive hardly used it and now all it's good for is the bin! I'm finished with anything Digitech, I'll never buy another thing made by them.

As stated above.. dunno about if it had still been within the warranty period, but now... I tried to get it repaired by taking it back to my local dealer, he had no luck with contacting Digitech either. An address I was given by Digitech for their UK distribution turned out to be a Probation Service! all I can assume here is the firm has changed address and telephone number, or shut down.

I play moslty classic rock/blues, and have been playing for a couple of years. I've changed my gear more times than I can remember. At the minute I own a new Michael Kelly Patriot Premium with EMG's (its the guitar I'll be burried with!), a no name plywood Les Paul look alike with a bolt on neck!, and a no name Parlour acoustic. a VOX AD30VT amp, Boss ME-50 floor effects, just bought a Boss BR-600 8 track recording studio and I also own a VOX 'JamVox' guitar/computer interface.

I would pay someone to steal it! and put the insurance money towards a Boss GT-10. I love nothing about it and hate everything. (Q: "Does it help you make music"?) pah yeah right... "Anything else you'd like to share?" yeah DON'T BUY ONE, IT'LL BREAK JUST OUT OF WARRANTY!!! there are far better products out there for recording/looping, I can't see me ever recomending anything made by Digitech based on my experiences with this product.

Loopers aren't nearly as straight forward as other pedals but this is easy enough once you figure out the process. The LCD display is something the Boss RC-20XL doesn't have but I wish it did.

This was the first looper I bought (I ended up returning it for a Boss RC-20XL) and I wasn't very excited about the sound quality. I know it has 44.1 kHz sampling but the playback from the JamMan just sounds lifeless to me. On top of that, I also had a lot of trouble matching the beginning and end of a loop - a problem I haven't really had with the Boss looper. And unlike the Boss looper, the JamMan doesn't seem to have a "fade out" stop mode - just "stop when I press stop" and "stop at the end of the loop". I have two more gripes about this pedal but I'll get to those later.

I didn't keep around long enough to find out. When you register your pedal, DigiTech extends your warranty to 5 years. I assume you could rely on it.

Never dealt with them.

In addition to my sound quality concerns, I was also disappointed with the actual build quality of the looper. Maybe mine was a fluke but the blue paint job was inconsistent and the pots had a lot of "dead space" in them. You had to turn the loop level up to 3 or 4 before the audio actually started to come in. And that problem wasn't just with the loop level knob, it was with all of them.

My final gripe is the XLR input. When I first bought this pedal, I thought that was a nice feature but now that I have had a chance to fool around with loopers more, I prefer having a second 1/4" phono input. That way, you can connect more than one instrument at once. Bass or keyboard anyone? If I ever want to use an XLR mic, I'll connect mic->mixer->looper. If you have an XLR mic, you probably own a mixer or some sort of converter.

On a positive note, I do like that the JamMan is expandable and comes with 24 minutes worth of memory. I also think the rhythms might be a little better than the ones built into the Boss loopers and I think the time signatures are more flexible too. Too bad those were the only redeeming factors for me. I had high hopes for this pedal.

I own both the JM and the Boss RC20XL. Interface design is very similar. 90% of what you want to do can be done with the 2 footswitches which control loop start/stop, tempo set, play/overdub, undo, and erase. I also have the optional footswitch for the JM which lets me change loop numbers with my feet.

I give it a 9 instead of a 10 becasue loopign can get complicated and you need to read the manual to use all the advanced features. But ease of use overall is great.

It also has a missing feature -- the Boss pedal has an auto fadeout which the JM lacks and I miss.

Sound quality is excellent. The JM samples at 44.1kHz, which is CD quality. it has a low impedance (XLR) mic input in addition to the instrument input, so you can do high quality vocal looping.

I gave it a 9 instead of 10 because it is mono, not stereo. Stereo would be perfect!

Metal case, built like a tank. I have had zero problems.

Digitech offers excellent customer support through their website. http://www.digitech.com/products/JamMan/JamMan.htm

I love the JM and recommend it highly. Check out my web article on advasnced looping techniques using the JM. Includes explanation of some of the mysterious settings in the LOOP.XML file.

http://www.normbowler.com/jamman/

10 This unit is very easy too use. I agree with other reviewers that what you put in is basically what comes out. I have the optional pedal which allows you to scroll up and down between loops. You can also press another loop before the loop that is playing ends and that loop will play when the first loop finishes.

I had the Boss RC20 and I compared it with this unit when I first got it. I thought that the loops were alot clearer on the digitech. I also found the pedal easier to get a more accurate loop. If you find that the unit is changing your sound then you may want to look at how you have it wired up. If you set the levels correctly you will get the same sound you put in. I use this with electrics and acoustics, vocal mics and electronic keyboards. It is a great way to do backing tracks with a keyboard. For a mono unit your loops remain amazingly clear dispite several overdubs. I recently did a show where all the backup tracks were on the looper. It was in a church. It worked great. Another use for this unit is transfering old records to your computer. Handy

So far so good. I have the 2 gb card and that opens up alot of possibities.

I am a music educator as well as a gigging musician. This unit is a must have tool for a music teacher or for any musician. There is nothing like having the ability to instantly hear yourself. A great learning tool.

Once you start and get comfortable with this product it can be invalueable

I have had problems with two units, both same problem. In the middle of practicing I will lose my guitar input. I can play with the amp for months and never have a problem and then when I start using my Jam Man more frequent the input from my guitar will be lost while the background loop will continue playing.It doesn't happen all the time just enough to piss you off.

The company doesn't really see your product they send it to a contractor to fix it

I wish I could do something about it, I payed $300 and I just want it to work like its supposed to.

Easy to use, The boss is better though.

Does not change sound at all.

I have had this thing for 2 years and it has broken twice to the point of having to send it back for repair.

It's ok but it will cost you to get the unit fixed.

I bought the Boss and the digitech at the same time because I wanted one for bass and one for guitar and coulden't make up my mind. I was intruiged by the lexicon techmology in the digitech but Boss is a way better pedal in general. Now I really wish I would have got 2 boss pedals. Do not buy this hunk of crap.

After a few minutes I was up and running with the jamman and had no issues. Pretty simple.

Manual is very clear.

The one thing I have seen others say is "It changes your tone"......
I dont see were they are getting this from....?
Everything that goes in comes out the same for me.

I am using this with a Yamaha 335 style set neck electric and a '68 fender champ as well as a USA big muff.

I havent really had an issue at all.
I had experianced the same issue someone said about the unit sounding like a record skipping....
That can come from the audio quantising function on the Jamman.
WHich can be bypassed.

I would go without a backup.

Never delt with them. so 5.

I give this unit high marks for the extra options and such.
I bought the $40 pedal an am happy I did it provides a few needed foot control options.

I only wish it had a MIDI sync jack of some kind for syncing to a drum machine.

I had a Boss RC-20XL and disliked it very much.

This thing is well worth the money and the time it takes to learn it.
Like all looper's it can be temperamental if your not patient with it.

Get one dang it!

this pedal is a little tricky. you definitely have to read the manual on this one.

I found that this pedal sucked my tone right out. I play a g&l LB-100 bass through a 70's Ampeg SVT and an Ampeg 810e cabinet. Through the jamman my tone is thinned-out and less distinct. I also notice a slight air hum coming throught the jamman. Maybe this pedal can reproduce guitar signals better than bass, but I haven't tryed. All the digitech material I've read said that this pedal is suitable for bass but I definitely would not use it for a performance. Like an earlier review said, this would be an excellent songwriting tool. Since tone doesn't really matter. It's really one of the most versatile pedals I've ever used, it just doesn't reproduce my tone very well.

I only had this pedal for about six months and never had any problems, but who knows shen it will break down.

never had to deal with DigiTech.

Like I said earlier, this pedal is an excellent songwriting tool. It's pretty user-friendly. But it's tone reproduction is less than ideal. It would be great for jamming in your bedroom, but not onstage.

It is pretty easy to use - I'd say it's got a learning curve of about an hour or two, if you have read the manual and are paying attention. My only real gripe so far is that, if you set the tempo and then record your first track, but mess it up, you have to erase it all and re-set the tempo again. Not a big deal, but it would be nice to be able to undo the first take too.

If you're planning on using this for live performances or recording, you really, REALLY need to go try this unit out. It will DEFINITELY change your tone (as in, I can roll the tone knob from one extreme to the other on my strat and hear no difference when I'm running through the JamMan). Some may be okay with this - most people will not notice, and it will really only affect the subtleties of your playing. If you're planning (as I was/am) on using this pedal simply for songwriting, then this really isn't a big deal - it helps you sketch out how you want your song to sound, and it's more portable than aa computer with an audio interface, and much more convenient. For this purpose, the pedal does quite well. But try it out, and listen for tone-suck.

Seems pretty sturdy. I've only have mine a few months now, but it's been perfect so far, and I see no cause for concern.

No idea.

I've been playing about 7 years on electric, and 10 years on acoustic. I play everything from shred to soft rock.
I run a strat through the GT8 with this pedal in the GT8's effects loop (works beautifully that way, I can pull the Looper in and out of my signal chain with the touch of one button, and when it's out of the chain, it won't affect my tone at all) into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

This can be a great unit, depending on what you want it for. I feel that three things could be added to make this pedal almost perfect.
1) A tempo input in bpm. It would make it so much more useful as a songwriting aid if I didn't have to use a metronome/my computer to determine what tempo my riffs are played at.
2) Stereo-freaking-inputs and outputs! I also use a boss GT8, which can create some really awesome stereo effects, and I lose it all when I run through the looper.
3) No more tone suck. But i've also tried the Boss LoopStation RC20XL (basically the exact same looper, but in red, with less storage space), and it sucks the tone just as bad, if not worse. If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably go A/B this JamMan with a LoopStation to see which one is clearest, and then buy that one.

Although it does have its weaknesses, the LoopStation can be an excellent songwriting aid, if that's what you're looking for. You will have SERIOUS trouble using it with a drummer, unless the drummer somehow has a metronome playing right next to his/her ear, due to the auto-quantize feature.

Basic operations are quite easy. But more sophisticated stuff, like changing the tempo of your loop without changing the pitch requires a bit of twinking through the manual, which is very clear by the way.

Sound is pristine, crystal clear. A human ear cannot tell the difference between the Jamman's playback, and the original sound that you record.
The only issue with the Jamman is the fact that it is a mono machine all the way through. It has an input for stereo devices (like your CD player, for example), but it converts everything to mono. This is a serious disadvantage, because you cannot use it as a sampler machine, in a band context. If it had stereo signal, you could send the sampler you want to add to your band to one channel of the mixer and to one side of your drummer's headphones, and the metronome to the other side. But because it is mono, if your drummer wants a metronome, the entire signal goes with it (and the crowd would have to hear an anoying tic tac along with the sound). No need here to talk about trying to add samplers to your band without a metronome for the drummer. It's a huge risk of screwing up. I know that boss top loop station, the RC50, has stereo output, but you would have to go to the 500 bucks territory.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS MACHINE.
i got it 3 hours ago. and you need to buy one if you're thinking about it.

sound is great, manual helps very much. i'm just excited about this and i felt like sharing that with the world

sound quality is very clear - there is not much noise at all. by that, i mean when i loop and loop and loop things on top of other things, it still stays clear.

i've only had it for 3 hours.

3 hours.

it's wonderful.
go find $250 and buy it on ebay (i bought mine from samedaymusic.com BLEMISHED) or if you want new, drop the $300.

INVEST IN YOUR HAPPINESS.
INVEST IN YOUR MUSIC CAREER.

The JamMan is easy to use, although the minmum 3 seconds for a loop is a drag - I had a Boomerang and didn't have to deal with this. Getting started with this is fairly straightforward.

Sound quality is excellent, very quiet, no hiss.

I have had one major problem that I cannot solve that is driving me nuts. Creating and storing loops is easy and works great, backing up the the computer works great. However, when I begin stacking parts (overdubbing) on top of my loops sometimes the loop 'skips' like a record player with the needle caught in a groove. I can wipe the overdub but if I try to redo the overdub I run into the same problem. There is no rhyme or reason to this. I have tried two different CF cards (the one that came with it and a larger memory one that I bought) but the problem is repeating itself. Since it is so intermittent I cannot play it live, which is what I bought it for.

I have not dealt with support yet.

If I can solve the skipping problem then the JamMan is a dream, however, I usually don't like to spend a lot of time having to fix something when I can bu something else. My fiddle player friend has one and has never had a problem so I guess it depends on luck whether you get a good model or not. I'm not inclined to recommend it at this point.

Exceedingly easy to use. Records exactly what I put into it. It connects to the PC to download recordings in a WAV file. I convert it to Mp3 and send it out to my friends just to drive the crazy.
The wav files can be burned into a CD or recorded on my ipod by the PC of course. I'm an old nontechy guy and this is simple for me!

I've recorded nearly one hundred tunes so far with no issues. Some with up to nine overdubs! Where the hell was this thing in the 60's when I was learning to play? Well, I'm still learning to play...........

Good in, Good out. Bad in, Bad out. No noise, absolutely seamless overdubs.

I ahve had NO issues with hundreds of hours so far.

I called the company to ask about various sound inputs for the JamMan and talked to "Bill". He took several minutes to explain more about it's capabilities than I had asked about. Truly friendly and determined to make me understand things.

It is essential for the home guitarist (or other instrument) for practice, lay, recording, etc.
If it ever poops out, I'll send it in for repair and buy another one while I'm waiting.
Couple this thing to a Fender G-DEC amp and you can never exhaust your creative well.

I received this little beauty only 15 hours ago but have had no trouble grasping the basic functions after reading the manual which is concise and easy to follow. My only critism of the manual is that it it strictly "no frills". Compare this to the manuals for, say Tascam Portastudios, which are full of tips on alternate signal routing and other means of getting the most out of the machine.
First attempts resulted in less than seamless looping and I've learned the importance of setting up the tempo function and playing the first phrase right on the beat then stopping the recording just prior to the first beat of the next bar, to avoid a noticable gap before the loop repeats.

The loops are rendered in good quality audio without noticable loss of tone or added noise. Of course the tone will be coloured by effects further down the chain and your amp settings, which leads me to my number one item on the wishlist for this pedal - a seperate direct out (a foldback from the instrument in). Say you've recorded a clean rythm track and wish to play a blistering lead over the top of it (not overdubbing, just playing along).Well, it ain't gonna happen. The JamMans single mono out will combine your rhythm and lead and direct them to a single channel of you amp/mixer. Apart from selecting a diffent pickup for rhythm and lead or placing an effects pedal in front of the looper, you're stuck with the same tone for each part.
My setup is as follows:'89 PRS Custom/'75 Strat/'69 SG/current Flying V/'99 G&L legacy/'85 Charvel Model 4 --> Digitech Hendrix --> JamMan --> Boss GT-8 (as preamp)--> Marshall 9100 Monoblock power amp, Marshall cabs.
I can't place the Boss in front of the JamMan since it is acting as a stereo preamp for the Marshall.

I've owned the Digitech Hendrix pedal for over a year and never had the slightest problem with reliability. Like the Jimi, the JamMan is very solidly built and I don't anticipate any issues.
I rarely play outside of home so don't need a backup.

I've had no dealings with the company. Not eligible for warranty support here in Australia so I hope I never need them.

I play a fairly broad range of old school stuff - Hendrix, Santana, Steely Dan, Zeppelin, Kinks, Sabbath, Tull with the occasional tune from this millenium. So far I've only laid down a few backing tracks on the looper but will be trying it out with a synth for something as bit more avante garde.
I've been playing for 35+ years and own a 100W tranny Marshall from the 70s (good keyboard amp, less than ideal for guitar), A modded 50W Tube Marshall, some Systech pedals from the 70s (anyone remember them?),2 synths, 2 mixers, a hard-disk recorder and a 244 Portastudio which would work perfectly if I could find a rubber band that fits it.
Plus the gear mentioned above.
If lost or stolen I would replace it as I believe it's the best looper available at this price.
I love its ease of use although it needs the the optional footswitch for ideal operation. I got a bargain on the JamMan by importing it. To buy the footswitch (3 switches, a metal case and a cable) will cost me a third of what I paid for the looper, in this country.
I love it's compact, rugged build and the ease and speed of laying down backing tracks compared to using a recorder
There's nothing to hate about this unit, although there are extra features to wish for.

This rating says more about me that it does about the jamman. I am not good with buttons and knobs, I prefer menu driven stuff. But, for the price there is no way a gadget such as this could do that, or do it well. It is not too hard to get used to though. I am not sure I would find getting into the deeper uses of jamman that easy. The instruction manual is very well thought out though.

Great. I am a play at home only guitarist. I have been playing for a few years and my aim was simply to have something to help improve my practice. Now I can record my own little jams and lesson and noodle along to my heart's content. I use the following, relatively basic setup:

American standard strat -> seymour duncan pickup driver ->wah -> chandler tube driver/rat -> holy grail reverb -> jamman -> Laney LC15

I am no setup/tone snob. I think there is too much rubbish talked about tone these days. (I know guys who sound like the mutt's nuts with a ts-9 and giys who stink with ts-808's). However, I am not an all in one box multi-effect fan, which is what digitech are famous for. So I was sceptical about the jamman.I think that the jamman does a bloody good job of not tainting sound too much. That might be because I use a pickup booster. Whatever, diminution there is to the sound is nothing that you would not expect if you were jamming anyway.

I have not had it long so I can't say, but it feels like a tank. I am careful with gear anyway. So I will give it full marks on build quality alone.

Again not applicable. I have had no need to get in touch. Will give them the benefit of the doubt on the basis that their website is really helful.

I play (or try to play) along the lines of Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons and Santana. If it were stolen I would buy it again.

For once I really like the presets. They are great to practice with. It really helps me to make music, as I am not in a band I can now have the sense of being in a band.

All in all a great bit of kit. I would recommend it for any stay at home guitar player like myself. Two things that stand out for me, are the metronome/tempo facility and the separate volumes for loop, instrument and rythm, means I can go for it at low volumes.

I read ovner's manuel of this machine before buy.Not problem very very easy.

really good.not noisy.I tried my all guitars (yamaha sa2200, fender american strat,yamaha apx9na, cort lcs1) without effects.Sound quality enough for me.

I dont know.It's very new now.

I don't seen any good customer before.

I play fingerstyle jazz.This baby like medicine for me.composition and practise very easy.there is one problem,this machine is mono.WHY digitech?

All my friends and audiences agree - this is the best-sounding device I ever looped with. That's because I know how to use it easily.
I don't use a patch.
I don't read manuals, but this one has lots of fine graphics. My tech set it up before sound check and I was good to go.
My unit doesn't need upgrading

Yes! Ivor Stavinski, Bananarama, Jello Bifra, Beastie Boys (Pre Rubin), Kaki King, Air Supply, RockBitch. All these sounds can be faithfully reproduced on this little blue pup.
The Jimi Hendrix effect is weak.
I'm currently utilizing: Benedetto Venesia, A-4 Gibson mandolin repro., Squier Telecasters.
Noisy as f*ck. And I like it that way.
Weak effects if played through the laptop.
Using a Pignose Battery-Operated Amp., Mic'd for the larger arenas.

N/A
I have several. ALL TRAVEL WITH ME.

The nice man who answered the phone told me to press certain buttons, depending on which option I wanted. He was soo cool, sounded almost like a robot.
No upgrade, these little blue pups are going straight vintage!!!!

Excellent match for my styles; Christian Rock, Psychograss, Dub, Hip Hop, Electronica, Classical Baroque, Jazz, Death Metal, and Children's songs.
I've been playing since 1978. I own guitars, keyboards, and an oboe.
I wish the unit had an on-board PC.
This sucka' is seamless - never gets in the way.

To plug and play normal looping this thing is pretty intuitive. To use the more advanced features and move loops on board it takes a little bit of fiddling (not a lot, mind you). The sound is great! Absolutely transparent and the loops are seamless in tone. It would be nice to be able to adjust the loop and instrument volume a little easier with your feet (knobs are small and hard to manipulate cleanly with your feet). The miracle of this thing comes once you've laid down a loop and start playing over it. I can play the way I've always wanted to in my living room all by myself!

Great, clear, transparent sound. Faithful reproduction of loops. Everything I put in comes right back out.
- Quality LP clone into loopmaster 4 loop, Behringer eq, Sabine Fuzzstortion, ts9 (mod), ds-1, Fab distortion, Black Cat Moan Wah, Zoom G2, Digitech Delay, Ernie Ball volume, Jamman -- ABY'd into a Fender Ultimate Chorus, and portable PA.

Built like a well-built brick. Solid case, sturdy feeling dials, and great feel to the pedals (enough give for the sometimes necessary acrobatic tap, yet a solid feeling stomp with a clear feel at the switch point). I have, and would gig w/o backup. I don't see this thing breaking.

Not necessary yet.

I play rock, blues, classical, pop, a little of everything else mixed in. For blues and rock it is a great practice tool and a greater tool for the solo musician like myself to take solos and orchestrate good textures live. For classical hybrids it is great to lay down the counterpoint and build on it or input an accompaniment and play full solo pieces at a tap of a toe (yes your expression is quite limited when playing with a machine, even if you recorded the accomp., but it's pretty good anyway).
I've been playing for 14 years, am a classical bassist, play quite a few other instruments, and this is, by far, the coolest musical toy I own (yes it's a powerful tool, but only toys can be this fun). I would definatly buy another if broken or stolen.
I have a Akai Headrush which turned me on to loopers, and it is fantastic in its own niche (the best delay I've ever played, a great feature that Digitech should adopt that allows you to erase all overdubs and return to the first loop at a stomp) but the loop time is way too small (around 24 secs). The Jamman is great for lots of time for loops and upgradeable memory. The $300 price tag is a bargain and worthwhile investment.

Digitech Jamman. Ease of use - it dpends what you intend to use it for.
Sampling is at 44.1 16k CD quality. What goes in is what comes out.

Editing patches using just the Jamman is limited to tempo change. That is it. You can 'undo' a recording or overdub but actual editing - none to speak of.
Third party developers have already created a basic looper editing software program but it doesn't edit tempo within the Jamman, it just alters the metronome. Talking of the Jamman's internal metronome, it leaves a lot to be desired. It does have a flashing light, Red for on beat and green for the others and an audible, volume changable metronome with several different sounds to choose from. When it comes to actually use the metronome you will find it very limited. There is NO READOUT so you virtually guess what the tempo should be. You can tap a tempo in but this is very hit and miss. If you mess up a sample recording and need to do it again, deleting the flawed sample also deleted the tempo so you have to start all over again tapping in the tempo time after time until you think it's right. This is both time consuming and frustrating.
The user manual is adequate. I'll say no more on this subject.
Saving a sample to the internal card memory is a simple matter of pressing the 'store' button. Once stored, you can not accidentally lose your sample when using the foot pedals - the pressing of buttons is required. This is a good feature 'cause we all make mistakes and it would be hell to accidentally erase a sample on stage.

Despite that fact that I can suggest some additional functions, the unit appears to be steady, reliable and reasonably easy to use. It's a matter of getting used to it ansd working around the few limitations.

If I could have found a small sampler with a simple foot pedal trigger mechanism, that would hold 20 minutes or more of samples I would gone for that instead but there simply 'Ain't no such beast'

This unit is the same size as two stomp boxes stuck together. It's quite heavy and feels robust. It should be easy to carry around.
It comes with the mains adaptor and has no battery facility.
I believe the actual switch mechanism arte connected direct to a printed circuit board and this worries me. If one breaks, it may be cheaper to buy another than try to sort out a repair or replacement part. Fingers crossed on this and I hope I've been misinformed (but I don't think so)

The Digitech Jamman is meant to be a guitarists tool for creating and playing loops. With this in mind, the fact that the samples are mono only should not be a major problem, however it would have been nice to have a stereo option to increase the range of use.

Sampling is at 44.1 16k CD quality. What goes in is what comes out.
No perceptible noise added during recording. Once the tempo is sorted out, recording is fairly simple and will loop easily providing that you press the 'stop' pedal on the beat. The start (when you use the 'record' left footswitch) allows a brief 1,2,3,4 count-in before recording starts - this allows you time to stomp the switch then get ready. The record light comes on to show that it is in fact recording. You can have the metronome turned up or turned off, using the flashing tempo lights for recording
This unit carries no internal effects - think of it as a mono sampler in a pedal - that's it.

My intended use it as a pseudo second guitarist because I just could not find a suitable second guitar player for my band.
I will not be recording loops in live play, simply recording my own guitar parts before hand (one or two at most in a song) and triggering them via a seperate amplifier. The tricky bit is ensuring the track is in tempo with the sample without the drummer having to use an earpiece, but practise should make perfect on this. With this useage in mind, it would have been very nice to have an earpiece 'out' feed for the metronome so that, if needed, an earpiece could be used.

What amp or guitar I use has no relevance here - except to say that what you record into the Jamman is what comes out. If you record an overdriven sample, it's no good playing it back through an overdriven channel as it will be overdriven twice and sound like an old fuzz box. You need to record the samples in the sound you want to hear, then trigger them back through a clean amp. However if you are using it as a looper in a live situation, the sound you use on your amp is what will come back because you are plugged into your amp via the Jamman. In this situation, the Jamman is recording your guitar signal, not the amp signal.

Had it less than one week. No problems so far.
I will gig with it IF and WHEN I'm satisfied it will do the job intended. As for a back up - what, at this price? I don't think so....

I have so say that there appears to be nothing else around currently that performs this task. The datacard that comers with the Jamman will hold 24 minutes worth of CD sampling. This is certainly enough for my needs.
Sample editing can be done by connecting the card to a computer and importing the WAV files. The Jamman has a USB connection - this is one of the reaosns I chose this unit. Samples/loopes can be saved and edited in your PC so back up cards can be made too.

Never dealt with them. I have owned other Digitech products and had no problems. (Touch wood)

Style of music does not matter.
I've been playing for 36 years, part as a pro. Still spending too much of my hard earned cash on 'gear' Sigh!!!
If it does what I want it to do, it will be invaluable to me. If it doesn't I will sell it on - probably at a substantial loss, as with almost all technology gear.

Very easy to use. Take a glance at the manual and away you go.
Nice if there was some kind of simple loop editing here, like that available on the Roland sp 404.

Using this with an acoustic guitar going to a Fisman Loudbox. All sounds very sweet.

Only had it a couple of weeks. So far all OK. It weighs a ton and seems to be built like a tank.

Play all types of music and this box has been inspirering so far. Easy connection with the computer e.t.c.
I do, however, wish you could record in stereo, especially if you intend to use backing tracks of other instruments. Also I can't understand why there is no BPM read out when setting tempos. This makes things more difficult when trying to match tempos between memory locations. If you want to record a whole song using different locations for verse, chorus e.t.c make sure you copy the blank (no recording but tempo set)
patch to all the locations you want to record at before doing any playing.
Even with this slight annoyance this is still a good piece of gear and is great fun to use

The first one I received didn't work. Average rating here. I've seen better written manuals.

The first unit I received didn't work. Very good reproduction of what I layed down on the loops with the replacement unit.

The first one I received didn't work at all. What a disappointment waiting with anticipation for a week only to find out it didn't work. It wasn't an operator error either. I tried this unit at the music store for an hour and the demo worked. The second unit took 2 weeks to get to me. What's up with DigiTech's quality control? Will I purchase another Digitech product? I'll let you figure out the answer.This is my first experience with DigiTech. I've had Line 6 stuff for years and their quality is far superior. Line 6 manuals are excellent too.

It took 2 weeks to get a replacecment unit. You would think they would send another one quickly for the inconvenience.

I give a 5 rating because the 2nd unit works. So far...

Man, where do I start with this...well, THING you call a JamMan? It is not user friendly. Not that you can't ever master it, but it has some really bad design quirks. 1. If you happen to buy one that works correctly, I have had 3, you will see what I mean. It is very hard to obtain a correct, full loop effects unless you can hit the pedal at just the right beat. 2. The ones I had that worked only half the time, were hard to record and save tracks so you can overdub to them. 3. Editing is difficult at best. 4. The manual says one thing and the unit responds different. 5. The compact flash cards that come with this, this, this...beast, don't work half the time, so don't count on 'em. The reason I gave this.....thing.....a rating of 3 is because I purchased 3 of them and to this day, I have not purchased one that worked for over a week or two. This catagory is not worth a 3 but I am being nice. I am a 30 year veteran guitar player a I am fed up with sorry electronic equipment. What has happened to DigiTech, they use to produce very good equipment.

The sound quality, while the unit was working, sounds fantastic. It's CD quality recording and playback. I was very impressed with the low, mid and high frequency response of this unit. The JamMan seems to sound fantastic with most all electronic and acoustic instruments. I am a guitar player using a 1959 American Fender Stratocaster and a Ibanez Artstar semi-hollowbody (like Gibson ES-335's except better sounding), a 1965 Fender Blackface 50 watt Bassman Amp Head, a Peavey Classic 50 Amp Head, and a Mesa Boogie extension speaker cabinet with an ElectroVoice 12" speaker, A Boss DD-20 Giga Delay pedal, a DigiTech XDD DigiVerb Reverb pedal (which is a fantastic reverb pedal), and a Line 6 Pod for effects. I also use a Lexicon Digital reverb/delay pedal when playing clean. Honestly, I don't play other artists songs, I am a songwriter and like to play my own thing. And I only have two favorite artists and they are Terjie Rypdal. Man, what a fantastic guitarist, check him out, and Paul Motian.

You can not depend on it. Three strikes DigiTech, and your out in my book. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT TAKE THIS THING ON A GIG, period. I had 2 brand new ones, and during 2 recording sessions they both quit working. I took the 2nd one back to the music store and tried another one out at the store. I tried saving loops and sure enough, it quit recording after 3.5 minutes of recording and would never record past that point. The owner of the store was there and said he purchased on for himself, tried it on a gig and the memory locked up in it too. It's just a bad design and need some engineering revamping.

There is no customer support to amount to anything. I have emailed the company that handles the DigiTech JamMan and never got a response from them. They are worthless in my book. Give up and get something else or call Robert Fripp (aka: King Crimson), maybe he's got an old Fripp-a-tronics-looper-machine he will sell you real real cheap.

* I play mostly jazz, progressive rock, and my own mix of free style jazz and new age progressive music * I have been playing for 30 years * If I still had the JamMan, and it were stolen, I would be very glad that someone has the problem now * I hate everything about the JamMan except the sound quality, it is outstanding when the JamMan is actually working * I compaired other products and finally decided on a Boss RC-20XL Loop Station and it is easy to use, has never broken down, and the sound quality is recordable quality for use a background effects loops, but not for front effects where you would use it to replace a band member. But it sounds good and has not failed me yet.

Really quick and easy to understand. At the time I am writing this I will say that the online / downloadable manual is much more detailed then what comes in the box. If you need more info i'd download it.

Very easy to use. WAVs can be created on your PC with your favorite software and simply copied to this unit as if it were a usb ramdisk. No software required. Just a USB cable (not included)

I use this as a phrase sampler to play audio clips between songs and as intros to a live set. I have no need to loop instrument parts but ive tried it for fun and the sound quality is superb. I purchased the optional 3 button switch ($50) and you really really need this to make it useful. Otherwise you have to bend over and manually scroll through the samples and then press the start button with your foot to get it going. Easy to do but fairly unrealistic to be flexible in a live setting

Pick up a short 1/4" cable and a DI as well if you plan to run this direct to the PA as I do.

the unit itself seems very durable. Made with heavy grade aluminum.

It uses a seperate AC adaptor similar to a guitar pedal adaptor (included) so if you play live gigs on a regular basis I could see the AC adaptor cable eventually wearing out easily and shorting out unless you have it mounted to a permanent pedal board.

digitech only makes high quality gear from my experience. This item does what it advertises t odo easily and even better then I expected. In a world with so much junk glutting the market this is a superior product and I expect it to hold its value and stick around for a long time.

I'd buy it again if it was stolen. I did a lot of research after my last sampler was stolen and this thing is best at what it does so far. The ability to store vast amounts of loops on the included card and huge expandibility is great. The ability to dump WAVs from my PC is fantastic. Sound quality is excellent

I just acquired the jamman and so far it seems to be pretty easy to use. I've used a boomerang for years and while the jamman is not as simple and straight forward as the 'rang, it is still fairly intuitive. The manuel spells everything out clearly and the device itself has instructions printed on the bottom of it. I'm not a rocket scientist or a computer geek but I had no problems using the jamman right away.

As I said earlier, I've used the 'rang for some years now and have had to deal with the 'rangs predisposition to being noisy. The jamman on the other hand produces very high quality loops (16bit). It doesn't seem (at least at the time of my writing this review)to be predisposed to being finiky (ie.-noisy).

Ah yes. Well, it seems to be sturdy; but only time and lots of live playing with it under varying conditions will tell. If it does crap out, I've still got my 'rang as a back up. One of the things that experience has taught me is that no matter how good a piece of gear is, it will break down at some point and probably at a bad time. Always have a back up...

I don't know yet...and hopefully I won't need to find out very soon.

I've been playing for 36 years. I play for a living and depend on my equipment. The lions share of my work over the past several years has been corporate gigs as a solo guitarist playing fingerstyle arrangments of jazz, pop and classical tunes. I use a phrase looper as a suppliment to my straight chord/melody arrangments. The jamman is faily easy to use and seems solid. It has outstanding sound quality You have to push firmly to engage the pedel which, if you're used toand is capable of holding large pieces of music. It's comparitively small and costs less than a 'rang. It's one major weak point, at least for me, is the absurdly stiff pedels on the thing; they require some getting used to. It does compensate for this (to a degree) by having an 'auto record' function; but I think this seems a little much in live situations. Over all, I'd have to say that my 'rang will be getting retired to a back up looper status from now on. The strengths of the jamman far out weigh it's weaknesses for me. Is it perfect? no; but, it does seem to be a better mouse trap for the money. If not for the unreasonably stiff pedels, I'd give it a 10.

easy peasy japanessy!
set the levels and you are ready to go!

sound is clean! i play bass and it gets all the tones!

solid a s a rock!

inovative looper for the time it was introduced! Now there are few new products like looperlative and the new monster from boss but these are in different price range!
the exchange with the computer is excelent i just wish the usb cable would be inclouded!
It was the dream come true when i brought it home!

This is my first Harmony Central review. I am the proud owner of the original Lexicon Jamman and I am not yet tempted to sell it. Digitech has upped the ante with this baby. It appears to be designed as a Boss RC-20 killer. The ability to store loops and edit on the computer is a joy. I looked over the manual once and never had to go back. My compact flash card was upgraded to a 512 meg and I never seem to fill it up.

I am mostly a six string bass player, but muck around with a Roger Linn Adrenalinn II and a Line 6 Pod XT. I have some facility with Ebowed guitar and midi/analog keys/software synths. My experience is that the sound is very close to what you put into it. Be mindful of your levels and there will be no problem with noise, unless you intend it. There has been one odd behavior and it may come from my own loose timing. When I connect the USB and examine the wave in SoundForge, the attack transient has been pushed to the end of the loop. I guess this is the auto-quanitze feature at work. You miss the attack when you first cue up the loop, but it sounds right as it begins to repeat. This is an easy edit in the computer. I can move new computer generated .wavs from the computer to the Jamman just as easily. The first step is to make a blank loop the same length as the sample to be imported. You don't have to accurate, just close to the same length. Then copy the wav from the computer to the Jamman location where you saved the blank loop. This feature alone is worth the price of admission. I compose songs and save loops as verse, chorus, bridge etc.. This allows me to solo over the changes I control with the add-on footswitch (which was a bit of a rip at $40.). The timing adjustment with pitch correction works ok, but extreme changes sound odd, but that can be good too.

Bullets and clumsy drummers bounce off it harmlessly. I have had no issues with reliability

No experience.

I play progressive originals and have been a looping enthusist for many years. This is your basic "Fripp in a Box", if you are so inclined. I wish that it had a larger display to allow for more meaningful loop names rather than two digit numbers. It is a little to easy to save something in the wrong place and overwrite another loop you intended to save. This makes you work carefully and backup regularly or get better at doing it all over again.

I will likely sell it to purchase the new Boss RC-50 to get stereo and three simultaneous loops. The new Boss RC-50 does not have removable storage, but I can use my computer for that. It looks like Digitech has been trumped in this wonderful war of technology. Keep it up guys, but could you also war on price and not just features?

Takes a little getting use to, however, once you do, its a terriffic tool. I have not as yet mastered all of the bells and whistles but getting a basic loop recorded is pretty easy.

Sounds fine. I run it through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and use several guitars including a Strat, a Ibanez AS73 and a Washburn J6, depending on the type of music I'm attempting to play

Works well, does exactly what I was hoping it would do. I really enjoy having the ability to accompany myself. I usually lay down a bass and rythym line and imporvise or play melody on top. Have had no issues with it so far, got it a couple of months ago

I was having a problem laying down a loop that sounded cohesive and flowed well. I called customer support and the gent I spoke with was very helpful. Even called me back to give me a couple of more tips. Very impressive

I genearlly play blues, jazz and standards. Started paying again 3 years ago after a 30 year hiatus. I really feel that by using the JamMan, my playing has improved substantially over the past couple of months. I tried out the Boss Loop Station and found the JamMan easier to use and more versitile, especially considering the amount of memory it has and the ease to upgrade to 2GB. For now, the standard card gives me more than enough recording time.

Very pleased with this puchase, having lots of fun playing.

Easy, it may take a few times to get used to the timing of things but, after a while, it comes naturally. I plugged my DigiTech RP-80 and use the delay from there and it really helps me to make beats with my guitar to keep me on track instead of the metronomes.

Sounds great, it doesnt distort when you play normally. Although it says you can change tempo of a song w/o loss of pich it's true but it sounds goofy. every once in a while i get a click when i hit the pedal but i switch it on and off and it works just fine. I hook it up with a splitter cable and direct one chord to my amp and on to the computer, sounds great when i put it all on the computer.

If you get a timing of the loops down to an art, yes you can use it on a gig. if you dont time it right, it sounds bad and you look like an idiot

No problems with it yet, i e-mailed them with a question about the computer stuff and saving it but it didnt really help, i found how to do it on my own.

I really like this pedal, it really motivates me to play everday and learn how to really improvise. I do wish it had a fade out button but once you learn to work it well you can come up with some pretty cool ways of ending the loops. I totally recomend this pedal BUT...., keep your eyes on the Boss RC-50 which will be released sometime w/in the next year. It will be more money but you can do a few more things with it. Awesome pedal, glad i got it, go buy one and have fun.

most people said the jamman was hard to use, but i got it to work perfectly the first time, and i am only 14. to save loops you have to bend down and press a small button, but aside from that, it is very easy to use

simple: what goes in comes out...

this thing seems indestructable...it is definitely made to last

never used it

i've played for almost 7 years now...i play jazz, rock, blues, acoustic, and i used to play classical. out of all my pedals and other equipment, this is my new favorite toy. i'm adding singing into the mix. playing difficult riffs and singing at the same time can sometimes be hard. i just record the riff, then i can write vocals for my songs with ease. the only thing i wish it had was hands free storing of riffs. that would make this thing a little easier to use. but if i use it live, i would probably record the riff before-hand so i wouldnt have to worry about it on stage. overall, this is a great product and i recommend it to any guitarist

Piece of cake...be patient and read the manual. The fact that you can use ram memory cards is great as I have a lot of songs and grooves on different cards..one for blues riffs...etc.

Awsome sound...so much fun and it will make you a better player. I know a lot of mudicians who have rarely if at all ever listened to a recording of themselves...and we all know how we aren't as good as we think now don't we??/ This thing will improve your playing and begs to be used..great woodshedding and practice gear..USE THE METRONOME and watch your playing get much better. I have a friend who is a drummer in Nashville I played in college with. He is 3rd place there with Album credits...hundreds..25 years...toured with Skynard..Reba..you name it. He still works out with a metronome because in the studio if you are a first call double scale player you better keep your aging self TIGHT. I agree with the other reviewer as I also have an old boomerang...piece of garbage..This thing sounds so good.

No problems yet

No clue..

I play in a r b vintage cover dance band..recording as well..been at it 35 years..I love this gear and would definitely get another..it breaks the boredom of practice and song learning...Tap tempo is amazing as you can slow licks or songs down..I use it with the 'Black Box" amp modeler and drum machine for getting grooves down quick....yeeeessirrrr !!!

I haven't used other loopers but this one is pretty straight forward. One thing to note is the fact that you have to record for atleast 3 seconds or you'll get a delay and the loop won't be seamless. I found this out after calling digitech. The rep explained to me that this happens because the flash card needs some time before it can make an effective loop. This is no big deal since most loops I make takes more than 3 seconds anyway.

Sound is clean but what you must remember to do is turn all the knobs to 0 before each use. If you don't, the volume will be lower and lower each time you loop. Again, no big deal.

Haven't owned it long enough to find out but it seems tough as nails.

Very quick to answer phones and very knowledgable about their products.

Man, I didn't know I was that good! This thing definetly motivates you to play. I can finally play the rythems than solo over the entire song. You'll like it, trust me.

Just got it out of the box, glanced at the quick start guide, started making loops. Lot's of features, just now learning how to use.

Here's the reason I bought this and why I am submitting a review so early on. I think the sound quality is extremely good. I had a Boomerang (early model, not the + version) and I was never happy with the sound degradation of the looped playback. You would hit the record button, play your phrase to be looped, hit the record button again to begin the playback, and it sounded like someone through a blanket over your amp. I would immagine that Boomerang has upgraded the sound quality with the newer versions. With the Jamman, not only is the looped phrase sound accurate, but the overdubs don't degrade the original phrase. Very impressive!

So far, this is a very good value for me. i am a solo acoustic guitarist/vocalist/harmonica player. I have a weekly restaurant gig and I sometimes need to create a looped phraase to give my performance some depth and break the monotony. Only dislike is the stiff resistance to the record pedal. I got used to the switches on the Boomerang which very touch sensitive.

I find the unit very easy to use. My only beef is the levels controls. (more on that below.)

A agree with the poster that noticed a loss of "sparkle." Not enough to bother me, though. If you continuously add sound on sound, you will notice a some degradation after about 8 or 10 loops, but that's to be expected with a 16 bit device, I think.

Seems pretty dependable.

I haven't dealt with the company yet.

I'm using this for solo electric guitar. I'm happy with the fact that I can load my recent studio tracks into the machine and play my original songs as if the band were there. I'd be happier if I could load those wave files directly, but it seems that it would be tough because each sound file also has an associated file that needs to be included. It's much easier to go from the jamman to a computer than vise versa. Some software to completely manage the files on a computer would be appreciated.

The loop volume on my unit kicks in too suddenly, and it's difficult to adjust levels of incoming wav files.

I would like to mod my machine so the loop level is controlled with a volume pedal. I'll see if Digitech will let me know the value of the potentiometer used and then I'll have an opinion of how helpful they are.

I might also ad an A/B switch so recorded music goes through the PA and guitar goes through the amp.

the pedal is fairly straightforward and has some interesting features.. i haven't had a huge amount of luck with autorecord, getting the levels right to trigger it properly, but i'm not too concerned about that as my playing style leads me to create loops in the middle of something, as opposed to the beginning..

i'm a keyboard player, and i intended to use this unit on top of my gear, so i approached the user interface from a hands-on angle.. the first thing that needed to go was the travel and spring resistance on the pedal switches.. if you take the pedals off (just push in the spring-loaded silver detents on the side) you can see that the switches are deep inside the unit, and surface mounted to a PCB, so i didn't want to replace the pedal assembly at all.. i initially removed the springs (they're held in with a rubber glue, just pull hard) and put the pedals back on, but the weight of the pedal sometimes keeps the switch pressed down, so a spring of some kind is necessary.. i picked a spring with the same diameter, but a much lower compression rate, just enough to keep the pedal above the switch.. the only problem now is that it can get a little bouncy, so i plan on limiting the travel of the pedal by modifying the rubber heel stop under the pedal to shorten the travel..

the point is, if the complaint is the pedal travel or resistance, this can be addressed relatively easily.. sure, it means modifying the unit, but one size doesn't always fit all - you guitarists know that.. :)

otherwise, it's not really a tricky unit to master, it's laid out really well and has some great features, like the undo feature, and the tempo change, which really put this way ahead of my DL-4 i was using for loops previously.. the DL-4 is still in the signal chain, but now just for it's amazing delay modeling.. the ability to store loops and transfer them via USB is a fantastic addition, and easily rockets the usefulness up the scale - i can throw in clips from all sorts of media outlets and trigger them at will, which is always good if used sparingly.. the form factor and ease of use in that respect puts this unit ahead of a dedicated sampler, for example, in my case since it performs both functions to the extent that i need them.. i don't need amazing edit capabilities, so this does it all for me.. and if i do need amazing edit capabilities, well, i use the USB cable and edit the loops on my computer.. this is how it should be!

the rest of the buttons and knobs - i have no idea how you're supposed to use this with your feet.. i suppose guitarists set most of these knobs and forget about them, but playing is a dynamic exercise - i need control, and that's fine for me since i'm using this unit on top of my gear, with my hands, but i would imagine that someone with this on the floor might run into some difficulty without the additional footswitch at the very least.. either that or try your hand (no pun intended) at seeing how dextrous your feet can be..

like others here, the sound is really quiet and clear.. the unit doesn't color the sound anywhere near what other effects do..

at first i was appalled at the click that happens occasionally if i stop a loop mid-sound, and it is indeed a bad flaw, but i realized that i don't usually stop loops in the middle, and in practice i never hear that..

i haven't gigged much with it yet, but it's built solidly.. i have no problem flying without a net with it, if it craps out i could always fall back on the DL-4 or do without..

haven't dealt with them yet, and hopefully won't have to..

make no mistake, this unit is meant to loop, and that is *it*.. it's not like the DL-4 or other looping/delay/echo units.. and with that in mind, it does what it's supposed to do fantastically.. aside from the audible 'pop' it makes sometimes when stopping a loop mid-sound, i find it to be pretty much unimprovable..

i'm a purist, and cannot stand things like pops and noise where they shouldn't be.. when i first heard the pops, i said "oh, that's got to go" and prepared to send the unit back - most sane people would.. however, once i started playing with it in a way i would actually use it (as opposed to hitting random things as much as possible to try to break it) i realized the problem didn't affect me.. so, for the reason the problem is even there i have to take off 3 points, but since it doesn't affect me and i can use every feature i need without a hitch, i'll add a point..

When i first had the pedal,it took me some time to really understand how it works.The thing is that you gotta have PERFECT time to make loops with this,it means you must press the stop pedal SIMULTANEOUSLY with the end of your loop,or you will have the loop not running smooth.
But once you've mastered how it works,you will get addicted to this pedal,it means hours and hours of improvising and fun.
It sure helps improving your playing,if used in the right way.

The only thing i don't like is that the pedals must be pressed very deep,and you have to do a very quick shot with your feet on it.So it's not that naturaL to do,you must press very much with the foot.

I would have prefered two big buttons instead of these,so it's a 8/10.

Well this is where it really shines.
When you transfer your recording to the pc,you will hear exactly what you've recorded,16 bit 44.100.It's fantastic.

It looks really well builded and solid,except for,another time,the two pedals.
They dont seem so solid to me,they move a lot and they make
*clank clank*
I really fear that someday i will have to replace them after a lot of use.

Another thing,for the price this thing costs,a soft case(like the POD one,for understanding)would be really appreciated,especially if you want to use it live.

dont know,never had to do with Digitech.

I play basically rock with some funk and blues in it,and i record my chords and other stuff in it to improvising and write songs.
At first i was a bit disappointed because i couldn't make very "in time" loops,i always ended with some silence in it.
But after 10/15 minutes i started to loop,and stopped 2 hours later,so...well spended money!
Buy it,you wont regret it!!
I think i will never sell this unit,it's a lot inspiring jamming with yourself in front of the amp.

I will post a song recorded with it on the digitech website(forum/jamman section)so you can hear what you can do with this baby.

Other things i appreciated on the Jamman:
- power supply is included
- smart card is included
- virtually endless looping time(6.5 hours!!will you ever need more time?!!
- the rythm guide sounds are very musical,they don't disturb(example:cubase click.Arrgh it smashes your ears!!) :)

BUY IT!!

You've probably read reviews that the Jamman is hard to get a smooth loop out of. It takes getting used to. If you just imagine the opening note you play in your head... and your foot is going to "play" that note by stepping on the pedal...It might help in training yourself to get things right. It does take practice. It's nice that they postes basic instructions on the back of the pedal...but it seems you will always need the manual with this pedal to reveal the combination of buttons to push to clear the memory bank, format a new memory chip, get the tempo to work in 3/4 time...etc.

It does degrade your tone a bit. Not in a bad way, but it takes a bit of the sparkle out of the tone and replaces it with that same Digitech sterile quality you hear, for example, in one of their RP series multi-effects pedals. This occurs even when the pedal is "bypassed" On the up side, it's not noisy at all, and the repeats don't degrade in quality. SO no real defects, but it takes a bit of that presence out of your signal (even when it's off) But it doesn't degrade or become noisy easily even wityh overdubs.

Haven't ever dealy with Digitech on a reliability issue.

Ditto

This is the new kid on the block. The obvious selling point is the ability to store LOTS of loops and for a LONG 6 hours. (Something tels me that might be less if you overdub a lot on the loops.

One problem I've notice already with this pedal is that you have to have a strong signal going into it or the pedal, or it won't start and stop properly because it's not recognizing the signal. It drove me crazy (thinking it was defective) until I used it in my pedal board with the initial pedals boosting the signal. It won't run on batteries or the typiacl 300mA 9v
power in your pedal board.
It doesn't have "reverse" which some people complain about. It's an odd effect I have in my Boss delay pedal anyway. It doesn't have MIDI outputs if you are into that.
It DOES have a USB port that apparently lets you manipulate your loops and import and export them to your PC, but I haven't tried that feature yet to comment on it. It would be great for say, stealing the intro to Baba O'Reiley by the Who etc....
My friend has a Boss Loop Station and he's wanting to sell his to get THIS pedal because of the increased memory space and loop time. The sound quality between to two seem the same. And the price is very right. Something tells me this pedal might be seen a lot in the future...Until someone comes up with a looper that does all this AND acts as an 8 track recording station.

After you get your stomp-timing down, it's really easy to use. I've also owned (and returned) the RC20XL, which the JamMan is modeled after. Both units operate very similarly (if not exactly the same).

CD Quality 44.1kHz sound quality - What more could you ask for?

Digitech offers a Full 6 year warranty - How reliable is that? If they're willing to stand behind their product for that amount of time, then I think the JamMan will be very reliable!

Their website is the absolute bomb! It's the most comprehensive websites for any musical gear I've ever owned! Very detailed product descriptions and demos. They have phone support, email support and snail mail support. And to top it off, they host the best user forums for their products, in cyber-space! You can ask a question and it's almost a guarantee someone will come to your aid - that just absolutely ROCKS!

This is absolutely the best value in the world of looping - with it's ease of use, un-believeable feature set, CD sound quality, excellent customer and user support, and top notch Made in the USA quality - You'd be hard-pressed to find another product like the Digitech JamMan!

Its easy to use. About as easy as the RC20XL by Boss. Although, I found it was more difficult to get clean start and stop point on the loop. It doesnt seem to put in fades at the beginning and end like the Boss. So oy uget very abrupt changes unluess your punches are perfect. I am an experienced looper. I own a Repeater, a, RC20 and have had Echoplex's.

Sounds good. My problem other then the punching in and out, is that the record/play pedal makes a very loud clank if its pushed even slightly hard. This makes it very hard to be stealthy with it in a live performance. Again, the Boss has an edge here as well.
I can see where this pedal has its uses. The storage of loops, the size of the memory, etc. make it a useful studio tool. However, for live performance where your requirements are different, the Boss is better.

Don't know. I returned immediately.

Again, I dont know.

I can see where this pedal has its uses. The storage of loops, the size of the memory, etc. make it a useful studio tool. However, for live performance where your requirements are different, the Boss is better.

It's very intuitive, especially if you already own the Boss looper as I do. However, I have a huge problem with this device. I just want to plug in, noodle around, and then grab ideas on the fly, which is what I do with my Boss and Line 6 loopers. Starting recording is no problem with the Jam Man, but the problem arises when you try to stop. The loop end point doesn't generate at the moment you hit the rec pedal. There is a huge time gap before recording stops (at least half a second). It totally throws off the rhythm of your loop. This problem doesn't happen if you set the tempo first, but doing so creates a huge obstacle which blocks any spontaneous creativity.

I'm thinking mine might be defective because I can't believe anyone would put up with such a bad glitch. In fact, I came to harmony central looking for people with the same complaint. I'm going to play with another one at Guitar Center before I ask for my money back. If mine's not defective, this product is a joke.

It sounds great. It's way better than the Boss looper in this department.

Like every one else said, it's all metal. It's definitely built for the raod, which leads me to believe it's more of a "one-man-band" night club device rather than a serious creative tool.

However, one of the six buttons on the top of mine didn't make a solid click when pressed. If I keep it, I have a feeling it will eventually break.

I'm sure Guitar Center will let me try another one. As for Digitech, I'd rather not bother. If I'm not totally into something as soon as I start using it, I get my money back. It rarely happens because I do my research, and this device absolutely doesn't perform as advertised.

If it made seamless loops, this device would be the hub of my studio. With a two gig card in it, it would be a dream come true. I've been waiting for something like Robert Fripp's gear to become affordable for about ten years now. I guess I'll keep waiting.

This is my third looping pedal. I'd previously owned the Line 6 DL4 and still own the Boss RC20 (not XL). I've also played with the Boomerang.

It is very easy to get a good sound. Basically, if you know how to set up the inputs and loop level, it is a breeze.

The manual is pretty straightforward. No issues there.

I'm rating this a 9 only because looping pedals are a bit tricky for newbies. Not the fault of the looping device, more the fault of the looper (human).

Very clean sound. Much better than my Boss. What goes in is what comes out.

It seems to be built like a tank. Too soon to really tell, however.

Never dealt with them.

This unit's main feature that caused me to plunk down the cash is that you use compact flash cards to save your loops and it has a USB connection for interfacing with the computer. There are 99 user banks. Plenty for my needs. I'll load the thing with lots of backing sounds and then sound a lot fuller when I play my solo gigs.

I like the idea that I can create my loops on the computer and import them into the unit.

My only complain is that there is not a way to control the volume of the loop via a foot pedal without affecting the guitar's live volume. The Boomerang has a great roller pedal to do this. I'd love that feature.

This is an amazingly easy pedal to use! I was surprised by the simplistic layout of how it's made but the complex sounds you can get. I was using it as well as I had hoped an hour out of the box. It's super easy to use and figure out.

I'm using my Yamaha FG-345 'cause I'm a sucker for acoustics. I'm running the unit through my Yamaha MG10/2 (that's right, I'm a Yahama fan)and all ending at a Yorkville 100K Mixer Amp. I'm keeping everything relitively quite for now, but the volume is soon to increase. My favorite guitar player of all time is Jacob Moon who is a pro at looping. I've tried to play some songs of his and the accuracy is something to marvel at. The sound is incredible.

I've owned it for a few days, but I can say that it seems really well build. Heavy, that's for sure. I perform at least once a week by my lonesome and I intend on using it without a backup. Therefore, a 10, 'cause it's been dependable thus far.

I have not dealt with the company since buying the product, however, I have dealt with the company before with questions and such. They have been very helpful and comfortable to talk deal with.

I play Christian Praise and Worship infron of hundreds multiple times a week. I absolutley love what this product enables me to do. It has expanded my sound and playing ability further than I could ever imagine. It is definatly the best pedal I have bought. I give it a 10 overall 'cause it's brilliance. I would definatly recommend this pedal to anyone who asks and would buy another one if it got stolen or lost.

I bought this gear in germany and my supply had only a manual in english with it. Personally I've no problem with (the manual itself I would say is excellent) but nevertheless I think a manual in the language of the country things are sold should be possible even as there's a downloadable version at Digitech provided.

My very first impressions: What the hell is in that box, it's really heavy weight. Very solid (really like a tank) and well designed.

The Jamman is very intuitive to use and if one has little experience with that type of gear should be able to handle within minutes (if not, add 10 minutes)

Editing is very simple because of well marked knobs. Using Mic and Instrument at the same time and additionally mixing function (via input levels)- great idea.
Very good is the undo/redo function for overdubbings and the possibility to speed up/down a loop (in moderate range still quality is ok).
Setting rhythms is easy (also hand free possible) but I've not used it very much yet. As I understand there's no quantize function implementet and so I don't know how to use properly.
For my opinion especially the start/overdub footswitch is a bit too hard to push (and maybe if there were a pressur point it would give a better feeling). But it's not a serious problem, just needs to gettung used with.
Autorecord is also a very good thing, especially in combination with a separate footswitch.
Apropos Footswitch. This optional gear adds a separate dimension to the Jamman because of the possibility to switch between stored (and what a pitty, loops to switch between must be stored).

There's no possibility to safe a Loop hand free. To be honest, I expected this feature. Would have been very helpful (therefore the 8).

99 Loops to be stored should be enough but using all of them the 24 minutes recording space of the compact flash card has to be extended.
The Idea to store on compact flash cards and the possibility to use a Computer for archieving/editing loops is great. As every loop needs an additional file for the Looper (wich is generated by the Jamman by storing the loop automatically) I wonder if there is a possibility to "load" computer generated files directly via USB (without recording via AUX in)

I plug directly in a mixing console -- Sound played in comes out - that easy. No hiss, no noise, smooth transition at Loop ends, no problems and quality is excellent. I use it with acoustic guitars and Mic's for rehearsal (and meanwhile more and more just for improvisation - be prepared, it's addictive).

Seems to be very dependable - I trust in it, but I've used it for a too short periode of time to give a serious opinion

No problems yet therefore no contact

I've been playing for about 30 years now and searched a Looper like this for the last 2 Years. As the Boomerang is very difficult to get here in Germany there seemed to be no unit suitable for me on the market (I wanted not to be limitied by a few seconds, with the Boss unit I hesitated because as I tested it on once I felt the Sound quality with accoustic guitars not as good - and this is how I use it). Therefore I dealt a lot with Ambiloop (free PC based looping software) wich is great but you need a computer and Midi footswitch for controlling).

What I love: -- unwrap and play with a solid piece of equipment in combination with an excellent sound.

Wishes: Handfree storing of loops, Midi (for syncronizing with a drum computer) and maybe stereo).

If it were stolen or lost I'd try to get another one witzout hesitation

It has many functions, and it's not that hard to use'em.
However, there isn't even a single line about TroubleShooting in
manual. EASE OF USE? well, it wasn't easy. follow this review.

I WANT TO HEAR THE LOOPS.
(read more, you gonna understand this.)

Okay,brother,here's my story.

Features of This JamMan is way beyond than BOSS stuff or any other.
It's a Loop monster. USBs,1Gb of flash.. how sounds good this is !

HOWEVER.

In my case, I bought this with more than 300bucks,
this shit doesn't work anymore since I used it just for couple of hours. I used it and plugged it out,then plugged in this again,then
it doesn't work. ShXX's leds litting fine,looks okay,but it's just like your(and mine) MS windows when it shows you Blue screen.
No responses,and stomps and all the buttons don't work. leds are keep litting, nothing recorded,nothing played.

Read below.

So I sent an email to digitech for tech support,
in reply mail, they recommended me to use this shit with brand new flash media(CF). That was what I going to do, so I bought brand new TrescendCF 64MB. Then, I worked. Yeah! I screamed with joy.

But you know what?

After I plugged it out ang replugged in,
This XXXX DOESN'T WORK again, just same as past failure !!

How do they make this kind of shXX?!

Whatever happend, This is my personal Problem with gear.
BUT what I REALLY want to say is this.


NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY SOME PEOPLE STILL USE
BOSS/ROLAND AND OTHER'S,
AND NOW I REGRET THAT I'VE CHOSEN THIS.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH MINE ?

within a few minutes of manual scanning and a few seconds of tweaking it proved itself worthy of a new home. this is clearly Not made for drummer with all the knobs and tiny lights but it's perfect for sitting on top of a keyboard. I have little need for the metronome function and also wish the switches were flatter, like the boomerang, but these switches are still way better than the original jamman long throw variety. since all I do is improvise, with all the live tweakability, I doubt I ever put it on the floor. besides, it's so beautiful.

currently, I'm enjoying a fairly small set up. nord lead 2 and motif rack into a mackie mixer bussing out to a boomerang and kaoss 2. I'll probably put the jamman in the kaoss chain. sometimes I add a second boomerang and 3 loopers could make for some very interesting on the fly orchestrations.

contrary to the earlier review, the jamman is actually a 24-bit machine and extremely quiet. the only thing that bothers me here is the same thing the loop station and other such devices seem to have and that's the annoying glitch if you turn the loop off when it's sounding.

the boomerang doesnt do that. so, I'll have to give it a 9 despite its otherwise pristine sound quality.

havent had it long enough to know it Wont flazz out, but...

as mentioned, the first thing I noticed was the tank like construction quality. plus you can always tell by the feel of the knobs how professional the gear is and the jamman feels really good. very minor complaint, the loop selector knob is a bit soft so it's easy to stumble passed the number you want but that's more about touch than design. the ever present boomerang is my backup.

I'm guessing this bad boy is built to last, like my ageless digitech delay sampler from the early 80s.

unknown.

I improvise exclusively so loopers have always been a great way to create multiple orchestras between players. I usually play with an electronic drummer (using my old jamman) and a jamman weilding guitarist. we dont midi up the loops and that keeps it exciting.

the new jamman is intuitive, the controls are easy to manipulate and, I think, it will quickly become one of my favorite toys. with multiple inputs, the mixability may let me skip the mixer now and then. love the one load in set up.

what sold me initially was the undo feature. boomerang doesnt have it and I've been begging them to add one to their next generation. they've been telling me they will but that will be years from now.

plus the boomerang costs quite a bit more. dont get me wrong, the boomerang is a dream to play. it's great. but with these features at this price on the jamman...the competition just got a lot hotter.

this thing beats the snot outta the looping station and everything else I've seen for the price. it's the new bomb.

the interface is very simmilar to the boss, but I'm going to have to give a very low grade because of the usless tempo light

don't know yet, seems well built... however the tempo light is way to dull to be of ANY use for a drummer to follow... way more dull than the boss, which was alreadly at the threashhold

when I inquired about the light... customer support responded with total nonsense, not even related to my question... they are a bunch of drones

the unit would be absolutly ideal if this problem was fixed... I have delt with loops in a performance enviroment for years, and played hundres of gigs with one... I have purchased the line6, boss, digitech, and electrix loopers, in the quest to find one that works well, and I'm still looking