Lexicon JamMan

lexicon jamman rackmount looper (not the digitech jamman cheapo/lame pedals),ease of use is a ten for its simplicity when syncing via midi!!!! it syncs to midi clock and adjusts the length of loops automatically, awesome, no other looper comes close, I just returned an rc-50 and bought another rackmount jamman. thge rc-50 stinks,doesnt sync to midi worth a darn (even thought it says it does, its pathetic), the jamman syncs to midi clock (drum machine,acid etc..) as a slave (rc-50 does not). amman works great

excellent, though knobs can get dirty/ noisy ,but usually really quiet. Nice almost analog sounding clean (not quite cd quality but really close). jamman rckmount has stereo in/out but looping is in mono. I use one for bass emulation and one for guitar. It can be a little noisy if you max the wet volume .

well, still working after years. It the only "simple" midi looper that works and syncs to midi (rc-50 stinks and doesnt sync well/if at all,gibson echoplex has midi but is too complicated/expensive and the rest doesnt have midi or costs a fortune and impossible to find).

support? they dont even make it anymore....lame

32 second sampling time is plenty for live looping,great for bass lines midi synced to drum samples and guitar loops,just works great, simple,footswitch included - with all the loopers out there, only 1 has excellent midi sync capabilities and its not made anymore gofigure???!!!!

the Jam Man has been my main pre-producion tool since i got it. It's easy to use, and makes the creative process as fun as playing with a friend. The only thing i wish it had was a pitch bending knob as an option to slowing down or speeding the sound up. I dont care for using the jam man as a tool for learning notes. it would be cool to sample my voice and slow it down immediately.

it works fine with my alesis micron. guitars and warm synth sounds can be manipulated well. i dont care much for slowing down any drum sounds with the jam man. im still experimenting with what sounds top or most interesting. so far i havent had the best experience with sampling cd's, but i think it's my cd player. well see.

i definetly plan on using the jam man for backround music, and even for certain loop based compositions, but my main use for it is pre production. It would work well for Hip Hop...it has a raw dirty quality. w/ some efx and imagination i dont think anyone would know what the hell you were using. it looks like it can survive some stomping too. i like it.

I do everything in 4/4, but i like the option of other time sig. that the jam man offers. With the 99 slots of storage it's a fast way to save song ideas, choruses, breaks, etc. i wake up everyday and scan through all my work as easy as just flicking on a light switch.

Most people find the jamman hard to use, but when i got it, i got it to work the first time, and i'm only 14. you just have to make sure to stop recording right on the first beat of the next measure. layering is super easy. to save loops, you have to bend down and press a button, but compared to the awesome quality of the rest of the jamman, that is a very minor problem

its simple: what goes in comes out...i personally cant hear a difference between my live playing and the loop

it is very reliable...i havent had any trouble with it so far. plus, this thing is heavy-duty. its meant to last physically.

never used it

i've been playing almost 7 years, and this is one of my favorite guitar tools i have ever used. i play blues, rock, jazz, acoustic, pretty much anything, and it sounds awesome with any genre of music i play. i'm beginning to add singing into the mix, so playing difficult riffs and singing at the same time is sometimes hard. i just record the loop, and play it while i write vocals for a song. this pedal helps me a lot when it comes to making songs.

Extreamly easy. Manual walks through every aspect very clearly.

Once you adjust settings you cant tell the difference. However if you want to be able to tell the difference you have that ability also.

Havn't giged with it

Never used it

I'm a bass player and its awsome for solo bass work, and practicing. I'm also working with a singer/song writer (http://www.robmorrismusic.com) and since its a 3 piece (Drums,Guitar/Vocs, and Bass) it gives me the ability to play a nass line with the rest of rhythm secion and then solo over it.

The JamMan is a good unit, once you've set your levels. It's easy to redline the JamMan, though not as easy as an MPX100. With delays and loopers, the basic rule is "garbage in, garbage out," and the JamMan is no exception. Any sound you put through it comes out the other end, pretty much unchanged; the exception is if you send a true stereo signal through the JamMan. Your dry signal will pass through in stereo, but the delay processor sums your signal to mono, delays it, and then sends the delayed signal to both outputs. This can be a big issue for studio users. There's some discussion of this of the Looper's Delight web site.

The manual, as always, is very good, but, while it never really says that the JamMan is a true stereo unit, you might believe that the JamMan is true stereo after reading the manual

PRS Santana SE into a Boss GT-3 into various loopers and delays. I'm a big Robert Fripp/King Crimson fan, and have always been interested in long delay lines. The JamMan was one of my first loopers, which is part of why I still hang on to it. It's also got a longer delay time than most of the other new delay/loopers.

The JamMan is quiet, on its own, but it's too easy to overlaod, especially with a hot guitar signal; maybe DJ's had fewer level-matching problems. The delay effect sounds good, especially for an older unit like this, but the summed-mono processing will be a big stumbling block for anyone looking to run stereo mixes through the JamMan. For the price these things demand on E-bay, there are new boxes that do almost the same thing, and some are true stereo, like the Line 6 Delay Modeler Pro.

Bought it used, had it for years, never had a problem. I used to take it out on gigs, but not anymore, becuase I dread the thought of the JamMan breaking down; one of the reasons Lexicon cited for discontinuing the JamMan was that certain parts were no longer available, which makes me wonder if a damaged JamMan can be fixed. I don't want to find out the hard way. Mine is still working, and I hope to keep it that way.

Lexicon folks are always helpful and friendly; I often wonder what planet they come from, and how they like it here.

I play weird, guitar loop based music, and the JamMan is an essential part of my sound. I've retired it from road duty only becuase I don't want it to get lost, stolen or crunched. I've managed to fill the gap with other delays and loopers. I have lots of pedals and sound-twisting gear. If something happened to my JamMan, I don't think I'd want to buy one off E-bay, not for the prices people are asking now. It's a ten-year-old circuit with some hard-to-find parts; buying one for $500 or more is a big risk. I'd probably buy a Boomerang, if I wanted to spend that kind of money.

I love how easy it is to use, I hate redlining it so often. I wish it had a true stereo processor. If you buy a JamMan, get two footswitches for it, you'll need them for hands-free operation.

You can get a new stereo delay like the Boss DD-20, for less than half what a used JamMan will cost you, but the longest delay time on the DD-20 is only 23 seconds, and a fully loaded JamMan will give you 32 seconds. The Line 6 Delay Modeler Pro has a 30 second looper (60 seconds at half-speed), but the delays only reach 2.5 seconds. Even the JamMan effect in Lexicon's MPX1 only delivers 20 seconds. Unless you move up to a Boomerang, or an Eventide, nothing touches the JamMan for delay time. I give it an 8 because there are some limitations, but overall, I really like the JamMan.

Making loops with the JamMan is pretty simple. The controls are very self explanatory, unlike it's relative the Vortex. It takes a little while to get used to, but most new equipment does. It works very well syncing to a drum machine or sequencer via midi. It is very easy also. No midi menus to navigate. Just plug a midi cable to "in" on the JamMan and "out" on the drum machine. The JamMan syncs perfectly to it. Using the loop function live can be difficult if you want perfectly synced loops, unless your band is a s tite as a metronome. The Delay and Sampler come in quite usefull though. Often I will sample a foward lad line I play and then use it reversed later in a song.

I upgraded my unit myself and had no problem. Easy as pie. You just open the unit(which was the hardest part) and pull out the old ram and put the new in. I got mine off Ebay for around 40 US dollars. Bob Sellon, who invented the JamMan for Lexicon has software upgrades on his website (http://www.stecrecords.com/gear/jamman/index.html) that enable it to do many cool things, some of which sound simmilar to the Oberheim/Gibson Echoplex. I cannot vouch for these because i have not used them. I am looking into it and will post my discoveries in the future.

I use the JamMan in my guitar rack. The chain is as follows: DOD Dual Delay R-880, Peavey Spectrum Analog Filter, Lexicon JamMan, Lexicon Vortex. I usually run them into a 1965 Fender Bandmaster. I play an Epiphone Riviera and a Gibson Sonex. The sound quality is fine for this setup. My rating for sound quality is based on its use with both a Roland MC-505 and MC-303, line level guitar, and a Sony Minidisk player

The sound quality is not perfect. It is not cd quality. It uses 16 bit linear PCM encoding at a 31.25khz sampling rate. The loops seem somewhat degraded, but its not that bad in my opinion. Its pretty good realisticly, damn good for guitar. The more you overdub the more distorted it becomes. I personally like this sound, but others may not.

I have had my unit for 5 years and have never had a problem. It has been used in smoky enviorments. I have used it at shows without a backup. Never one problem. Well, the input potometer is begining to get a little scratchy, but that seems to happen to electronics over time anyways. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I have never dealt with Lexicon, so I have no opinion

I have been playing for 15 years. My music varies from IDM, Shoegazer, Ambient, and just plain old experimental. I use the JamMan in just about everything at some point. When I got it I was really into My Bloody Valentine, Medicine, and Cocteau Twins, which I still am. I use all Its features, and will probaly always have one. When it came out there was really only the JamMan and the Echoplex, and the Echoplex was and is still out of my price range. I wish the JamMan had reversable loops, but with some of the new software this may be possible.

learnd the control's quickly.looping worked great with midi time clock from drum mechine. live is a little more tricky since you have to start and stop gate time{assuming your band can follow your loop}.delay is my fav tap the delay time out your there.delay sound's best when it's in time and it's easy to do.i've even changed delay's during a song. no problem

good low noise but the loop's sound has a little less qualty

got it new when it first came out no problems. plenty of use a gig's studio and practice

lexacon is verry helpfull

my buddy and i were doing a duo and we both got one he looped rythme guitar parts so re could play lead over it.we midi'ed it to a drum mechine.i used mine to sing thru.this delay has become part of my vocal sound.we did 60's covers.i've played for25 years.i would buy another one. delay was my fav but looping a close 2nd. at the time i bought it it stood alone.i wish it could save loop's no big deal tho.

like butter, easy manual

Very Clean, and quiet.

never had a single problem.

I just Szabo's review on the rang, as I was interested in maybe picking one up, but Hearing these complaints about the noises and the clicking stops me in my tracks with cleats on. He asked if anyone knew of a better sampler, I would be surprised if I am the first to give him this advice, but here it is. GET YO'SELF A JAM MAN!!! Thats right, I was lucky enough to purchase mine right before they got discontinued.The units came stock with a measly 8 seconds of sample (barely usable in my opinion) but..and I do mean BUT.. it is upgradable to a 32 seconds. I have actually had two, the first one I bought with the stock 8 sec and planned to do the upgrade. Not a great idea, as I put great effort into finding the memory chips for it and no-one had it, seems that it was the same memory that some old omega computer used to use. after a long dry spell I finally found one set and purchased it. the upgrade failed, I faulted the chips. I then sold the unit and bought a used one that was already set to 32 sec (this is my recomendation) you can find them here and there on ebay, just type in "lexicon jam man" and make sure that it is already upgraded. this unit is QUIET like a church mouse. quiet enough that I have brought it into the studio many times and saved myself tons of studio time $$ by being able to sample background vocal stacks directly to it from the board, which allowed me to then just offer a feed to the engineer so that he could record them to a single track (very cost and time effective) not to mention the wild tricks I have pulled off for solos. with the unit you can record in either sample mode or loop, the difference is that in sample mode you cannot stack, but at least in live performance you can sacrifice one pass of , lets say, a guitar harmony and load it into the unit allowing you to kick it in at every other similar point inthe song. To stack you must be in loop mode, the only drawback I find to this is that if I wanted to construct lets say a three or four part stack that I could pop into sections of the song at various times, I am out of luck.once you stack the layers your only option is to let them loop until you cancel them out.solution? buy two and hook up in tandem. Use the 1st one to layer your stacks, once you have the construction the way you like (doing this takes practice as you will want to find the most time economical steps to acheiving this, unless you want to just tell your audience to wait while you do this, best to learn to be crafty with the unit) then you simply use your 2nd unit to take a "sample" snapshot of unit #1's single pass loop, voila!! success, and best of all done quietly. You can even decide to reverse your loop before capturing it with unit #2. well, I hope this helps, as for me I was interested in maybe getting a Rang as a second unit but I think I will be buying another lexicon myself. Feel free to check out these tracks recorded I recorded usingthe Lexicon Jam Man. @ http://www.loudenergy.com/Media/browsemedia.asp?Bio=true&Lead_ID=14266

Some of Lexicon products require a lot of time with manuals, but not the Jamman. Extremely easy to use.

I use it with tube amps. Like any other digital device it does effect the tone, but the joy of using it simple makes me forget its shortcomings.

Never had any problems.

I called Lexicon regarding some other products and they were very helpful and professional.

I also own a Gibson Digital Pro (better but much more expensive unit), but my Jamman is not for sale. I'll give it a 10 not because of the features but for the fact that this unit set the new standards in looping at the time. Amazingly, after so many years it is still useful and works great. How many other digital boxes out there are more expensive now than 10 years ago?

With the manual it is pretty easy to set-up and start looping,
BUT TAKE TIME WITH IT! There is quite a bit to it if you use ALL of the features.

I primarily use it to loop some phrases and play over them. Easy to layer, just tap and go! All you guitarists that ever were frustrated because no other guitarists were around to jam with, THIS IS THE TICKET!

I have used this unit with single and double coil electrics, Baggs Dual-Source acoustic, vocals......all with and without effects.....
through a PA or guitar amp......CD quality....NO NOISE except what you put in!

Very reliable, but treat with care! They are rare and not made any longer. I would like a back-up just to have one in case mine is stolen, dropped, etc!

Called Lexicon a few times for some help...great response when needed!

Regardless of your style, abilities, etc. this is an excellent piece!
GET 2 PEDALS for it.......MUCH MORE VERSATILE.
I got mine for a great price, and added the upgrade.

WELL WORTH THE MONEY AND TIME INVESTED!

The sound is 90% cd quality. It's a loop. You have 14 seconds to lay down another guitar part. If you have a mic inside your acustic you can do more than just another guitar part,but you can tap a beat,and sing 3 harmony parts. That's what Phil Keaggy does. And we all know he's the best. They stoped making them, but you can find them in a used store.

The sound is 90% CD quality. That's good enough,people can't tell the 10% difference.

It will run forever.

Nope. Never delt with the company before.

You can have a one man band.

very easy. having a footswitch makes it that much simpler. midi operations take a quick peek at the manual,..but that's it.

excellent sound quality. it's amazing what Lexicon can do with "lower" sampling rates. my JamMan and Alex sound AS GOOD if not BETTER than units i've demo'd with much "higher specs".

never had a single problem,..and i have TWO units. only used at home to this point, however.

always had calls returned. nice people who LISTEN. repairs are NOT cheap, however (remembering the $100 tab on an MPX100 fix).

i prefer ambient/space sounds and the JamMan works wonders in this department. you can layer yourself into aural heaven. i've also used it for multi-layered background choruses which i've "midi-triggered" to reproduce themselves on cue. having TWO units has opened up NEW WORLDS (i must admit). i use a stereo pan pedal and layer ALL OVER THE STEREO FIELD (which is a joyous experience). the reverse feature is fantastic and loops can be "triggered" much like a sampler. with the 32-second expansion, you can have the longest delay times immaginable (when the JamMan is set to "Echo").this is a great unit. i bought one on it's intitial release and purchased a second on lucky find at a used gear store. i see these things for $1000 on E-bay,..which is ABSURD,......BUT,...they are great units. if you find one (memory expanded or not) for $400 or less DO NOT HESITATE. more that $500 is tough to swallow (unless you have unlimited funds). i've demoed the Boomerang and (being a JamMan disciple) was NOT impressed by the sound quality. i HAVE heard the Echoplex Digital Pro which was both an excellent and superior unit to the JamMan,..but these are impossibly expensive to find USED. AT ANY RATE,...i love my JamMan units. i'd be crushed if i lost them. they are versatile and sound FANTASTIC!

JamMan is a pretty easy unit to use. It did take me a while to get the hang of it, but mostly because it requires tapping on the beat and if you're singing and tapping it can be a little tricky. I only use it as a looper and I upgraded it to 32 seconds (which was a pain in the butt getting the darn thing open). The manual is okay but experience is where you learn how to use it (ain't that always the way?). Also, the little footswitches require some dexterity.

I run the JamMan along with a Vortex, an Alex, and an MPX 100 thru the effects loop of a Peavey Ecoustic 112 and I play a Takamine LTD 1998 acoustic/electric. I have 12 Boss pedals going into the front end of my amp as well. The JamMan faithfully recreates what I put into it. With all of that processing placed into an acoustic setup, I've never been disappointed with the quality of the sound. While I've never played thru an Oberheim Digital Echoplex Pro, I have used a Boomerang(good), a Line 6 Delay Modeler(very good), and an Akai Headrush(okay), and the JamMan beats them all. The Line 6 is the only one that comes close to matching the JamMan's sound quality, but it only provides 14 seconds of looping. The only complaint I have with the JamMan is that you can't stop a loop and then recall it at it's beginning point. If you set it up to restart the loop, the JamMan has been playing silently while you do your thing, so when you tap back into the loop you may find it in the middle of the loop instead of where you want it to be. The Line 6 and Boomerang can be a little easier to control in that regard.

I bought it used and have never had a problem with it so far in three years.

I e-mailed Lexicon when I began searching for a JamMan and they were very helpful. Also, I have always received prompt and courteous responses when I've had questions or needed to place and order for extra footswitches or cords.

I do mostly solo improv and extended jamming within the context of songs and the JamMan is a very cool piece of gear. I would be really bummed out if it broke or was ripped off. I'm sure I'd never find another as easily or as inexpensive. I wish it was easier to recall existing loops so I didn't have to rebuild them if I left the jam in a song and an easier footswitch would be nice, but overall, I love the JamMan. I've learned to use it as an instrument within my style of music and in the context of a solo jamming musician, it's indespensible. It's not as rugged as the Boomerang or as versatile as Line 6's Delay Modeler, but it does what it does most excellently. Lexicon! If you read these reviews , MAKE THESE UNITS AGAIN!!! Most of us can't afford the G2 or an Oberheim (if you could ever find one), or even a damn Boomerang for that matter. Make 'em and sell 'em. Hell, I'll be your biggest advertiser.

Once you get a chance to play around with it, it's very easy to use. The manual is good but you really just need to be able to get your hands (and feet) into it to learn how to use it. I had a little trouble upgrading mine with the 32 second chips but am glad I did. The sound quality is great (especially compared to the Boomerang (which is good).

No noise, easy to tweak, and it is consistent. You can always get what you expect. I run the JamMan through my effects loop of a Peavey Ecoustic 112 along with a Vortex and a MPX 100 and a boatload of Boss pedals through the front end of my amp and I play a Takamine LTD 98 for e vry processed acoustic tone. The JamMan handles anything I throw at it and only occasionally the volume flucuates depending of what effect I'm coloring my sound with (but that's not the JamMan's problem). I've also used a Line 6 Delay Modeler' looper and they both are clean sounding and reliable.

I've rarely taken it out of my studio but I wouldn't have any concerns about using it live, I just don't need to take rack stuff with me. I've never had any problem with it so far and I bought it used.

They're easy to contact via e-mail or phone and they responded when I enquired about info or help.

I play acoustic-electric jam based stuff and Dead, Floyd, folkadelic type music and the JamMan really allows me to stretch out, either alone and a one-man band or in and ensemble. It's like playing multiple instruments at once, especially when using different effects as colors to "paint" with. I have a Boomerang as well (which I take when I play out) as well as a plethora of pedals and some other rack pieces. I'd definitely seek out another one if mine broke down or were ripped off (unless I could get an Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro at a reasonable price). My opinion of Lexicon stuff is: buy it you won't be sorry. If you can find a JamMan, take a risk but don't let someone take you for more than $400, they didn't pay that much for it.

Well, I use a JamMan for a very niched purpose. Live Sound mixing! Extremly easy to plug in, and let it go. Using echo/delay mode only. TAP TEMPO as a predelay to other effects.

For delay it is above average. Sampling, could be stereo (only mono),and a few KHz more on the top. But I'll use it almost exclusively as a TAP TEMPO DELAY with feedback set on 1. On a live sound rig, I wire it before ANY other reverb or delay FX. And upon listening to the club/halls natural bouncing reflection delay, AND adding that to each song that's played, I tap my finger to the BPM of the song, to get a delay or reverb that doesn't get in the way of the song. It is very useful for pre-delaying reverbs in a live situation. I know it's a bit overkill, but I don't know of any other effect that has TAP TEMPO DELAY only...if it does exists, it sure has a lot of other stuff too.

Yes. It hangs now and then when twiddling too much with the front panel settings at the same time as you pressing these (actually lousy) footpedals. Since it doesn't use any patches, its not too much of a big deal really, having to unplug and replug the power cable. Definetly using it on gigs without backup.

Well actually I mailed the people at lexicon and they've supported it for some time. I requested a few things, like MIDI clock sensing in delay mode, and a bypass-input feature, that would allow you to jam over a newly created sound-loop in delay mode. Now, some folks have quit Lexicon just in order to provide support and ROM upgrades to JamMan since it's been discontinued. So, full marks!

Live sound mixing, occasionally guitar/ambient dance music. played/engineered for 16 years. At the time, no competition existed. Primarily aimed to DJ's anyway. Would be nice to see any comments on this unit here, by a swift DJ!

The JamMan is a delay/sampler/loop machine. You can use it as any of these features, but you can't combine them. The interface is cryptic. I got mine as a floor model, and had to have the store copy a manual for me. It was too weird to figure out without one. Generally, you tap in delay times, after adjusting the repeat rate, decay, and level on the unit's face. As a looper/sampler, you tap in at the beginning of your phrase, tap out when you're done. An additional footswitch allows for additional functions. I've never used them. Mine came with the standard 8 seconds of memory. I upgraded it to 32 after about a year. Once you learn your way around it, the JamMan is conceptually very easy to use. The Lexicon footswitches were designed by aliens, I think. They require frankfurter toes, if they are to be of any use at all. I have heard of people using those 2-pedal sostenuto pedals from digital keyboards. I haven't tried that, though it's on my list of things to do. The Lexicon footswtiches are awful.

Excellent sound, excellent functionality. No noise. This is a surprisingly robust sounding unit for a Lexicon being used on a live guitar rig. I have found their signal chain usually swallows tone, and is therefore best used with an amp with an effects-loop built in. However, the JamMan isn't bad in this regard.

Mine arrived with a problem- the tap function wouldn't work consistently. This was fixed quickly, and I haven't seen or heard a problem since. I believe these low-priced Lexicon units are cheaply made, and therefore prone to breakdown. Nonetheless, I never have problems with mine now.

Lexicon was great when I dealt with them for the memory upgrade. It arrived quickly, and the staff was kind & courteous. I contacted them about a customization idea I wanted done, and they managed to talk me out of it without making feel dumb. Nice folks!

I have found a number of ways to use the JamMan. Sometimes I sample a rhythm phrase, and trigger it back later under a solo. Other times, I loop some atmosphere or chord-progressions indefinitely. For these roles, you MUST have an attentive band following the tempo. I used a MIDI connection to a drum machine, and had the JamMan trigger a click-tempo. I can't conceive of ever using this kind of technology regularly, though. Too many variables. Usually, I use it as a tap-tempo delay. I considered adding another JamMan to my rig, but that would be too many high-tech gadgets. They've also gotten too damn expensive, now that they are out of production. There are jokers who won't take less than $500 for a used one. I don't get it. Unfortunately, if mine died or disappeared, I'd definitely replace it. This is a useful tool for delay-freaks like me. If you can find one cheap, buy it. I would.

Controls are pretty simple and instructions are surprisingly good for a piece of electronic equipment (they could use a little better organization of the topics IMO though). I haven't tried using the MIDI features. Unit comes with a maximum of 8 sec. sampling, which can be upgraded to 32 seconds.

Excellent sound quality on samples and echoes. You do see a slight drop in the tone compared to a 100% dry signal but this is to be expected from just about any piece of equipment. Balancing the input, output, and mix levels is a little tricky. Using a stereo rig with the Jamman would greatly improve its functionability.

I've only had it for a couple of weeks although Lexicon is a pretty well known company.

See above comment. I am going to upgrade the memory in it, so I might soon find out how their customer support is.

I would definitely buy it again. It offers a lot of cool possibilites, both in performance and composition. I like being able to lay down a chord progression and then jam over it. It eliminates trying to talk my friend into playing the same chord prog. over and over again 8-). It definitely needs the memory upgrade (gives you 32 sec. of sampling) for maximum utility, which I think Lexicon should start with as the base memory level. 8 sec. really isn't enough.