Should a bass player use a looper?

Little known fact: BBG does sell a looper. One of the best available, in fact.

What would a bass player need a looper for?

There are actually several good reasons for a bass player having a looper. But before we talk about that, here’s a video of one in action used by a bass player:

Now that you’ve seen that video, here are 3 reasons why a looper is good for a bass player to own.

1. It is possible to perform an entire song with one, using just one musician (you).

Once one becomes good with a looper, it is totally possible to perform an entire song and have it sound “big enough” to perform on your own with.

To note: Dee-jays have been doing this for years. The only real difference is that you’re using live instrumentation while the dee-jay is sampling either from records or other digital samples.

2. A looper is an excellent tool to learn better timing.

Bad with timing? A looper forces you to be in-time, else it never sounds right. Sure, you could simply follow metronomes and/or backing tracks when practicing, but when you’re actually playing along with your own bass lines, you can more easily hear where your timing needs help and work to get better at it.

3. With a looper in your effect chain, you have a “right-now” method of instantly recording any bass line you come up with.

Ever come up with the “best bass groove ever” but had no way to record it, so you scrambled around for some way to record, only to have forgotten what you played moments later before the recording gear is set up?

That happens a lot to many players.

However, with a looper in the chain, all it takes to record that great line you came up with is *stomp*, and start playing; it doesn’t get any easier than that.

The looper that BBG sells allows you to transfer recorded loops to a computer or tablet, so when you want to share that recorded bass line with friends or import into a multitrack environment, no problem.

Yes, bass players should use loopers. While you may not use the actual looping function all that much, it is great for lightning-fast recording of scratch tracks and to help tighten up your timing.