Boss RC-30 vs Boss RC300 Loop Pedal 

Enjoy it! It’s a monster but it’s a great thing to learn and master! And questions, throw them at me. 👍🏻

Awesome! Anytime!

That’s fantastic news!! Glad you have watched and found it useful! Ace! I’ll have a word with Santa and make sure its in his sack! Haha. 🎅

Hey. Yeah I have joined quite a while back. Great community and love the questions there! Lovely everyone helping each other out. 👍🏻

@@JohnPaulMusicUK thanks looking forward to several more fantastic videos from you.

I hear that! and battery powered would be good. have a look at the Aeros Loop Studio. REALLY clever design.

You are welcome. You might want to consider the new Boss RC-500 which is the much better upgrade to the RC-30. Have a look here - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RTRt34An-Sk.html

Here is a lovely history lesson by Boss themselves - www.boss.info/uk/promos/loop_station/

Hey 👋 I have done quite a few videos about looping and using the Boss range. Have a look around the channel. 👍🏻 Glad it helped. 👍🏻

Thats cool. Have you ever combined the Beat Buddy with the Digitech Trio? That would be fun. If you had that amount of cash, I would lean towards either the TC-Helicon Voicelive 3 Extreme to follow your chords with vocals or the Headrush Looperboard as you can do backing tracks if you wanted to simplify the setup. 👍🏻

I’ve never tried those two together. I’m not sure the Beat Buddy would trigger the Trio, which sets the bass line to the root notes of your chords and matches the drum tempo to what’s been played. Them you’d have to match the tempo on the Beat Buddy. I think it would be too tricky to try live, but I’ll see if I can manage it now that you’ve piqued my curiosity. EDIT: I actually have a never-been-used, NIB, TC Helicon VoiceLive 2, still in the box, that a friend didn't want because the 3 was introduced before he got to opening it. I guess I need to break it out!

Certainly see how matching the beat buddy and trio would be tricky. Oh wow!! Get that VL2 out! They are ace!! Do need a bit of time to setup and get around but they are brilliant for chord following and fx!

I see that now, thanks to you. I suppose because of the “Voice” part of the name, I hadn’t thought about using it on the guitar’s signal until I watched this video. As I mentioned, it’s still in the box, unopened, so not opening it at least to read the owner’s manual has wasted a lot of time on my part. So thanks very much, this will add a new dimension for me!

I TOTALLY get you. The pedalboard I have now is so heavy!! Checkout the Areos Loop Studio. That might be tour answer - 6 loops - lots of features but the size of an rc-30!!

Sweet! Are you planning to plug the RP255 into the rc30 for effects? Would be a sweet little setup!

@@JohnPaulMusicUK yeah, that would be quite a fun set up. I like the effects on the digitech so maybe it would go at the end of the signal chain. I first need to save some dosh haha

Thanks for the tip. 👍🏻

Are you saying certain brands of battery are bad to use in these pedals, or not to combine different types of batteries?

Not to combine - because of slightly different voltages - oops on my bad.

I would certainly go with the 600 over the 300 now for one thing alone.. sound quality. It’s 32 bit and when you are looping you will really understand the difference! You could start with using the RC600 like an rc300 by only using the first 3 y]tracks, then when your ready, venture out to the other tracks, the effects and the outputs. Here is the playlist to all the RC-600 videos I have made so far - ru-vid.com/group/PLO36LpORUSaa9-oX7LbZ4CRRUHMiWoU0s I also have a FULL RC-600 course going right from the beginning to pro setups with over 55 unique deep dive videos in, which you can now pay for monthly! Put SUBSCRIBER in the checkout for a discount - www.johnpaulmusic.co.uk/offers/Bw8uzFw2/checkout And if you want 121 consultation, I do this as well: www.johnpaulmusic.co.uk/coaching-options

@@JohnPaulMusicUK wow thank you for such a quick reply , how do you find the time to answer us all thank you im so tempted like you say for the 600 and use it without getting overwhelmed by all its amazing capabilitis as the quality is the best ever so thats firstly very important and size / weight is good , yes tempted thank you again

Hey David. So.. thinking about what you want im gonna be honest.. there is a way with the RC300 but its still tricky. Certainly dont put 2x RC30’s together. What a mind mess!! The RC300 is still tied to a single tempo like the RC30... but you can change the tempo on the fly and you can put it in serial mode so to have an A, B & C sections. Then, what you can do is assign the expression pedal to the tempo of the track, setting the down to the slowest tempo and the high to the fastest tempo you want. Then when you record part B you can change the tempo and then hit record. When you jump back to part A you can just push on the expression pedal all the way up and the tempo will rise back up to the original. Its still not perfect and it means a bit of ‘pedal dancing’ and practice.. but theoretically it could be done. The other option is to put it in ‘FREE’ mode but then its all down to your timing and it could get really messy really quickly. I hope this helps or gives you some insight of how you could program it. I totally realise what you want.

Check this guy out. Hes done it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2cXlQa11kcc.html

Nice! And Thankyou 🙏

I agree. The RC300 is built like a tank. However the ‘new kid on the block’ is the Headrush Looperboard which I am now using. Have a look at my other videos and you’ll see why. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kv2Ef1oNXBs.html If you are looking at iPad then either Loopy HD or Quantiloop are the ones to go for. 👍🏻

Thank you so very much 🙏

You can pan on the rc300 (sort of) by using the different outputs. This gives you a lot more control and can output to your console. I now use a HeadRush Looperboard and that has panning directly in the board and 4 outs as well. Have a look at the volume decay of the loops.. it can become a wall of sound.. so it’s nice to just put the loop decay around 95-96% and each loop overdub will get ever so slightly quieter making sure you don’t overload the sound. Hope that makes sense.

@@JohnPaulMusicUK Thanks, good tips :)

You are very welcome 🙏🏻

+uke4free hey! You are welcome! Thanks for watching! 👍🏻

Wow..yeah lots of lovely toys and some amazing sounds from that Kronos. Used to have the Trinity years ago which helped me create my first album! Then bought the Korg Radias.. what a beast! Don’t have it anymore. For me, with looping I go one of two ways. One, just to create a quick beat and melody to play over the top of or two, create a whole track with looping. It can be a tempting rabbit hole to go down when you get lost in looping. Hehe. Thanks for sharing your experience.

@@JohnPaulMusicUK same here. I put down just simple click .tamborine & do the overdubs live.. That way its always fresh n interesting for the audience..

Hey John. That’s a very clever way to use the rc30. There is no wrong way. Yes it’s meant to be a looper first but if your audience are happy then no worries. 👍🏻 I don’t know anyone who has filled the 3 hour memory so you would be the first! Hehe. My advice is (if you haven’t already) get a secondary pedal for switching (boss fs-6 or fs-7) to help you go up and down the banks quicker. Just just have to remember the order of what track is where.. hehe.

Thanks! 🙏🏻

Yes. Simplest way is to use the jacks. I use one jack for vocal and other for guitar and that way I can ‘dual mono’ out to the PA. You can even send the loops to sub out on the RC300 so you can have 4 channels to mix. If you use the built in XLR, unfortunately it comes out of both channels.

If you are gonna spend that amount of money with the RC300, I would really look now at either the TC-Helicon Voicelive 3 Extreme or the HeadRush LooperBoard. They are expensive but the power and functionality superseeds the rc300 now as its so old. However, the rc-300 keeps its popularity cause its looping quantisation is good. If you have an iphone or iPad, try Quantiloop app - its like a pedalboard but on your phone! I have a video about it if you are interested. 👍🏻

@@JohnPaulMusicUK , thanks.... I have been researching a lot in the last few months, and have a Ditto on the way.... I've also been looking into Headrush Gigboard for guitar, amd noticed the looperboard... When we get far enough along I think that would probably be a great tool, and the UI with its touch screen will be good for my kiddo.... For now I may look at the RC-30 as a way to get Mic and Guitar looping for less cost, to get started.... For now we will noodle with the Ditto a while... Thanks again for the reply.

Hey Anthony. Glad I can help. Regarding the backing tracks, you should be able to use the 99 saved patches for them or use the AUX cable and just run the backing tracks from the phone. 👍🏻 Hope that helps.

@@JohnPaulMusicUK Okay. Thanks

Yes you can. However, with the new RC-500 which replaces the RC-30 you’re getting a much better sound and you can still have the independent lengths of loops

Hey Aaron. So the answer is YES! :-) All the RC range say they are stereo but the outputs can work as ‘dual mono’ just as you want. 👍🏻 The downside is you might get added noise on the side you are not recording into. The other downside is that the Mic input will come out of both but if your not using the mic input then that shouldn’t be a worry for you. 👍🏻

Hey! 👋 It’s a great combination. So yeah.. the way I do it is quite simply 2 XLR TO 1/4 TS cables into the left and right instrument input of the looper then the output I then put into the speaker / mixer as dual mono.. but go into the TC-Helton and change the output to dual mono as well, otherwise you will get both coming out of both sides! Now the slight downside is that you are mono for the vocal and the guitar so any effects are mono.. but the MASSIVE upside is that you can mix them properly. This to me is way more important. The other option is you can go stereo in, stereo out but you have to get your mix levels right at the TC-Helicon stage.. which is obviously a good thing to do.. but the other way just means you have more control on stage. Hope this helps? Let me know if that makes sense.

@@JohnPaulMusicUK Ya I get it! I will give both set ups a try. I was running the TC mono out then in to the mic imput on the RC 50.....not the best option for control. Thanks again JohnPaul!

RRBTZ hey so I’ve had quite a few people ask me about this so here is my video all about the plugging in / cabling of it ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tErt9uASsPs.html

It was a game changing device and is still used by loads of people! 👍🏻

will it do verse chorus

@@cyprussid It has 99 separate memory slots (each one with two separate tracks), so you can, say, use one memory slot for a verse and another one for a chorus, and switch back and forth. HOWEVER, switching from verse to chorus and back again with your feet is not so easy because you need to connect an external foot switch like the Boss FS-5U and hold it down for two seconds. Or you could just use one memory slot and put the verse on track 1 and the chorus on track 2, then switch back and forth between the two, but if the verse and chorus are not equal in length you will need to time the switch perfectly, which is nearly impossible.

Hey. So with the rc300 it has a separate sub out so you can route vocals to one place and guitar to another. I have done this and it works well. with the rc30, the way to do this is dual mono - not using the xlr in as it outputs to both the left and the right. I made a video about this exact thing - check it out - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tErt9uASsPs.html

@@JohnPaulMusicUK Thank you very much! I will check out the link!

Enjoy

Hi Piment 👋 So I have played around with the 505 yeah and the fundamental thing is that you have to use your hands, however I have seen one girl using her feet but barefoot! Hehe. The other advantages of the 505 is the effects and the layout of the pedals and volume controls for each loop.. they are very good, more intuitive and have both input and output effects. The alternative is to look at a software looper like Loopy HD or Quantiloop Pro on an iPad if you have one and invest in a footpedal controller.. but then it all starts adding up. You can add a foot switch to the 505 to be, handsfree.. but its limited but maybe worth trying out (wow, Keys Harp & Trumpet.. what a combination! Awesome). Please let em know what you decide. Maybe pick up a 505 somewhere you know you can return it if used. Hope this helps. 👍🏻

​@@JohnPaulMusicUK many thanks for your comprehensive and very quick answer ! That is very appreciated. I have a friend who has both the 300 and 505 so I believe the best is to borrow them and then make a choice ! But I already like the idea of being able to juggle with 5 recordings in the loop and actually I believe I'd rather avoid having a tablet. If you want to have a look at my first video clip that I realised a few weeks ago with a little song featuring keyboard/harmonica/trumpet/voice, feel free to go to my channel ;)

Didn't Ed Sheeran use the RC30 at one of his live concerts once?

Yep.. he used it for quite a lot at the beginning. That was his looper - he learnt everything about it and mastered it.

Hey. So thanks for reaching out. This is a slight issue that I've stumbled upon before. in my option, its best to have the tempo sync off and a neat little track is to tap the tempo out on the stop button (I used to use Track 3 stop button all the time as i like to tap out the tempo with my right foot). Now thats if you want to use the tempo straight away. If you want to record from the beginning and let the RC-300 figure out your loop then, Turn the drum machine on. Turn the volume all the way down. That alone should fix your problem. If the drum machine is off, the RC-300 tries to guess your tempo based on the length of your loop. This is very helpful if you don't want to tap tempo and don't know what your tempo is going to be. Hope this helps. get back to me on this.

@@JohnPaulMusicUK Thanks so much for the answer and a Happy New Year! ✨ I have a few questions about the two options you suggested that I hope will help me figure out what prevents me from achieving this result (having a seamless loop without using the rhythm track): 1. When I tap the tempo, it will automatically turn on the Rhythm (drum machine). Of course, I turn the rhythm volume all the way down beforehand to play without hearing it. I believe that In this setting, the loop's tempo will be synced to the tempo I taped, so what is the meaning of setting the tempo sync off on the initial track? I'm asking this question because I'm not 100% sure that the tempo sync option also applies to syncing with the RC-300 rhythm track; I heard that the tempo sync on/off refers only to the sync between the tracks to the tempo of the initial track. If this is true, then I guess there is no meaning to the tempo sync setting of the initial track - its tempo will be determined anyway by the rhythm button status (when the rhythm button is on - the tempo will be synced to the same rhythm tempo and when it's off - it will be in the original tempo). 2. I think I'm missing something on the second option's explanation: if I turn the drum machine on, then the RC-300 will ignore the original tempo and set the loop tempo by its current rhythm tempo, no? Thanks again John for your great help! 🙏✌

on the rc30, that’s one of the limitations. there is a button press to activate them but you end up doing an Irish jug dance and it’s all about timing. this is where the rc300 steps in.

+Ironic Punishment Division hey man. So yes if you attach the optional foot switch you can flip instantaneously. 👍🏻

You certainly can. I have done that many times. In Fact have a look at this video that is RIGHT up your street. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tErt9uASsPs.html

So.. from my understanding, the FS-6 can control a few things and the B button will swap over from loop A to loop B which is really handy instead of holing down. But... to get what you want, you would have to press that, whilst double tapping the loop record pedal to tell loop A to stop, then press again to record again for loop B to start! It’s gonna end up being pretty messy and with a silence or gap. Best advice - RC300 or a looper that will work in serial mode like Quantiloop on the iPad if you have one.

Yeah that correct. And no you shouldn’t need a powered mic. I have an XLR to jack and its fine. No powered mic needed. 👍🏻

For bigger gigs I currently have a tiny 3 track mixer which I plug in the left side. This way I keep the right side purely guitar so that the right output can be plugged into a guitar amp. I used the usb connectivity to make all my drum loops panned to the left too. Might seam overly complicated but it works for me

Splitting the feeds.. Thats a great idea! 👍🏻

Thank you Yes you can have a few options with the optional pedal. 👍🏻

@@JohnPaulMusicUK So can you seamlessly switch between the 2 loops with a 5u f s/w?

Yes. You can choose Memory up, Memory down, Effects On/Off, Selecting Effects

Hey David. Oooh! So many options! I would be looking at the Headrush Looperboard or have a look at the Aeros Loop Studio. Its getting the mix right which might be hard. The Looperboard is contstantly being updated and hopefully can record to it at the same time as perform / loop with it. However.. for that money, you could get separates - a mixer with a built in recorder like the Zoom L-8. Have a look at David Shanhun’s video and send him a message - (tell him I sent you). He loops and plays live and records with the L-8 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IFIaJIFWJ0M.html

@@JohnPaulMusicUK currently we are as simple as it goes, a Boss RC-3. It's fine as we're just having fun and it's not about recording ourselves, but I wish I'd bought the RC-300 with that memory, so we could go over something afterwards again without having to delete anything. Tackling that problem brought me to Loopy HD, which looks cool, but there is that interface problem between the keyboard and Loopy. You're using Focusrite, which looks simple enough, but can I even use it that way, ie, is it enough?

You coulduse it that way, yeah. If you guys are running through a mixer, check if the mixer can double up as a USB audio interface and then your sorted. If not, then just get a 2 in audio interface (I like the 2i2 cause the pre’s are lovely and it works really well both on a computer and iOS). Or better yet invest in a mixer to take every mic and instrument you need that has USB audio interface, then you just need the Apple Camera Adapter and then you are sorted. 👍🏻

This product for example, could solve it - 8 channel mixer built in USB connectivity. Could use live as well as recording. www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/SubZero-SZ-MIX08USB-8-Channel-USB-Mixer-Interface/UUA

Hello 👋 So if you on day 1 make and save a loop, on day 2, you can play the loop and add to it (overdub), you can then save again but then you wouldn’t be able to take the day 2 overdub off. But if you wanted to setup a loop to then play with, yeah totally you can do that. 👍🏻

JohnPaul Music UK thanks so much for the response ! You have helped me with so many technical problems with my setup that even the places where I bought the equipment couldn’t help me.. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us because if your not tech guy some of this stuff can be overwhelming. Thanks again , stay safe .

You’re welcome You can always support me and the channel and buy me a coffee sometime. 👍🏻 www.buymeacoffee.com/johnpaulmusicuk

JohnPaul Music UK just bought you a few cups ! Enjoy and thanks again

Thankyou so much. It really does make a difference! 👍🏻

Yes you could plug in a piano / synth

No. Sounds like a possible grounding issue. Do you get the same problem on Batteries? Could be the power port or needs further investigation with a service.

Hey Mj312. So unfortunately, this is the learning curve of the RC-30. the tracks are synced and not independent. this was a massive selling point of the RC-300 when it first came out, that being 3 'independent' loops. You can do a couple of different things.. but the simplest one would be to switch over the tracks so the but the beat on channel 1 and the vocals on channel 2. The first channel is always the one that sets the tempo and timing.. but then you have the issue of creating everything in an order you done like. Other than constantly counting, it's going to be difficult. The other quick fix is to double tap to stop the loop at some point during the performance and then quickly starting again, then you know you are on bar 1 beat 1 and then bring the track 2 in when you need to.. again, practice. The independent loops were a luxury but its for exact reasons like this that make it really really useful!

JohnPaul Music UK ahhhh ok thank you .. man this is like trying to learn a new science .. every step I take forward theres 2 stumbles backwards .. a quick double tap is the only way to stop both tracks correct ? I know it sounds crazy but the damn double tap while trying to sing and play always messes me up and completely throws me off ! Lol ok well I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me .. if you can leave your link for me . I owe you a few cups of coffee my friend . Thanks for always going above and beyond to answer my questions.

No worries. Yeah it is. Aww thank you 🙏 www.buymeacoffee.com/johnpaulmusicuk

JohnPaul Music UK thanks John ! I will buy you a few cups because I appreciate your time . One more question in relation to my first question.. ok so If I put the rhythm on track 1 and the chorus backup vocals on track 2 how do I ensure that the vocals correlate with the beat.. for example if I record the chorus with the beat playing it will pick it up in the recording so then I will have the rhythm on track 1 and the the chorus and Rhythm on track 2 .. won’t they interfere with each other ? And if I record the chorus without the rhythm playing it might be off beat so when I kick the chorus in it will sound off .. sorry man , I’m trying to get better at this but there’s so many tech questions.. not sure if I’m even asking the question right but you seem to understand my uneducated looping terminology lol

Best thing I can suggest is to make the beat with certain things in that you know are on bar 1 , beat 1 (like a crash or cymbal sound) and towards the end so there is a mental reminder you are coming up to the end of the phrase. I do this with beat boxing noises or with guitar rhythmic strumming. Hope that helps and makes sense.

Hey Mario 👋 The short answer is no. It’s doesn’t have a “serial” mode.The idea behind the RC30 is that you can do two phrases that play together (like a drum beat and chord progression). But the sneaky way to do this would be to create the chords for the chorus or the verse on loop 2, then turn them off. Play the other part (for example the verse) manually and then when you get to the chorus, start loop 2. It’s not true serial mode. The RC300 does do this and the HeadRush Looperboard takes it one further by having 5 modes but having a “serial/sync” mode which is awesome. It keeps loop 1 as a rhythm track whilst loops 2, 3 & 4 turn into Serial mode A, B & C.

@@JohnPaulMusicUK thank you so much. Thats a nice tric. I good friend of me who's in his last stadium, give me his whole stage gear set to me. Line 6 stagesource 2 the rc 30 and Digitech vocalist 4. So i have dubbel gear now. I will put mine for sale including the Rc 30. And buy a Rc 300. I play Ukelele in Church now. After 30 years using drugs. I am clean now for 4 years. My Uke's are Kala Triback Limited edition tenor ukelele, with Misi pick-up . And a Vintage 1927 Martin Style 2 soprano ukelele. Thank you so again so much. Greetings from the Netherlands.

What an amazing opportunity you have been given by your friend and congratulations for keeping clean for 4 years! Amazing!! Just think about the end result for your music and what you want to happen and ‘how’ you want to loop. If you are getting into looping, I created some fun Loop T-shirts and hoodies. Take a look. teespring.com/en-GB/howdouloop?pid=389&cid=100025

@@JohnPaulMusicUK With the RC30, I haven't figured how to get the other track playing automatically the instant the current track ends; it starts playing immediately. But if you switch to another preset, it will queue it and start playing at the end of the current preset. So you could store your verse in one preset and chorus in another. I didn't know more expensive loopers had serial playback - thanks for mentioning that. Too bad the prices are hard to justify if you're not gigging.

Thank you so much 🙏

Check out the Aeros Loop Studio - might be your answer. 👍🏻