Zoom is attempting to conquer the compact looper pedal market and beat Boss and TC Electronic at their own game with the MS-90LP+ – a hugely feature-packed pedal that aims to inject limitlessness into guitar looping.
Benefitting from high-quality audio via 32-bit processing and “advanced analog circuitry”, it offers 13 hours of total capacity and 90 minutes of recording per loop. That means it can handle a full setlist in one fell swoop.
A prolonged loop cycle is certainly useful, as is being able to stack layers, effects, and rhythm patterns at each player’s inventive behest.
Five dedicated footswitches offer “total control” of looping frivolities, eliminating the need for double-tapping or holding footswitches. The pedal pairs handy controls for undoing and stopping loops – eliminating the ear-splitting consequences of mistakes – with quick access to loop effects and rhythms.
Dials for Memory, Loop effects, Rhythm, and accessing the Menu sit below a small screen that displays real-time waveforms. The screen also changes colors (red, green, and blue) to indicate if the pedal is busy delivering recording or playback, features, or using Loop effects for easy on-the-fly management.
A total of 100 loops and backing tracks can be saved and imported via USB. Eight effects – including reverse, double speed, hold, and tape stop – and 68 rhythmic patterns can also be found within to “add depth” to performances.
The little green machine also wants to make the art of looping easier for all. A quantize feature keeps loops and rhythm patterns perfectly in time by automatically aligning their start and end points, therefore ensuring everything is in sync rather than discombobulating both player and audience.
The MS-90LP+ can also be linked to external MIDI controllers for water-tight live performances, with the added benefit of syncing the pedal's loops to a drummer's metronome.
In all, Zoom says the pedal harnesses “the power of unlimited looping for endless ideas” despite its meager size. It is priced at $215.
Visit Zoom for the full lowdown.
Zoom has a rich history of condensing a plethora of possibilities into its small units. Arriving in October '23, the MS-50G+ said it could be any effect you want it to be, including an amp modeler with impulse responses as it vied to go toe-to-toe with the similarly targeted Line 6 HX One.
Another offering from its MultiStomp series, the MS-70CDR saw the revival of a shoegazer's cult classic. It added a host of long-requested features to boot with Zoom looking to repeat the “quiet revolution” the multi-effects pedal created upon its initial release in 2012.
