Bonsai Music Looper - The Ruler Of The Entry Level Segment

As one of our top picks for the title of the best cheap looper pedal, the Bonsai Music Looper is a small, yet highly effective device that will get the job done at a fair price. Featuring a surprisingly high-end set of certain components, this fella gives away an impression that's pretty much anything but cheap. From looks to sound quality and performance, this is one solid piece of music equipment. Simplicity is indeed word of the day with Bonsai, but it still easily covers the needs of vast majority of musicians out there. Anyhow, we took it out for a spin and wrote a little review, make sure to check it out below.

Features

The pedal utilizes a metal casing that's solid and roadworthy. Just don't bash it around too much and it will serve you well for a long time. Offering 48 kHz 24-bit uncompressed high-quality audio, the device surprised us with the ability to store up to 10 minutes of looping, which is way more than enough for just about any player and any live show out there. This is a true bypass mono pedal, meaning that it comes with a single input and one output. The limitations of mono pedals are that on one hand you can't use stereo rigs and on the other hand you can only plug in a single instrument into the pedal. And yes, that's quite alright with the majority of players once again. Further on up the road, Bonsai offers unlimited overdubs as fell as the undo and redo functions. To power this boy, you will need a standard 9V power supply, which is not included in the price tag.

Controls

Making things as simple as possible, the manufacturer opted to include just a single control knob and one footswitch to this product. This makes the pedal quite easy to use, as long as you master that tricky switch. The Level knob is used to adjust the amount of the loop effect that gets infused into your final audio output, while the footswitch is used to control the recording itself. Here's how it works – you tap the button once to start the recording, then tap it twice to end the recording once you're done with crafting the loop. Finally, you hold the button for a few seconds when you're done and want to erase the loop in order to make a new recording. It's quite simple and just takes a bit of foot practice to master.

Performance

Although things are always so much easier with more than a single footswitch, we have to give props to this guy in the ease of use department. The manufacturer made sure that the pedal operates smooth as a whistle, with zero crackle, sonic interference, latency of poor audio quality. So yes, it's easier when you have a separate footswitch and you don't have to tap dance over the pedal, but for a one-switch configuration, this thing is as smooth as they get. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYlioxwM2Fk

Value/Conclusion

When all is said and combined, this is a great deal. The looks are great, pro-level for sure; durability is high, the pedal is reliable, performance is top-notch, sound is natural and clear, the stomp-box is easy to use, and the price is most definitely in the budget-friendly sector. Good stuff! For more info about the Bonsai Music Looper, click here. For more Looper Pedals Currently On The Market, click here.