This Loop Pedal is TINY! - Lekato 9 Loop Pedal Review

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This week, I took delivery of a cheap, entry level loop pedal. Lekato kindly reached out and asked if I'd be interested in taking a look at their loop pedal, so I of course said YES PLEASE.
This is my initial thoughts and first impressions of the Lekato 9 Loop Pedal.
Thanks for watching :)
Gear I use:
BOSS RC-500 LOOP PEDAL [leetownsend.com/boss-rc500/]
SHURE SM7B MICROPHONE [leetownsend.com/shure-sm7b/]
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[@serafingarcia4532]

Good review. Thanks. I, too, was initially disappointed by the problem of not being able to clear a loop without blurting out audio, but I discovered that doing a double-tap and hold (instead of just a press-and-hold) seems to do the trick.

[@leetownsend]

Game changer!

[@RosieC97]

Great video, really informative. Thanks!

[@masarukamada]

With Lekato wireless page turner, we can substitute the two tiny buttons on the pedal by two foot switches if it is externally wired via a USB cable to the pedal. That greatly helps us booking the turnover you demonstrated and activating the tuner to mute the output all by stomping on the external buttons.

[@SugarySerial]

They could simply just make it so that a 4-5 second hold on the main switch activates the tuner, instead requiring an additional device for super basic functionality.

[@JohnSparksScotland]

Thank the Lord that someone tested the facility to use the separate loops to build a complex song pattern - potentially for a life gig if using the extra pedal. Cheers!!

[@JonSimonSid]

Can be powered from a power bank and using a USB Boost Converter Step Up Power Supply 9v - 12v. Polarity might have to be change around but works fine.

[@salahudinpallikkeel3954]

How do you do that? A power bank plugged straight into it's USB port won't work?

[@JonSimonSid]

Plug it into the power input on the back using the step up to 9volt but as I said in first comment always check the polarity on the pedal is the same as on the adapter stepper and if It's not swap i around.

[@triax7006]

@@JonSimonSid Could even just plug in a 9V battery wired to a lead with a 9v connector & correct size socket into the pedal. I would find any product with internal supplies to be troublesome, they are likely to need replacing after a while & whilst this no doubt has screws under the 2 rubber feet (I have this looper pedal) it really can cause problems if they leak & would make the unit larger anyway. I would also say this is perfect for use at home even though it could easily be used live. It's not feature packed but the features it does have are well suited for a non complicated pedal.

[@JonSimonSid]

@@triax7006 Agree could be a 9v but I do find a phone power bank, which are so cheap now, lasts me hours, obviously depending on the amps needed to run it. The bank just sits at the back of the effect and if used at gigs a bit of gaffer tape secures it to the floor or those those little rubber stick on thingies can stop it sliding around.

[@johncitizen3361]

I have one of these and you can actually power it with a USB cable, it runs fine on 5V into the usb port.

[@drumtutor1]

My unit powers up from the usb cable and doesn’t need a transformer, I only the transformer to power the unit on stage

[@RudolfZ]

Does it start recording immediately when pedal is clicked or does it wait for the guitar signal? Thanks for a great review!

[@triax7006]

Has to be as soon as you hit the switch because you would not know if it could record an audio signal accidently. Think of it as the switch simply as opening a record slot & the press again stops it.

[@RudolfZ]

@@triax7006 Thanks!

[@GRBAquatics]

Very Cool, Thankyou. Awesome Demo/Review. I find that by picking a 'vacant' Loop and holding one of the 'Tuner' buttons, it goes into an "Auto-Loop record" Mode displayed by a small 'dot' light above Loop number on screen, that starts recording automatically when you start playing. I find this my favorite way to record a loop. Problem I have with 'normal' loop mode is the 'speed' of the Loop seems to change from 'Relaxed' slow speed to 'Crazy' super fast as displayed by the 'blue or red' light circle changing speed , and I cannot work out how to 'manually set the Loop Speed. Any Tips how to set Loop Speed. All the best. Cheers

[@christopherwhite6496]

Holy shit. You're the first person to answer this question for me. Thank you ,I'm gonna go check that out right now!

[@gjw45]

@GRBAquatics The longer the loop, the slower the speed of the lights.A quick loop will run much faster. It sounds like you might have accidentally recorded a "Short" 1st loop by mistake. It can record banging of the guitar if it goes through the pickups (I've done this myself). I would delete the channel that you are having trouble with and start again with a fresh clean blank channel. There doesn't seem to be any way of changing the loop speed, but I do think there is some more features in the Auto Record function that I haven't worked out yet. You can activate it even if you already have a loop, but it doesn't sync the next loop....maybe it does nothing.

[@WesleyWattley-xy4fg]

I ger the same!

[@WesleyWattley-xy4fg]

Get the Same!😢

[@SugarySerial]

It really blows my mind that none of the single switch loopers (to my knowledge) have a simple option to set the double-tap stopping function to stop the loop at the end of its current cycle instead of an immediate stop. All it would take is a small selector to switch from immediate stop to end-of-cycle, or a dip switch to save on real estate. Reckon it would be very easy logic to implement, too. The tuner on this thing - no one wants to bend over in the middle of a set on stage to activate the tuner. Why not make it a 4-5 second hold on the main switch instead?? Once in tuner mode, a single tap could return to normal mode.

[@user-il8he2uj7h]

Hi. Great informative video. Thinking of buying one but two questions, do you lose all loops when you turn it off and can you save recorded loops to a laptop? Thanks

[@leetownsend]

Thanks for your comment. No, you don't lose the loops when you power the looper off. I believe I demonstrated that in the video. I'll try to do a follow-up video regarding the functionality when you connect it to a computer, as I haven't done it yet.

[@user-il8he2uj7h]

Thanks Lee. Must have missed that but I will watch it again!!

[@RobBrowne]

Hey Lee, do you know if the pedal can loop seamlessly with a drone sound? Also can it be setup to go into overdub when you set the loop?

[@leetownsend]

Hi Rob, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the drone sound. Regarding the dub thing, I haven't plugged the pedal into my computer yet so I don't know. I have my RC-500 set that way, hence why I keep clicking the pedal twice in the video (muscle memory)

[@RobBrowne]

If you were overdubbing a loop with a lingering reverb ambient sound/drone, would there be a gap or a pop in the loop pedal as it crosses the start of the playback? I like to continue recording through a loop to trail off the reverb and delays to keep it a smooth transition. Hope that makes sense.

[@G..G..]

I have my lekato on a mini board I made with an ultimate drive pedal. Dont know if that helps

[@jtdamomma]

I'm thinking about purchasing this looper for my son for Christmas. What do I need to do about the power supply? Does it need a separate power supply? I guess I need to know what I need for it to work? Help!

[@leetownsend]

Thanks for reaching out and great gift idea! Your son will love it 😀 I use a Boss PSA 230S power supply. You can get them on Amazon. Other commenters on this video have said that it can be powered by the USB port too, in which case, any micro USB charger will do the job. Please note that the USB option is untested by me. Hope this helps!

[@triax7006]

@@leetownsend The USB out of the pedal cannot be used to power the pedal unfortunately, I have the pedal & have tried it. I mean it is 9v anyway to power it & would need extra circuitry to convert to the 5v for USB

[@ankitsunam9407]

Can I use it with my acoustic guitar ???

[@leetownsend]

Yes, if you're playing through an amp or PA system

[@ankitsunam9407]

@@leetownsend Thank u sir

[@cwork5485]

I have this and the page turner pedal, to select the loops. Its OK but, its good value for money. But you really need two buttons with one for clear, double tapping is too unreliable. Its alsova shame you cant play any of the 9 tracks simultaneously.

[@jeroenbeltman515]

Aroud 12:00 you mention this 'problem', mainly due to the fact it has ily one button. That's why they sell a two-button floordevice for it. Check it out. I know, I know, shouldn't be, but there IS a solution. ;-)

[@SugarySerial]

I’m really shocked they don’t just give an option to end a loop at the end of the current cycle instead of immediately. Would be so simple to program into the device then let the user decide which mode (immediate vs end of cycle).

[@tobiaslieblein2686]

I doubt that it is capable of quantisizing the loops like Digitech or Boss pedals do. Calculating the time /bars is essential.

[@leetownsend]

It is only essential depending on what you want to do. For my use case, quantizing is not essential at all, as long as my timing is good, which it usually is.

[@tobiaslieblein2686]

Ok, I believe that, but what I meant is, no matter how good you timing is: did you nail the button right or did you land on it a little oblique so that your timing was good, but the release of the button was a bit late? I have seen demonstrations here showing that quite some testers had a little gap in their loop not even realizing it.. 😊 With calculating units, you don't even think of terms like "timing" they produce clean loops no matter how you hit the switch... Which is quite an advantage in live situations. I have a good timing too, but I have more fails than with the calculating units. Also the loop ends /starts with the release of the button - might not be audible but it is later than you felt it.

[@drumtutor1]

3:54

[@AitorImazGuitar]

For live music this pedal is useless. it has a big flaw. and it is that by keeping the button pressed to delete the recorded loop, it is activated several seconds before being deleted!

[@gjw45]

@AitorlmazGuitar If you double click and hold, it deletes without any noise. I hate double clicking, but it didn't take long to get the hang of it.

[@Niven42]

It's too big.

[@leetownsend]

That's what she said