Okay, well today I was woken up by a knock on the door. I opened it to find a cheery mail woman holding a box that seemed to be emitting a strange aura. I said "Where do I sign?" and she said "Just take the fu-cking thing" and ran off. SO I open the box, and a beam of white light blew straight through the ceiling. When I thought it was safe, I looked inside to find a small blue pedal with the words "Maneco Nanolooper: Clayton 38" painted stylishly on top. I wept.

So onto the review:

This Nanolooper is heavily modified by Juan... I couldnt say exactly how, as I never sat down with the original... but it was a bit different than I was expecting. I was kind of baffled for the first 20 minutes or so... then I began to figure things out. Basically, I was expecting your classic sample/hold delay, pitch shifting, fun box with the added bonus of enormous amounts of time... but what I have here is so much more than I expected.

First, when in overdub mode... we have an incredible delay, with tons of functionality due to the three gate settings. I am in love with the lo-fi setting... but both the normal and "warm settings sound great as well for your pristine delays. Here is where the personality of the Maneco comes in. With the repeats cranked... things can get out of control fairly quickly... but in a lovely way. I have found that if I let my delays trail for long in lo-fi mode, they slowly start to regenerate in an insanely dirty and grainy manner, which just sounds beautiful as long as you are on the knob to catch it before it goes completely ape**** and blows up you amp. The reverse delays are stunning... there is a seperate switch that changes the delay from normal, reverse, and seemingly more reverse(havent figured out yet)... and its just lovely. Plus, with the regenerative and pitch shifting options... I am simply inspired by the Nanolooper as a delay pedal alone.

On to the looping function... now, the overdub mode I just mentioned provides you with the ability to crank the feedback and loop with it in the same way I do with my RDS's, DD-20, D12, whathaveyou... but the static and infinite(?) modes give me the ability to use it in the same manner I would a sample/play looper. I think these were the modifications Juan made... and they are just another reason why this is simply the best looper in my rig. I can now simply record parts in the same way I could with the RC-20 or DL-4, and pitchshift them, change the gate/filters, use the reverse options etc... and in the flip of a switch adjust the regenerative nuances and such. Its just such a joy to see work out this perfectly. The degree to which you can change the pitch is just MASSIVE! The pedal has so many options which provide it with the "personality" that sets it apart from your standard PDS/RDS... or whatever other looper you can point out. I need to spend more time with it to fully comprehend what I can do... but its already a mainstay in the rig without a doubt.

Thanks Juan... You delivered more than I expected... as expected... errrr... yeah

I will add more in the near future... but I am glowing. Thank Maneco next time you see him, for making these wonderful pedals that noone else is even attempting.

I will post pictures soon, so you can see my name on it! If the thing arrived to me dead as a doornail, I would probably still have it in my rig, as its the closest I can come to saying that I have my own signature pedal... I wont say that though, unless Juan gives his blessing!

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My music:

www.soundclick.com/Clayton38

" When they fell out of the emptiness, they must have brought along... space's lonliness... space's lonliness"

Sounds awesome, I'd love to hear some sound clips of that pedal.

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My gear (updated 10-3-04)
Pic of my gear (updated 10-18-04)
Tubefreak.com; knowledge is power

If only shipping wasnt so much...

Id pay it though, if I had the money.

And does it really have your name on it? I dont know why I find that so cool.

Have fun man.. it seems perfect!

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-c}{
things I touch with my feet and fingers______ ( <--- link )

I have been playing with it all day... give me an hour or two and I will post some beautiful soundclips, if Fiveways hosts them for me.

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My music:

www.soundclick.com/Clayton38

" When they fell out of the emptiness, they must have brought along... space's lonliness... space's lonliness"

ME TOO! I was giggling like a schoolgirl!

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My music:

www.soundclick.com/Clayton38

" When they fell out of the emptiness, they must have brought along... space's lonliness... space's lonliness"

How big are they? You can put them on my Tripod account if you want

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-c}{
things I touch with my feet and fingers______ ( <--- link )

I will MP3 them, so they will be really small...

Dont wait up, but I will post when I have some done... thankyou!

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My music:

www.soundclick.com/Clayton38

" When they fell out of the emptiness, they must have brought along... space's lonliness... space's lonliness"

Nice! I'm glad to you hear you got it. I sooo can't wait to hear clips of it and photos for that matter!

Thats the first time I'd heard of such a pedal, but it sounds incredible. Bet they don't ship to the UK do they...

[edit] sorry double post could someone delete this?

I'm sure they would... though I could be wrong!

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My music:

www.soundclick.com/Clayton38

" When they fell out of the emptiness, they must have brought along... space's lonliness... space's lonliness"

I found the website but couldn't find any ordering information, how do you go about getting one?

E-mail Juan... his information should be somewhere on the page, but thats the only thing I could suggest. He will contact you as soon as he can, and is an all around nice guy. He will tell you everything you need to know.

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My music:

www.soundclick.com/Clayton38

" When they fell out of the emptiness, they must have brought along... space's lonliness... space's lonliness"

So let me get this straight... it functions as a static looper too? With pitch-shifting control, filters, and control over the feedback? You're kidding me. I MUST HAVE IT.

How much did you end up paying for it?

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-Martin
A Man, A Plan, A Canal featuring my equipment and songs

Fender Jazzmaster/Univox Rickenbacker 360-12 copy/reissue Danelectro U2 -> Zoom Ultra Fuzz, Boss TU-2, Ibanez DE-7, Digitech PDS 2000, Boss DD-20 -> Fender Ultimate Stereo Chorus/Gibson Discoverer

YUP! Juan and I worked out a trade for a Magicstomp, which he has trouble getting in his country. So the price of one of those... though I will say, and I probably should have said it from the beginning... its a heavily modified nanolooper that Juan doesnt sell. He had made it for personal used before he decided to send it over to me as a gift, just because he is such a nice guy... so its the only one, and he has expressed to me that he doesnt have the intention to make anymore at the moment. So if you were to talk to him... you would have to request the modifications, as I'm sure that he would do the same thing for others if asked. I dont know however, how this might change the price of a nanolooper, as I'm not sure how labor-intensive it is to make one in this manner. As far as Ive heard, the normal nanos are your standard sample/hold delays... so the static looping functions are non-existant, plus mine has an increased delay time... I didnt get the specifics from Juan yet, but he said "almost one minute"!!!!

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My music:

www.soundclick.com/Clayton38

" When they fell out of the emptiness, they must have brought along... space's lonliness... space's lonliness"