Programmable Looper

[gogiche]

Hi guys.

Because for sure many of you have been trying to make or fantasized about
having or building a programmable looper I'm writing this post.

One of the reasons that I write this post is because, trough this forum I have met and spoked with
great people from all-around the globe willing to help each other and support each other in their
project regarding guitars-regarding music.

The other reason is that with the support form IvIark, Miro and many others, a guy like me (doctor)
has learned so much about electronics that was beyond my imagination.

After building 20 project or so, I have decided to build much larger and more complicated project,
project that will connect my hobby and that will work and perform high-end, home or on a stage- Programmable Looper.

After long time surfing the net I have come across an very interesting web-page: http://www.aresaudio.com/
The fact that it's in Italian didn't stop me because you have simple option in google, google translate.
After struggling with the language I found out that this web-site belongs to Mr. Franco Locaputo an audio engineer and enthusiastic musician form Bari- Italy
Checking his stuff I got to the point that I have told to my self: Hay man, this guy is really into this his project are professional high-end stuff that will be impossible for you to copy or make! I was wrong about the second one! His project are high-end as it gets but he was more than willing to help me build one!!!!
So I chose the MicroLooper. Because I live in a shit-whole called Macedonia and we don't have materials like the rest of the world, I was ordering piece by piece from ebay waiting at least a month for each order. It took me almost a year before I have finished my MicroLooper with the help of his inventor Mr.Franco. And guess what!?! I have looper station that is programmable high-end and performs fast as my i5 Intel! Also you have the option to reprogram it as you like!!!!!!

The forth reason why I'm writing this post is because Mr.Franco is tired of inventing because he thinks
that there is not enough market in Italy for his work. He is about to sell his programming station and quit inventing product that are amazing. I think by writing this post I'll get to your harts boys and girls and instead of supporting the big industry for guitar effects you'll turn to this man and check his work out.

My country is pour stupid country in the southern side of the Balkan. We have monthly salary of 200Eur and I have still managed to buy BOSS, TC, Marshall etc. The Micro Looper costed me little more than a half of the price of a looper and even do it has 4 loops not 8 or so, I'm proud to have Mr. Franco's invention.
I hope you will like his project and support him as much as you can so that he'll give more projects for free and don't give up the superb work that he does!
THANK YOU ALL

with Respect
Gogo      

[IvIark]

Great job Gogo, we'd all love to see an internal gutshot of that one!

[gogiche]

Thanks Mark,

So the Microluper is basically a PIC controller that can be programmed for anything,
from turning lights on/off to guitar stuff.
Franco made this possible by using PIC 18F2525.
The looper has more memories that you'll ever need, Franco is providing the .hex file
with the program already writen but that doesn't mean that if you know how to
program PICs that you can't change it- You can do what ever you like.
The project is based on two relatively simple boards (complicated for me do). One is for
the display with the PIC and the other is for the relays and power.


You can find this pics on Mr.Franco's web page.
Here is one from me


Here is development of my design for the case


My story was hard. No parts, no experience, no help from anyone. Because I didn't had money
I had to each my PCBs, experiment with parts etc... I have made beginner mistakes by forgetting
to mirror the PCB layout and etched a wrong sided bord :) I have over etched few display boards
burned some resistors and caps :) everything was part of the process :)
From http://www.aresaudio.com/ you can buy professional made PCBs, buy parts that you
need also purchase a hole kit if you like. Franco has some prices on his page but the DONATE option
is always welcome. I think he will be grateful if you show an interest and then negotiate about the
pricing- suggestions are always welcome :)

[Neil mcNasty]

Thanks for pointing me in this direction!
This looks like a man I would gladly support!
I've been looking for diy looper, but I have not found anything that cought my attention, until now....
He also has a lot of other stuff that I would like to check out as well, so I'm defenetly gonna order some pcb's/kits from him + donate, because of his willingness to share his knowledge/designs.

[gogiche]

Hi Neil,

Excellant man! I'll be glad to help as much as I can If you need something regarding
Ares projects.

I have chosen the simplest project from the loopers. The PicoLooper is very cool
it has a MIDI input connection and you can control more pedals with it.

The preamps are also interesting, yet they use quite expensive components, but
as we say- what you cook is what you'll eat :)

Some of the projects are not for free but some of them are. This is understandable for me
because Mr. Franco is inventing this stuff, he is not copying from someone.

Let me remind everyone that BOSS has unleashed loop station at NAMM 2014, Mr. Franco has
better version 5 years ago :)

[Goga]

So here again guys I'm activating this subject.

In the recent Premier Guitar magazine I saw this picture
and I have realized that in the recent years the prices of good quality programmable loopers is sky high offering nothing more then the Loopers that are engendered by my dear friend Franco Locaputo Ares Audio IT.

I'm glad to announce to you all that the Picolooper V4 will be available soon.

So visit his site www.aresaudio.it for more details about his kit projects.


p.s The page is in Italian but you can easily use google translate for info on your language