Mooer GL100 Groove Loop

Throughout its history in electric guitar pedal manufacturing, MOOER has deployed much of its innovative know-how in its loop pedal range, most notably the VP3 Loopation of 2023. Since then, MOOER engineers have been hard at work designing the GL100, a feature-rich, dual-feetwitch stereo loop pedal that doubles as a drum machine. It offers much more than its predecessors.

Perhaps MOOER's most impressive enhancement to the GL100 is the loop recording time it can offer. The pedal supports up to 300 minutes of recording, which can be saved manually or automatically in 100 different locations.

The two foot switches are the main means of controlling this function. Short or prolonged presses trigger recording, playback, overwriting, undo and, above all, undo and redo functions. Most importantly, the pedal's position-skipping function gives users the ability to switch from one storage location to another using the footswitches, even in the middle of a performance. In this way, they can play fully structured songs from loops.

In synchronization with the phrase looper, GL100 users can also exploit the pedal's built-in drum machine. This offers 11 variations of 20 different rhythm styles, in a variety of rhythm signatures. Virtually all musical genres are covered, whether for concerts, rehearsals or simply experimenting at home. Operation is straightforward: it's triggered by foot switches, modified via the touchscreen and synchronized with tap tempo. Four different stop modes ensure perfect rhythm endings. What's more, MOOER has integrated its AI Band technology for the first time, an intelligent accompaniment system that automatically adapts drum rhythms to the sound of the guitar in real time, for effortless synchronization.

In particular, MOOER has gone to great lengths to simplify the recording of perfect loops with the GL100. For example, the countdown function is highly intuitive, as is the auto-record function. The latter captures perfect loops thanks to signal detection, eliminating the need to press the pedal at the right moment. Best of all, this signal detection function can be activated or deactivated at the touch of a button, and the signal threshold is easily adjustable to suit instruments with varying signal ranges.

A simple press of the pedal also activates various drum synchronization functions: stopping the rhythm pattern after one bar, repeating or resetting the looper. This makes it easy to perfect the end and beginning of a loop, not just its beginning. To this end, an internal quantization function is active to ensure perfect triggering and stopping of the recording, even if there's a slight delay when the pedal is pressed. Best of all, the phrase looper incorporates a time-stretching function, enabling you to modify the tempo of a recorded loop without altering its pitch. In this way, any loop can be perfectly synchronized with the drum machine.

As with all MOOER products, the team's designers have pushed the boundaries of user experience. Despite the multitude of features built into such a compact device, multi-function footswitches, potentiometers and, above all, MOOER's signature touchscreen are all present in this pedal for optimal dynamic use. For example, there are two ways of browsing phrase loops: via the pedal's menu encoder, or by holding down the footswitches. This dual function offers dynamic loop control and phrase selection in real time, without interrupting guitar playing.

What's more, the GL100 sets itself apart from previous MOOER loopers with its flexible audio routing options. As you'd expect from a modern looper pedal, it features stereo inputs and outputs. These inputs and outputs can be used with different amplifiers or instruments, depending on the routing settings, enabling musicians to coordinate complex loops and drum beats in a coherent and diffuse way. Features include mono connections, stereo connections and even isolation of drum machine and instrument channels.

Finally, the GL100 comes with its own MOOER Studio software, compatible with Windows and iOS. This software lets you record, export, import and delete phrases, increasing the device's storage capacity. It can also download firmware updates when available, and perform a factory reset if necessary. In short, this pedal offers an extensive demonstration of MOOER's impressive looper and drum machine functions, while emphasizing an innovative user experience.