Loop-Master Pedals Loop-Master Clean/Dirty Loop Pedal Switcher (Vertical Layout)

The Loop-Master Clean/Dirty Loop Pedal Switcher (Vertical Layout) is a switching pedal from Loop-Master Pedals, listed by the maker under its Clean/Dirty Pedal Switchers for Guitar range¹. Its job is to split a pedalboard into two separate effects loops, one for your clean pedals and one for your dirt pedals, and switch between them with a single footswitch action instead of tapping several pedals on and off in sequence.

The idea is simple and practical. Many players keep one group of pedals for a clean sound, maybe compression, modulation or delay, and a different group for dirt, such as overdrive, distortion or fuzz. Without a switcher, moving between those sounds means stepping on multiple pedals in the right order, mid-song. A clean/dirty loop switcher puts both pedal groups on their own loops, wired through send and return jacks, so one selection routes the guitar through the clean loop and the other routes it through the dirty loop.

What it does: switching between clean and dirty pedal loops

Loop-Master Pedals lists this unit as part of its Clean/Dirty Pedal Switchers for Guitar category, a family of switchers built around the same two-loop concept¹. The maker's product line shows the same core function offered in many formats: the Clean/Dirty Loop Pedal Switcher in a vertical layout, a Hybrid version, a Hybrid II, a Hybrid with tuner out in strip form, a version with combinable loops in strip form, Clean/Dirty/Channel Switcher variants with combinable loops in both pedal and strip formats, and a stereo A/B two-loop version²³⁴⁵⁶⁷.

For a player, the practical benefit is speed and consistency. Both loops stay wired at all times, and the switcher decides which one the signal visits. That means your clean pedals and your dirty pedals can each keep their settings untouched, and you never have to re-tap a row of pedals to move between a clean verse sound and a dirty chorus sound.

The stereo option in the range is worth noting for players running two amps or a stereo rig: Loop-Master's Stereo Clean/Dirty A/B 2-Loop Pedal Switcher carries the same clean/dirty concept in a stereo, two-loop format⁷.

Vertical, horizontal and other Loop-Master versions

The layout in the name refers to the physical orientation of the unit. Loop-Master sells the Clean/Dirty Loop Pedal Switcher in a vertical layout and in a horizontal layout, the same switching function in two different footprints¹². The vertical layout suits boards where depth is tighter than width, while the horizontal layout spreads the jacks and switches side to side. There is also a Micro Clean/Dirty Loop Pedal Switcher in a vertical layout, aimed at smaller boards³.

Beyond layout, the range branches by feature:

Combinable loops, offered on several of these models, let the two loops run together rather than only one at a time, which opens up sounds where both the clean and dirty pedal groups are active⁹. Master bypass, found on the PRO versions, takes the whole switcher and both loops out of the signal path for a straight-through sound¹⁵. The Deluxe Clean/Dirty Loop Switcher w/Combinable Loops sits at the larger end of the range¹⁶.

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