Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is the artist most players picture when they think of live looping. BOSS's own guides point to him as the famous example of a performer building complete songs on stage with a looping pedal: a beat tapped out on the guitar body, a chord progression layered over it, vocal parts stacked on top, all recorded and replayed in real time while he keeps playing¹. As BOSS's Ed Lim puts it, his core performance setup comes down to three parts: "vocals, guitar, and looping"².

Guitar World calls him the biggest champion of looping right now, with much of his live show built around an acoustic guitar and his voice, "all sent, of course, through his custom-built Chewie II looper 'board"³. GuitarPlayer credits him with popularizing looper pedals for performance, building "songs from thin air, using just an acoustic and a looper pedal"⁴.

The sound: vocals, guitar and live looping

A loop pedal records what you play, plays it back, and lets you layer more parts on top while the first one keeps repeating¹⁰. Sheeran's version of this is an acoustic-guitar approach shared by players like KT Tunstall and Newton Faulkner: the guitar body becomes a percussion instrument, with beats tapped out before chord progressions are looped over them¹. His voice goes through the same system, so vocal hooks become layers of the arrangement alongside the guitar²³.

The result is what BOSS's Henry Yates calls an epic one-person symphony, naming Sheeran alongside artists who create entire arrangements solo through a Loop Station¹¹. MusicRadar describes how he earned his reputation "creating a one-man-band sound with a Boss Loop"⁷.

Building tracks on a BOSS Loop Station

Sheeran's looping started early. BOSS's history of the Loop Station line notes that the RC-20XL, launched in 2004 with a sixteen-minute recording capacity, "put a teenage Ed Sheeran on his road to the stadium league"⁵. BOSS's Ed Lim describes what he did with it:

"He used his bright red BOSS RC-20XL to turn his solo acoustic setlist into a dynamic, multi-layered live performance."

Ed Lim, BOSS Articles²

The BOSS buying guides describe him building tracks on the fly during live sets, with a widely seen video of him using a BOSS Loop Station showing exactly how he constructs a song layer by layer¹. Later, Guitar World's reviews editor calls the RC-30 "the most famous looper on the planet, thanks to Ed Sheeran using the RC-30 for years"⁶.

Looper	Role in his playing
BOSS RC-20XL	His first looper, from his teenage years⁵
BOSS RC-30	Used for years⁶
Chewie II looper 'board	Custom-built rig at the heart of his live show³
Sheeran Looper X	What he uses on his current stadium tour⁷

His own pedals: Sheeran Loopers

Sheeran now designs loopers himself. The Sheeran Looper+ is a dual-track looper pedal designed by Ed Sheeran and his production team, with two die-cast aluminum pedals built with the same precision and materials as his stadium stage looper⁸. RockBoard's PedalPedia describes it as using custom DSP powered by HeadRush, with a 1.8" color screen and an RGB LED loop status ring for performance information¹². Guitar World notes it was designed with his long-time collaborator, Trevor Dawkins¹³.

The Sheeran Looper X is a multi-track looper workstation, also designed by Sheeran and his production team, expanding on the features of his custom stadium stage looper⁹. MusicRadar reported in February 2024 that "the X is what Sheeran is using to play stadiums around the world"⁷.

Guitar World's review of the Looper+ found the simplicity of the design to be its strength:

"Its simplicity makes the Looper + a compelling, easy-to-use pedal. One that can inspire you to create new music in an organic way - by jamming over your own ideas."

Chris, Guitar World³

Sheeran's standalone pedals are a recent development. His own product pages describe them as the first time his standalone looper pedals have been made available for creators and musicians everywhere⁸.

Questions

What loop pedal does Ed Sheeran use?

He started on a bright red BOSS RC-20XL as a teenager, and Guitar World's reviews editor notes he used the BOSS RC-30 for years. On his current stadium tours he plays through his custom-built Chewie II looper 'board, and he now uses the Sheeran Looper X, a multi-track looper workstation he designed with his production team.

How does Ed Sheeran loop live on stage?

He sends his acoustic guitar and his voice through his looper, tapping percussive beats on the guitar body, then layering chord progressions and vocal parts on top to build full arrangements on the fly. BOSS describes his core setup as three parts: vocals, guitar, and looping, all routed through his custom Chewie II looper 'board.

Does Ed Sheeran play with a band or alone?

Much of his live show is built around an acoustic guitar and his voice alone, with the looper supplying the layers a band would otherwise provide. MusicRadar describes how he earned his reputation creating a one-man-band sound with a BOSS Loop Station, turning a solo acoustic setlist into a dynamic, multi-layered live performance.

Is Ed Sheeran's looping done live or pre-recorded?

It is done live. His looping is the show: he records, layers and triggers parts in real time, building tracks on the fly during live sets, which is exactly what made his solo performances famous. The loopers he uses, from the BOSS RC-20XL onward, are built for recording and layering sounds as you go.