Now that you’ve spent some time using various pickups to achieve an even sound while looping your bass, lets focus on timing and techniques.

An easy way to start a loop is to focus on the ‘1.’ A consistant downbeat note, placed on the first beat, can set the pace of the song for the audience. For instance, play an A on the first beat of your loop (A-2-3-4). Remember to activate the loop on the downbeat. It also helps to continue playing through the loop, just to be sure everything is on track. theres nothing worse than a sudden ‘stop’ in the middle of your big solo. Try using a palm-mute technique, for the A, to give you a dub-like tone.
Once the loop is set, begin layering chordal ideas in C. Be sure to keep within the same time frame as the first loop. Now, try a slap bassline in G. Once the 3 loops are complete, you can now solo in Amin, G major etc. Once this feels comfortable, focus on adding notes on the ‘1 and’ beats during your melody/solo (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and so on).
Next we move on to which techniques work best for looping. Well… all of them. Slap bass, tapping, chordal, harmonics or just good old fashioned basslines can be used. Remember to try and keep your techniques seperated. Adding a slap bassline over another slap bassline can be confusing for the audience. Experiment with harmonics as a way to fill in some time during the loop. The main objective isn’t to throw in a million notes at once. Relax, take a breath and slowly add loops using different techniques. Be sure that your choice of a chord progression is placed evenly in the first loop, as to not leave an awkward space of silence that may be hard to follow.
In the video, I start with A double-stop chord on the 1, with a percussive line included (two birds with one stone I guess). Next I add a bassline, picking over the neck pickup. I then role the pickup blend to the rear, to create a melody and a third chordal loop. Now… I’m totally free to change effects, pickups, you name it. The bass is a ZON Sonus Standard, which comes stock with  Seymour Duncan SSB4 pickups and STC-3 preamp