Singular Sound BeatBuddy Mini 2

We use this as the basis of our 2 piece band playing our own songs. I don't think this would be much help if you are doing covers you would need the full beat buddy for that.

We use it as a drummer replacement as we don't have a drummer. Has plenty enough styles and flavours of each style. Is also great as a jamming tool. As a guitarist can be cool to jam over hip hop or reggae that I have never played over before so good for song writing experimenting genres and the such.

Solid machine is tough, simple to use.

Can't fault the sound it is what it is it is not a real drummer but going straight to the PA mixing desk it works well in the mix. I have recorded with it and there you need to eq it over a number of track
s to get it nice and beefy.
The fills and transitions work well as do the intro and outro we leave it to the machine for one or 2 songs. Would be nice to have some sort of remote so you can change the tempo and songs without bending down but great other than that.

Getting better at playing the guitar is quite possible all on your lonesome, but this doesn't hold true when you want to learn to play the bass. Your other band members expect you to form a tight combination with the drummer. So that is what you are training for, as a bassist.

A metronome won't do (too mechanical; no feel), and your real drummer would rather play with you, than help you do your boring practice routines.
The Beat Buddy Mini doesn't feel mechanical, at all. It feels just human enough to help you practice, and is machine enough not to mind doing that for you ... at a very affordable price.

Awesome basic machine which is very simple to operate and no set up needed. Have just ordered my second one as a back up for solo gigs. The customer service is great from Singular Sound if you have a question. It is the Mini 2 which is by necessity the less capable of the two offerings, and so has some limitations (but I needed the simplicity rather than the hassle of set up with loads of menus etc on the main beatbuddy!).
1. You cannot stop and start the drum machine mid track for stops or pauses. Rectify that by getting the custom footswitch.
2.You can switch the intros on and off easily but not the outros for some reason, so unless you want the outro (some are not that great), again the footswitch is essential.
3. There are a few extra, more gentle rhythms (folky and country styles) I would have liked to have, but very often there is a setting that works.
4. As it is basically guitar effects pedal size, you really need to mount it (along with footswitch) on a small pedal board. Then works really well.

It arrived 30 minutes before our rehearsal, so I took it along and after setting the BPM to fit our songs we were away. It is so simple to use. Takes a bit of getting used to as far as exit of a song and there are lots of different songs to choose, many we wont use. The sound is superb through an acoustic set amp, and we will definitely use it at a small gig. The online song list is useful. If I could make one improvement it would be to be able to save your songs. Having said that it usually takes a while for our singer to find his next song so I will have plenty of time to get the setting right. In a studio or rehearsal it is a great tool to keep you in time! If you need a simple tool to keep the beat without all the hassle this works.