# Are expensive pedals worth it?



## Lethe (May 7, 2012)

so I've been playing on and off for about a year now, still in many ways a rookie, starting out with a cheap double pedal. 

I was wondering if I should bite the bullet now and buy one of those direct drive pedals (Demon Drive, Axis, Trick...) to have an easier time getting fast or if it's better to wait for a while and develop my chops first, then get the pedal. 

I know I still have to do the practice work with any pedal, but will I have an easier time getting good with one of those top-of-the-line pedals?


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## amonb (May 7, 2012)

OOps, I started to respond then realised I have no idea. As you were.


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## VBCheeseGrater (May 7, 2012)

I'm a closet drummer, learned over the years by jammin on the drummer's kit in any band i've been in. I can always tell the difference between a good double bass set up. There are some that feel much better than others to me, much easier to enforce my will on the drums, if that makes sense, so i think it makes a pretty big difference. That's all i got for ya, hopefully a real drummer can tell you some specifics.


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## Kerosian (May 7, 2012)

Lethe said:


> so I've been playing on and off for about a year now, still in many ways a rookie, starting out with a cheap double pedal.
> 
> I was wondering if I should bite the bullet now and buy one of those direct drive pedals (Demon Drive, Axis, Trick...) to have an easier time getting fast or if it's better to wait for a while and develop my chops first, then get the pedal.
> 
> I know I still have to do the practice work with any pedal, but will I have an easier time getting good with one of those top-of-the-line pedals?



If you want to get better faster, I recommend getting a nice direct drive pedal. They really are worth the money, but make sure you really want to stick with drumming before throwing down 500+ on a pedal. I have Trick Dominator's myself and I can tell you they are worth every penny.


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## Leuchty (May 7, 2012)

Find the pedals that are most comfortable to use, then...

Practice your testicles off.



Metronome is a drummers best friend


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## AngstRiddenDreams (May 7, 2012)

In my opinion, the really really expensive pedals are only a bit better than the midrange ones. For instance, my Pearl Eliminator 2002 Belt Drive is almost as nice as the Demon Drive. 
Just my personal opinion.


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## ZEBOV (May 8, 2012)

I LOVE MY DEMON DRIVES!


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## Lethe (May 8, 2012)

Interesting. I'm watching a used 2002C and might pull the trigger on that one, but If spending more and getting a Demon Drive will put me at a significant advantage, I might do it. 

Anyone have any experience with the two? 

I'm not buying pedals every year, so if you look at it as like a 5-year investment, it's not that expensive compared to what I spend on cigarettes.


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## xeonblade (May 8, 2012)

Get Demon Drive, never change a pedal (unless you hate it)


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## Maniacal (May 8, 2012)

I hated demon drives, just didnt feel good for me. I use speed cobras and longboards now. 

Mainly speed cobras.


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## CTID (May 8, 2012)

First thing you should do is go to a music store and actually try a variety of pedals to see which you find the most comfortable.


Also with bass pedals once you hit the $300+ mark you're pretty much using what pros use and it comes down to feel. Yeah, Demon Drives might be great, but there's diminishing returns with pedals once you hit $300. Sure, Demon Drive's are great pedals but are they twice as good as Iron Cobras, enough to be twice the price? That's entirely up to how you feel about them. Things like that really need to go into your determination of what to buy.


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## ShadowFactoryX (May 8, 2012)

if you have a technique that works for you, and you've got it down, invest in some good pedals to help
make sure you try them out first though


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## GuitaristOfHell (May 8, 2012)

Depends on the tone you want. I'm extremely happy with my MXR Zak Wylde OD that I traded my TS9 for.


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## Razzy (May 8, 2012)

Kerosian said:


> If you want to get better faster, I recommend getting a nice direct drive pedal. They really are worth the money, but make sure you really want to stick with drumming before throwing down 500+ on a pedal. I have Trick Dominator's myself and I can tell you they are worth every penny.



I've always been a big fan of the Trick Dominators as well.

The tension adjustment dial is absolutely genius, and they're indestructible.


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## VBCheeseGrater (May 8, 2012)

GuitaristOfHell said:


> Depends on the tone you want. I'm extremely happy with my MXR Zak Wylde OD that I traded my TS9 for.



I guess you can hit a bass drum with a guitar pedal, just weld them to the hammer shafts.


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## Lethe (May 9, 2012)

The thing to remember is that 9V batteries don't like the constant vibration and tend to fail in such circumstances. Pedals that are welded to a beater should be driven by a DC adapter. This will also cut down on weight and allow for faster playing. 

Anyways, I guess I will get the used 2002c, grow familiar with it, then try out a demon drive in a shop and see if it's an improvement. 

Thanks for the advice, guys!


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## ShadowFactoryX (May 9, 2012)

eliminators are a great place to start
generally affordable, and definitely within the "pro" confines


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## Sepultorture (May 10, 2012)

CTID said:


> First thing you should do is go to a music store and actually try a variety of pedals to see which you find the most comfortable.



^THIS

your one best bet is to go try out which one is most to your liking, then bring it home and tweak it to your liking

personally i liked the demon drives as they weren't to light or heavy in feel and response, that and their adjustable as hell. from long to standard board length, soft, medium and hard drive adjustments, spring tension adjustment, goes on and on. 

only thing i did different with that pedal was ad a sonic hammer from Axis pedals for each pedal. beater height adjustment is all well and good, but i also like having beater head length adjustments as well. it's more options to play with, but you can find your comfort zone in time.

but still, go to your nearest shop and try out as many pedals as possible, even if you have to drive a distance to get to a place that has all the pedals you want to try


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## Zeetwig (May 12, 2012)

I wouldn't say that direct drive pedals are a necessity for playing fast. I use speed cobras and I am currently at 220-230 BMP 16th notes (sometimes more, sometimes less). The thing with direct drives is that they are very powerless IMO. A chain will always give you more of a punch than direct drives (IMO). However, as people say: try a lot of pedals! What works for me or someone else might not work for you! Remember this!

Also, getting a high-end pedal will give you more setup options, and the quality will probably be better, so it is definitely worth it! However, BMP-wise a high-end pedal might add just around 10-30 BPM, so if you want to get fast technique is the answer, not the gear.

Another thing you might consider is that a double pedal will slow down the slave foot (if you have a right footed double pedal then the left is the slave foot). I am just about to change from a speed cobra double to 2 single speed cobras and 2 bass drums, since my left foot has to work much harder due to the lag in the slave pedal. This won't affect you at first, but as you play more and more, the pedal gets older and you get faster the more and more annoying this will get.


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## simulclass83 (May 13, 2012)

To answer your question:
According to my drummer, yes.


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## iron blast (May 13, 2012)

You need to get what feels the most comfortable to you. Cost shouldn't be a concern if you want to be fast practice your arse off with a drumometer and metronome on a practice pad even if need be. The need for direct drive isnt as important as having a zero backlash linkage to help defeat lag on the auxilary pedal. I personally think the trick dominator and pro1v/bigfoot pedals are the end all and Ive had ample time playing the Pearl demon drive, Camco's, Ludwig speed kings, Axis longboards, Tama iron cobras, Pearl Eliminators, yamaha flying dragons, DW 9000's, Dw 5000's, and pdp boa's ect. it all comes down to personal preference in the end pick what is most comfortable.


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## Weimat01 (May 14, 2012)

I upgraded to trick bigfoot pedals from some cheap dixon ones, but as awesome as the trick pedals are I wouldn't say that they made me any better at playing or made it suddenly easier to play in time. I reckon they would make more of a difference for an advanced player than a beginner, as they feel a bit more effortless and responsive than chain driven pedals but you got to be able to play in the first place. If you got the money i'd buy the trick pedals as they are the best pedals you can get imo, but I just wouldn't expect any miracles. They come from practicing.


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## iPotato12 (May 14, 2012)

You could ask 100 different drummers what pedal they prefer, and you'll probably get 100 different answers, hah. One person could tell you Demon Drives are the best, then another could tell you they're terrible. It's all about you, others opinions won't get you anywhere. 
Go to a store and try out every single pedal there. Don't think about price, just feel.


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## iPotato12 (May 14, 2012)

You could ask 100 different drummers what pedal they prefer, and you'll probably get 100 different answers, hah. One person could tell you Demon Drives are the best, then another could tell you they're terrible. It's all about you, others opinions won't get you anywhere. 
Go to a store and try out every single pedal there. Don't think about price, just feel.


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## Augminished (May 14, 2012)

I use a set of speed cobras in my studio. Most drummers come in and love them.


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## Lethe (May 15, 2012)

Ok, but what if they don't come in? Do they still love them?

Seriously though, the 2002c arrived, has gotten some play and I like it better than the old pedal. I figured I wouldn't be able to find out much in the store, too much depends on spring settings and all that other stuff. So getting almost-new pedals at over 30% off seemed like a better idea. 

Over the next weeks, I'll get familiar to the 4 different cam profiles, play around with spring settings and beater positions, just to see what setup works best for me. If I end up liking other pedals better after I've developed a feel for which setting does what, I'll sell it with little if any money loss. 

Thanks for all your input!


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## Lethe (May 17, 2012)

Update: I have played the Pearl 2002c for a couple of hours now. It came with the blue cams installed, they felt a little doughey (yet very smooth) in comparison to my old pedal, but I could play basically the same stuff, just a little slower - maybe because I'm not used to the pedals, I thought.

Switched to the red cams - and they really are new pedals. I thought it might be more of a gimmick, but it's really affecting my speed. With the red cams, I can play tight at speeds that I can't get down even sloppily with the blue ones - same spring tension and all. Haven't tried the black or white cams yet, since they look more like the blue and less like the red - I'll probably just stick with the red cams for now.

So there you go. I got a decent "skill" boost and might progress faster in the next few months, simply because it's more fun to play fast now. The pedal's not fighting my foot anymore, and before that I wasn't aware that's happening. I'm not sure I would have noticed the difference in a store environment, it takes some minutes getting used to the new feel, but once the feet know what's up you feel the difference.


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## the hittmann (May 19, 2012)

Spending more on a pedal is like buying a 5,000 dollar guitar. Your not going to have an advantage it will just mean, you won't have to upgrade your rig any time soon. I got good on a dw 7000 and then bought a demon drive, hated it and bought a pearl eliminator which is what i use now. My advice is get good on something that you have now then go out and try a bunch of different pedals, when you can actually feel a difference and will have a better idea on what you want out of a pedal.


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## McBonez (Jun 13, 2012)

I went from playing cheapo OEM pedals until one day I picked up a nice set of DW 5002's - Made a huge difference, really. Speed, feel, the whole deal.

IMO - Yes, expensive pedals ARE worth it.


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## axxessdenied (Jun 22, 2012)

if you're in it for the long run, quality gear is always worth it.


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## tasteslikeawesome (Jun 28, 2012)

Cobras are always a great choice. Kevin Lane of Whitechapel used them and you can see them in The Corrupted Sessions studio update series. I have played them and I like them. You can get them at a good price and if you decide you want to go with longboards or Trick then you can. Everyone is right, go out and try as many pedals as you can. It is almost always personal preference.


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