Double Bass Drum Pedals

Axis has been making quality pedals for a long time. The Longboard double pedals are some of the best for all types of drummers because of their simplicity, ease of adjustment, and speed. I made the mistake early on in buying a more typical double bass pedal setup for a couple hundred bucks less than the Longboards. This was a mistake, and I often regret my decision because now I know how great the Longboards are since I have played them. I originally noticed the Longboards because they have a longer foot pedal (about 2 inches). This makes it much easier to play heel toe technique if you have big feet, or experiment with slide technique. The surface is also smoother than a lot of other pedals, so this allows for quicker slide movement as well. These pedals have direct drive hardware and are extremely smooth. Both springs are side by side and it is easy to get them to a similar tension. Not many pedals are this easy to set up. The beaters are the most adjustable I have ever come across, and there are a few different types to try out depending on the situation. All these features surpass even the highest end of DW pedals, Tama pedals, and many others. The only double bass pedals that can compare to these would be the Iron Cobras. It is amazing how important bass drum comfort and confidence is. This is quickly learned the hard way when you are forced to play on an unfamiliar pedal. Playing the Axis felt good right away, and now my DW pedals feel like some stranger's. I am looking to get the Longboards as soon as I can. I suggest these pedals, you're not going to regret a decision that will reward you time and time again.

I'm a drummer. I'm originally from Brazil. I play for a band called Glint. DW is definitely one of my favorite drum products manufactures. They always blow my mind. I purchased a DW 5002 kick drum pedal 4 years ago and I'm still in love with this beat machine. One of the big characteristics of every single DW product is that they are designed to fit every drummer's own style, you don't have to adapt to use them the products adapt to your playing. The DW 5002 is no exception. With a lot of customizable features, this pedal will fit your specific needs. Another cool thing about the 5000 series is that you can also find two other version of this same pedal, the 5000ADH which features a heelless pedal, and the 500ADS Solid Footboad pedal, accommodating even more your footwork techniques. You will find this product in the market for a price around $380. <a href="http://www.glintonline.com">http://www.glintonline.com</a> The DW 5002 has a great feel. With a bunch of different tweaks it makes easy to match your footwork style. They are extremely durable. I have mine for 4 years now and it still works like a brand new. It come with a really nice hard case. The DW 5002 come with double chain, base plate, delta ball-bearing hinge, adjustable toe clamp, 101 beater and universal joints with memory locks. This is another great DW product. Customizable, making it easy to match your drumming style and its durability makes worth every single penny spent on it. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Traded in a Pearl Masters kit for a Tama Starclassic Performer EFX kit at Guitar Center (Colorado Springs.) The pedal came with the trade for an extra $78.00 SMOOOTH! like butter, but rock solid drum equipment. The use of oiles bearings in the pedals is brilliant. You can adjust this pedal any way you like with minimal difficulty or instruction. You can even adjust the angle of the beater head so that it hits flat every time. The foot pedal stays flat and does not move from side to side as you play. No squeeks or rattles to speak of. Who else offers a hard plastic case with their pedals! Reasonable price and Tama quality that cant be beat. I was concerned at first about how the pedal springs are only held on to the beater rod by the spring tension on the bearings and not secured by any other means. They havn't popped off yet, but If they come off during a show I'll be scrambling around on the floor in the dark trying to fix it. Fortunately it only takes a second to slip the spring back on. P.S. Don't let the pedals rub against any other metal hardware ie..(high-hat pedal)or else that nice black finish will rub away along with some of the foot pedal. The quality and construction is second to none in its price range. It looks and feels solid. You don't have to tighten down set screws till your knuckles are blue in order to keep rods and beaters in place. These pedals won't help with your speed, nor will DW's for that matter. It's all practice and natural ability....sorry! But these pedals will help you on your way. I have played drums off and on for over twenty years. These pedals keep drumming fun. I have owned pedals from the following major brands(Pearl,Yamaha, DW) and have found the quality to be higher and the price lower with Tama Iron Cobra pedals. The quality of the meterials used, the ease of set-up and a pedals durability are all important to me and I have found them. When you have to drop $200 to $400 for equipment it better not strip bolts, squeek, rattle or break otherwise. Nuf Said. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this double pedal from Musicians Friend. I purchased it because my cheap $99 pacific pedal was old, rusted, and just to squeeky for normal use. I paid $270 for it, and I bought it with a pack that included two additional sets of beaters, high tension springs, and some other goodies, for the same price. This is simply the smoothest pedal I have ever played on. The action isn't too light (like an Axis pedal) and the footboard is decent sized (unlike a DW pedal). It's perfect for my tecnique because I do alot of heel-toe playing, which, in my case, requires a decent sized footboard, smoothness of action, and no "kickback" from the pedal when hitting hard. The Iron Cobra provides all of these. Also, the power glide cam does as advertised, increasing the punch with little or no effort. My only complaint is that it didn't arrive sooner, and the adjustments were a bit quirky to get at first but I caught on in like five min. This pedal is obviously built to last. it looks thick and clunky, but it is really just strong, it actually isn't all that much heavier than my former Pacific pedal. The cross bar bolts grip with a piece of steel, so there is no damage there, and you don't have to reach under the footplate to tighten it! Also, it stays in place very well, very secure on the ground. Appeently, the action never needs oiling either, which was a big problem with my previous pedal. I would say that this is one of the best if not the absolute best pedals on the market today. You can play fast with it almost effortlessly, it is completely silent, and can be very sensative and light if need be. It is stable, sturdy, strong, and very much worth the money that I paid for it. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Erm, I can't remember the exact name of this pedal, it's just the standard Mapex double pedal. I managed to get it for £75 (half price!) from www.drumshop.co.uk. Well, it's amazing for the price. It's sturdy, easy to adjust, reliable, with decent beaters with felt and plastic so you can choose different sounds. Unlike some pedals, it was hard to find really good settings. There are no bass plates, but they don't make enough difference to fork out another £40 for. The beaters are light, and don't punch the drum very hard, so stamp harder. Good. It hasn't broken, it doesn't fall apart, and it came with a Mapex key for all the nuts and stuff. Well, if you need a standard double bass pedal, get this one. www.nottinghamdrumcentre.com do them for £99 (correct on 30/03/03) so if you hurry, you can get one there. But if you want a really good one, get a DW or a top rang Pearl one, though you will need to spend a bit extra This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this pedal from a interstate music catalog for $169.00. It has really smooth action, responsive, durable, fairly cheap, easily adjustable. After a while the springs tend to squeak, and it's not a Iron Cobra, other than that they're really sweet pedals Built very sturdy, I play very hard, and they've lasted well over a year without breaking down, never had to replace anything on it. More than the money's worth, thought it was gonna suck but it was indeed a very good pedal If your looking for a good double pedal without spending astronomical amounts of money this would be the pedal to get This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

In the market for a new double bass drum pedal i borrowed my buddies’ Pearl Eliminator Demon Drive Bass Drum Pedal. This pedal is no beginner pedal, it is expensive and is meant to be used incombination with a skilled drummer who knows what he or she is looking for in a set and wants to get something that fits to his or her needs. This pedal is for turning a single kick drum into a double setup, easily without having the burdon of a second kick drum and needing to tune them perfectly. I have found that this pedal fits those rockers who are deep into metal and fusion alike. The precision of this double kick really comes into play when doing triplets on kick or fast paced doubles. This pedal feels great on the feet, and allows a ton of customization of feel, to zero in on a specific kind of force feedback required and demanded by the owner. The pedal is smooth beyond a doubt, and this is great for session work. I really liked the bearings as they were silent and supposedly never need oiling. Maintenance to a greater degree is nothing to worry about with this setup, i can see in the last 5 years the drum pedal has come a long way. Iron cobra days are over. If you have the money to shell out about 600 dollars or so, I would get this double kick and never look back. The ease of use and maintenance free life of use will make up the costs if you plan on using this thing for 5 years or so. And that should be no problem, because with the technology behind this pedal, I don’t see a need to upgrade anytime soon. Then again, for the price of this pedal one can get a PDP drum set or a nice guitar. I mean it really is a selective purchase that comes down to a few small decisions: 1. having the nicest best pedal is a must, and 2. crazy technology savy user who can make use of a double kick in a majority of percussions. I am neither of those two so I opted to return the kick to my friend and purchase a cheaper DW double kick which was well below half the price of this one and suits my needs beyond the call.

I bought this unti to replace a cheaper tama bass pedal I had for years. The first thing I noticed was my feet felt much more capable with these pedals than before. I was able to get more out of my right foot on these than I was with another friends cheap set of double pedals. Also, instead of an "all around" mallet the Twin Cobra uses Hammer style mallets. I'm not sure exactly why, but the hammer mallets give much more ummph and projection to my Kick drum. It sounds much more solid now as opposed to using the cheap tama. The build of the units themselves is also really great. They are what appear to be steel and cast Iron which makes them fairly heavy and durable. I guess the only thing I didn't like about this unit was the cheap plastic case it came with. The case itself is strong and able to withstand a good beating, but the "clips" that keep it closed broke off within weeks. Now it won't stay closed and the only "repair" is to wrap a synch strap around it. I believe these still go for over $300 dollars new so I was very pleased with only paying $175 for a very good condition set. Even at full price, I would still have boughten them as they have brought so much life to my feet when I play drums. I never really liked playing double bass until I got these. Now I'm trying to put double bass into all these songs to my fellow engineers chagrin. I tried the DW dual pedal and that was really nice too but I got a better deal on the Cobras so I bought those. I would definitely make the same choice again.

(Originally written by etiennepoumtchak/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Hi, I've been using this pedal for one year. I previously used a double DW4000 and a dual-chain Tama Iron-cobra. Compared with both other pedals, I find the Gibraltar feels very light especially the direct drive model (the dual-chain model feels much heavier under your foot). People often say there is no energy loss with this system, meaning that all the energy you give to the pedal is transferred directly to the bass drum. And that's exactly what I feel! The large foot plate follows every movement you make... Is it the direct drive effect? But surely not everyone will like this lightness. People who want heavier pedals where you can clearly feel the plate under your foot won't like it (the DW gave me this impression). I think Gibraltar developed this pedal for heavy metal drummers who play fast because the lightness helps you maintain the speed without a sweat. I don't recommend this pedal for other music styles except for jazz club drummers who lay their foot down flat because they will be able to control it effortlessly. All other drummers better choose a DW (I find the 5000 model feels very nice). Someone recommended me to change the spring for a harder one but I haven't tried this option. As a summary, this pedal is no universal tool but it is a delight for wild double bass drum players who can't afford an Axis or Tricks (the lightest pedals I've ever played). Personally, I wouldn't buy this pedal again (but I'm not a double bass drum freak).

I first bought my PDP 402 double pedal about a year ago. I was going to my local drum shop, looking for a nice double pedal, with the same nice price. I came across this PDP 402 and first thought “Wow, that’s a sleek looking pedal for that price”. I was also impressed with the fact that PDP is made by one of the best drum companies, DW. So the combination of the price, look and brand, all caught my eye and I decided to buy it. As I was going home, I realized that there were no instructions as to setting up the pedal, but I ended it up finding out on my own, and it being very easy. So once I got home, I went upstairs to my drums, set the pedals up, and started to play. The first thing I noticed was that the pedals seemed very “weak”. I tried to adjust the spring tensions, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling of this “weakness” that this pedal held. After tightening my bass drum head, messing with the pedal springs, and trying to play with no shoes on (to get more power), I ended up giving up on the pedals. They’re overall very weak pedals because the chains are only single drive. If you want more of a powerful, fast, more responsive feel, you should go with some sort of strap pedal or double chain drive pedal. So about a month after buying it, I decided that I just wanted to sell it and get a little bit of money out of it. I sold it to a friend, telling him about how weak it felt, but despite that, he bought it. About a week later, he called me back and told me that he had broken it! He was playing it and the beaters just snapped off. Over all, I would NOT go back and buy this one again; I would go to a more expensive, high quality one.