new Drum Workshop Direct Drive pedal @ NAMM 2014

Does anyone else notice that marketing in (insert name of pursuit here) has gone over the top? $300 hockey sticks, $500 drivers, and now $1,000 drum pedals. What has happened to us that we are such suckers for tech and high prices in the pursuit of improvement. I own several $300 hockey sticks ( insert insult here) and my shot still sucks yet I bought them believing that it would make a difference. John Bonham smoked everyone on a squeaky Speed King. What is wrong with our current culture that we believe that practice and skill can be bought if your wallet is deep enough? Geesh.
PS Waiting for these to drop down to $850 so I can finally master Good Times, Bad Times.
 
Does anyone else notice that marketing in (insert name of pursuit here) has gone over the top? $300 hockey sticks, $500 drivers, and now $1,000 drum pedals. What has happened to us that we are such suckers for tech and high prices in the pursuit of improvement. I own several $300 hockey sticks ( insert insult here) and my shot still sucks yet I bought them believing that it would make a difference. John Bonham smoked everyone on a squeaky Speed King. What is wrong with our current culture that we believe that practice and skill can be bought if your wallet is deep enough? Geesh.
PS Waiting for these to drop down to $850 so I can finally master Good Times, Bad Times.

I agree that these pedals are way overpriced and that people tend to think that buying nice gear might improve their playing.

On another note, I hear this all the time about Bonham and that song. I love Bonham but I could play that song when I was 18 on a beat up Camco pedal (28 years ago).

The truth is, that stuff is nowhere near the current state of the art in bass drum playing. From single bass guys like JoJo and Vinnie to double bass monsters like Virgil and Kollias, they all learned from Bonham and others and took it to the next level.

Just got pics, posting Malleus review before weekend...
 
Waiting for these to drop down to $850 so I can finally master Good Times, Bad Times.

Don't worry, someone will buy these thinking they are the magic answer to their double bass needs and hate them because they wont be, then sell them for a more affordable price. Just give it time.
 
Has anyone purchased one of these? A review is in order.
 
Has anyone purchased one of these? A review is in order.

I played around with one yesterday. It is nice I suppose. Is it $495 nice? Not to me. It looks well constructed overall. It felt very smooth and responsive. That's not too big a surprise for me, being a DW pedal, but I didn't feel it was anything to sell the farm for.

I am looking at picking up a new pedal soon for my house kit. I have a DW 9002 on my other kit. I like it. It is smooth, reliable, and constructed well. I haven't decided if I want to replicate that on my house kit. In some ways it would lend itself to a bit more consistency between the two kits, but I haven't ruled out picking something else up.

Right now, I am considering the 9002, 5002, Atlas Pro, or some sort of Iron Cobra thing in either double or single configurations. But I just can't see spending all that money on a DW direct drive.
 
I played around with one yesterday. It is nice I suppose. Is it $495 nice? Not to me. It looks well constructed overall. It felt very smooth and responsive. That's not too big a surprise for me, being a DW pedal, but I didn't feel it was anything to sell the farm for.

I am looking at picking up a new pedal soon for my house kit. I have a DW 9002 on my other kit. I like it. It is smooth, reliable, and constructed well. I haven't decided if I want to replicate that on my house kit. In some ways it would lend itself to a bit more consistency between the two kits, but I haven't ruled out picking something else up.

Right now, I am considering the 9002, 5002, Atlas Pro, or some sort of Iron Cobra thing in either double or single configurations. But I just can't see spending all that money on a DW direct drive.


I am assuming an overall lighter feel than the 9002?
 
The important thing to remember here is that these pedals are machined in California. The machining capital of the world.
 
I am assuming an overall lighter feel than the 9002?

I suppose it feels lighter. To be completely fair, I didn't get to play it on a kit or anything, only on a testing surface. I think it is well made for all intents and purposes. I didn't feel any delay in my movements being transferred to the pedal. I don't have much in the way of direct drive background to compare this pedal to. It IS interesting that they didn't go with the traditional DW two-way beater. I am sure that would make it feel completely different. Perhaps it's a bit of marketing too, to help distract you from the price tag.

Beyond retooling to make a new pedal, what makes all these direct drive pedals that much more expensive? Or does it just have more to do with price points? I imagine, initially, it has to be more expensive, but then someone around the board table says, "how much are we going to charge for this?" Someone else, says, "Well, how about a hundred more dollars than our current top of the line pedal?" But that's hardly worth the effort, and some feel that by making it more expensive still, it will be taken seriously and talked about as being a real "break through" pedal.

For instance, what is the difference between a Yamaha Flying Dragon and the new DW direct drive? The DW pedal looks pretty slick, feels nice, and you would come to expect a certain level of performance from them. But I have also heard great things about The Yamahas. Someone with some direct drive experience want to chime in?
 
Generally speaking, most of the higher end direct drive pedals (axis, trick, & now DW) use machined components (rather than cast), which will definitely raise the price point...personally, I'd buy an axis or trick over the dw...they're a little more reasonable and give you the same feel...that being said the mass produced DD's (yamaha, mapex, pearl) aren't bad either...
 
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AKA - Bling

Not sure of the exact manufacturing method, but I know a lot of aftermarket Harley parts are CNC machined from aluminum billet blocks.
They look nice, and command big prices, but I'm not sure they function any better than nicely finished cast parts.

I'm satisfied enough with my Yamaha direct drives that I probably wouldn't consider the DW's even if they were half the price they're asking.
 
Really Like the pedal allot so far. one of the most adjustable pedals I have used. Even like it better than my Axis pedal. No play at all in the universal joints. Ball bearing smooth. Very quiet compared to other pedals. Nothing squeaking in the springs or metal to metal rubbing. The beater's are real nice compared to the traditional DW beater that's on the 9000.
 
I saw the pedal for the first time at the Hollywood Show. VERY nicely made, with a good feel. But yes, very expensive.

I had dinner with Jim Rupp Saturday night of the NAMM show, what a great guy. I will go out of my way to support Rupp's Drums.

Ummm... different Rupp. Rupp's Drums in Denver was Bob Rupp's shop until 2003.

Bermuda
 
No play at all in the universal joints.

Not 'yet' anyway. There's zero info about the drive shaft on DW's site,
(DW refers to it as a 'double pedal linkage' if you're google'ing)

It looks to be a pin/block design, which over time will loosen up if.
 

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Not 'yet' anyway. There's zero info about the drive shaft on DW's site,
(DW refers to it as a 'double pedal linkage' if you're google'ing)

It looks to be a pin/block design, which over time will loosen up if.

Not so. the Universal uses all ball bearing.

DWSP511 - Heavy Duty Linkage with ball bearing universals. Retro fits all DW double pedals. the retail price on the dw site is a whopping $319.
 
Not so. the Universal uses all ball bearing.

DWSP511 - Heavy Duty Linkage with ball bearing universals. Retro fits all DW double pedals. the retail price on the dw site is a whopping $319.



Heavy Duty Linkage with ball bearing universals. Retro fits all DW double pedals doesn't describe much, and they show 5 foot pics on their site (I blew up the joint off of some retail sites feeble DW stock pic), lame when you're asking that kind of scratch.

Its still a pin and block design. Maybe the pins ride in bearings? I don't know, DW isn't fwd with any in depth info on their $300 connecting shaft.
 

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DWSP511 - Heavy Duty Linkage with ball bearing universals. Retro fits all DW double pedals. the retail price on the dw site is a whopping $319.

That's cute. My Trick retrofit shaft was $140 after shipping and is immaculate. Also, when you adjust the length (which takes one screw) it doesn't gouge itself.

Also I've taken dumps that were less sloppy than the POS that came with my 9000s. Pin and block = useless.
 
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