Has any particular DOUBLE PEDAL let you down or disappointed you?

BigDinSD

Gold Member
OK double - pedal folks, rather than ask what you think the "Best Pedal" is, please tell me if a specific double pedal has dissapointed you?

There is so much hype behind the DW 9000's, Cobra's, Axis', Elim's, etc... and I'm sure they'er damn good pedals to each player.

I've heard things like the slave has too much play, or the U joints are sloppy. I'd like to hear first hand from you all what you've experienced.

Again...thanks in advance!
 
.... please tell me if a specific double pedal has dissapointed you? ....
No pedal has ever "disappointed" me, because I'll play every pedal I can get my feet on ... and then make an "informed" decision about which one to "splash the cash on" ...​
Buying a pedal "blindly" is setting yourself up for a "disappointment" big time.​
 
i disliked the beater on a dw9000 - and that you couldn't really make the beater hit very high on a drum. but it works for this pedal

i dislike the feel of an eliminator. (full stop)

i dislike the fact you have a lack of power on axis/trick pedals....


that's just me though.... other people will disagree... form your own opinions by playing these pedals.
 
The only one I've played (of high quality) that I really have not liked at all was the pearl eliminator.
 
Axis double pedals are pretty much the easiest pedals to play fast on because they are super smooth. Great for metal. But they are waaay too soft and it lacks power (not a problem if you use triggers??) as someone here also said, which makes it easy to play VERY sloppy. The footboards on some of Axis pedals are very uncomfortable to play on with bear feet because they have etched in the Axis logo onto the footboard (it can scratch your feet).

I've seen some pretty bad pictures of DW9000's where the footboard has broken completely in half dew to hard playing. You can also tell with the DW9000's that they were designed by an engineer, not a drummer, because all the adjustments you can make are really unnecessary and the important parts of the pedal that you need to get to are hard to use.

Iron Cobras are a very good choice for mid-high priced double pedals. They are really smooth and reliable. I havn't heard any bad stories about these pedals. But when trying them out at my local drum shop i didnt really like them. The slave pedal lags a bit because of the drive shaft and it slides along the ground as it has no grip spikes. I played these pedals a while ago and since then Tama has released the "new" Iron Cobras which have a few upgrades. I may have to check them out.

I have pearl Demon Drives and they are awesome! smoothest pedal ever and super fast. Not to mention it can convert to longboard/shortboard, convert to two single pedals, adjust the cam position, the no-play Z-link, adjustable direct link position, beater height adjustment with memory locks....... I could write a whole page about the Demon Drives and how they are AMAZING. GO PEARL!
 
One of my sonic hammer beaters snapped in two during a studio session. And the shaft/linkage seems a bit too restricted. But I bought the pedal used so I don't know if these are common issues with axis pedals or if the previous owner just abused it.

can you link me to a page of what sonic hammer beaters are? ive never heard of them
 
pax009.jpg


It's the beater that comes as standard on some of the Axis pedals. Mine snapped where the two parts meet. Never heard back from axis support (which in itself is troubling) so I used the beater rod from an old pedal to replace the broken one.
 
pax009.jpg


It's the beater that comes as standard on some of the Axis pedals. Mine snapped where the two parts meet. Never heard back from axis support (which in itself is troubling) so I used the beater rod from an old pedal to replace the broken one.

oh, those. Were they good before you broke them?
 
I've seen some pretty bad pictures of DW9000's where the footboard has broken completely in half dew to hard playing. You can also tell with the DW9000's that they were designed by an engineer, not a drummer, because all the adjustments you can make are really unnecessary and the important parts of the pedal that you need to get to are hard to use.

Iron Cobras are a very good choice for mid-high priced double pedals. They are really smooth and reliable. I havn't heard any bad stories about these pedals. But when trying them out at my local drum shop i didnt really like them. The slave pedal lags a bit because of the drive shaft and it slides along the ground as it has no grip spikes. I played these pedals a while ago and since then Tama has released the "new" Iron Cobras which have a few upgrades. I may have to check them out.

That's odd. My Iron Cobra double pedal, which is now a few years old, has grip spikes on the slave pedal, or did you mean something else?

Also - I heard that thing about the DW pedal snapping was a hoax, but who knows - it's all millionth hand information so unless you know someone it happened to or it happened to yourself it's hard to verify these claims.
 
Axis double pedals are pretty much the easiest pedals to play fast on because they are super smooth. Great for metal. But they are waaay too soft and it lacks power (not a problem if you use triggers??) as someone here also said, which makes it easy to play VERY sloppy. (...).

Let's agree that - with ANY pedal, this basically depends on the player. Bad pedal = great punch = can be done if you're up to it. Best pedal ever = sloppy = no punch = no prob if the player sucks. Derek Roddy and lots of others must do something completely different than you because they _can_ get the desired power out of them. I have no vast experience with double pedals, I've played about 6 until now and I'm sure you can get adjusted to any pedal which isn't crappy production. I also learned that the price doesn't directly translate to whether the pedal is 'good' or 'bad'.

I have pearl Demon Drives and they are awesome! smoothest pedal ever and super fast. (...)[

I tried them once and had major difficulties BECAUSE of that smoothness - IMO that's on the verge of cheating - do you want your feet to play the pedal or the pedal to almost play by itself? Also, to me the Demon Drive didn't feel punchy/powerful. Maybe I'd need more time to get them going for me.

The Derek Roddy forum has many users with lots of experience e.g. with Axis pedals. You could post there to find out specific things/problems/problem solving solutions etc.
http://www.derekroddy.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=33&sid=a595fb5b86ab72f4bd1dc7f96980c281
 
Let's agree that - with ANY pedal, this basically depends on the player. Bad pedal = great punch = can be done if you're up to it. Best pedal ever = sloppy = no punch = no prob if the player sucks. Derek Roddy and lots of others must do something completely different than you because they _can_ get the desired power out of them. I have no vast experience with double pedals, I've played about 6 until now and I'm sure you can get adjusted to any pedal which isn't crappy production. I also learned that the price doesn't directly translate to whether the pedal is 'good' or 'bad'.



I tried them once and had major difficulties BECAUSE of that smoothness - IMO that's on the verge of cheating - do you want your feet to play the pedal or the pedal to almost play by itself? Also, to me the Demon Drive didn't feel punchy/powerful. Maybe I'd need more time to get them going for me.

The Derek Roddy forum has many users with lots of experience e.g. with Axis pedals. You could post there to find out specific things/problems/problem solving solutions etc.
http://www.derekroddy.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=33&sid=a595fb5b86ab72f4bd1dc7f96980c281

Yes, I agree. You can get used to any pedal if you give it time.
I had the same problem with the demon drives. when i first tried them in the shop i didnt like them but over time after buying them ive gotten used to them and i love them. I decided to buy them because Ben Gordon from parkway drive uses them, but more importantly, George Kollias - arguably the fast double pedal extreme metal drummer in the world, told me in person that the Demon Drives are a whole new level of double pedals. He uses Axis pedals himself. About the power/punch - i find them very powerful, and a lot louder than most pedals. I think its the beaters, i did some comparisons with other beaters and the Demon Drive beaters had the most attack and volume.

I dont think the smoothness is cheating - it just means the pedals react faster to your feet. It gives you more control over the sound you are getting out of your bass drum. And unless some how the pedal is mechanized to play itself, you cant possibly say that its cheating and that it "plays it self".

thanks for the reply :)
 
That's odd. My Iron Cobra double pedal, which is now a few years old, has grip spikes on the slave pedal, or did you mean something else?

Also - I heard that thing about the DW pedal snapping was a hoax, but who knows - it's all millionth hand information so unless you know someone it happened to or it happened to yourself it's hard to verify these claims.

Oh well, maybe the place i used them at lost them or something lol. But i definitely remember not seeing any spikes on the bass plate.

On a thread I saw about 5 pictures of different people with DW9000 footboards that had snapped in half. Have you seen that thread?
 
Yes, I agree. You can get used to any pedal if you give it time.
I had the same problem with the demon drives. when i first tried them in the shop i didnt like them but over time after buying them ive gotten used to them and i love them. I decided to buy them because Ben Gordon from parkway drive uses them, but more importantly, George Kollias - arguably the fast double pedal extreme metal drummer in the world, told me in person that the Demon Drives are a whole new level of double pedals. He uses Axis pedals himself. About the power/punch - i find them very powerful, and a lot louder than most pedals. I think its the beaters, i did some comparisons with other beaters and the Demon Drive beaters had the most attack and volume.

I dont think the smoothness is cheating - it just means the pedals react faster to your feet. It gives you more control over the sound you are getting out of your bass drum. And unless some how the pedal is mechanized to play itself, you cant possibly say that its cheating and that it "plays it self".

thanks for the reply :)

Cool to learn we have some common ground. -- Yes, exchanging/experimenting with the beaters is a quick fix (or adaption to one's preference) on many pedals which are great per se but feel 'not quite right' with their stock beaters.

With "plays by itself" was referring to the enormous degree of smoothness of the Demon Drive and that you could hit it hard R-L and then lean back and count the rebounds ;-)
 
Cool to learn we have some common ground. -- Yes, exchanging/experimenting with the beaters is a quick fix (or adaption to one's preference) on many pedals which are great per se but feel 'not quite right' with their stock beaters.

With "plays by itself" was referring to the enormous degree of smoothness of the Demon Drive and that you could hit it hard R-L and then lean back and count the rebounds ;-)

oh i see what you mean now
 
I have a 20 year old 5000 that still works great. The only foot board I ever had trouble with was a used premier pedal that would bend in the middle all the time and you would have to straighten it.
 
I bought the DW 9000 and ended up returning them after one gig. But before I returned them I put them side by side with my ten year old single chain DW 5000's and saw what my problem was. Very simply, there was much more metal to move on a 9000 than my old 5000. So while the 9000 was truly a bit smoother, it was very noticeably SLOWER and just sluggish in comparison with my 5000, which had finger touch sensitivity.

I should also mention that the reason I bought the 9000 was because I thought it might be a good idea to replace my old pedal with something newer because it was over ten years old and I could finally afford to get a new set of pedals. Word to the wise on Bass drum pedals: if you have a feel and setup that you like,and it ain't broke,don't try to fix it.
 
I bought the DW 9000 and ended up returning them after one gig. But before I returned them I put them side by side with my ten year old single chain DW 5000's and saw what my problem was. Very simply, there was much more metal to move on a 9000 than my old 5000. So while the 9000 was truly a bit smoother, it was very noticeably SLOWER and just sluggish in comparison with my 5000, which had finger touch sensitivity.

I should also mention that the reason I bought the 9000 was because I thought it might be a good idea to replace my old pedal with something newer because it was over ten years old and I could finally afford to get a new set of pedals. Word to the wise on Bass drum pedals: if you have a feel and setup that you like,and it ain't broke,don't try to fix it.

Did you notice it was sluggish on the slave pedal assembly? Universal joint?

Yeah - definitely not good at $579!

Wonder if the new 5000 doubles are solid?
 
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