Pedal ranking - Light to Heavy Feel

Reggae_Mangle

Silver Member
Hey,
Thought this could be an interesting ranking of pedals just in terms of how heavy or light they "feel", independent of spring tension and other factors.

Hope that makes sense to people, though I should underline the fact that I only have experience with Pearl Eliminators and I'm on the lookout for a new pedal. But based on my limited experience with pedals, this is how I would order them:

From light to heavy:
Axis AL-2
Pearl Demon Drive
Tama Speed Cobra
Pearl Eliminator
Tama Iron Cobra

Really looking forward to re-arranging and expanding this list. I'm sure more experience people will be able to correct any errors I've made in the ranking or add more pedals.

Once again, I apologise for the lack of objectivity in this kind of ranking. A lot of my assumptions are based on reviews, rather than concrete evidence.

I'm hoping as more people refine the list, we can come up with something that will be reliable.

Cheers.

- Reggae Mangle
 
From light to heavy:
Axis AL-2
Pearl Demon Drive
Tama Speed Cobra
Pearl Eliminator
Mapex falcon
Dw9000
Tama Iron Cobra
Dw5000
 
Not bad, my rankings seem to be spot on. Some nice additions there, dre25. Anyone have a contrary point of view?

Supposing I draw an imaginary line between the "light" and "heavy" pedals:

Light
Axis AL-2
Pearl Demon Drive
Tama Speed Cobra
Pearl Eliminator

Heavy
Mapex falcon
Dw9000
Tama Iron Cobra
Dw5000

Work for anyone? I think there are people who prefer light and others who prefer heavy. This sort of list might be useful in figuring out whether a certain type of pedal would be better suited for them. Though things change!

- Reggae Mangle
 
It's all relative. DWs have a very heavy beater stock. With a light beater, the 9000s felt like a completely different pedal. Same this with the ICs.
 
Speed king feels the lightest I've played, but I never played some of the pedals listed. I'm so used to "heavy" pedals that I don't consider them heavy anymore. I'd say the IC's are the heaviest feel I've tried and the DW 5000 is in the middle. As long as a pedal is set to spring back quickly, a pedal is the thing I think about the least, they all work fine.
 
I always thought the DW5000's felt heavier than my ICs.............maybe just because of the beater?

I've played ICs for several years and don't consider them to be heavy at all.
 
You can change the setting on all pedals to make them light by reducing the spring tension. This is a slightly different kind of "light" and "heavy" more in terms of a build quality, though not exactly that either. There is something about some pedals that make them inherently light or heavy when played, irrespective of whether you set the spring to max or min/make other adjustments.

Have your own perspective? Modify the list! At any rate, there will be some common ground that says pedals like the ICs are "heavy".

- Reggae Mangle
 
The lightest feeling pedal I've played was some kind of no-name, inexpensive, beginner student model.
It was built cheaply, from light materials, and my foot felt like it was playing air.
Could go like crazy with it, but even though it stuck to my foot like glue, there was absolutely no feedback from it. That was a little unsettling.
 
If we start going into all the no-name pedals, the list would probably get really complicated. Might even start a trend of people searching for the hard-to-find no-name stuff, not unlike guitar players looking for "booteek" gear :p

- Reggae Mangle
 
I have to agree that Iron Cobras are heavy, ( I play them ) they have quite a bit of "mass" to them. I think it's the overall weight of the moving parts that makes a pedal feel heavy or thick when playing. I could also see a light weight pedal making control easier at higher speeds, since there would be less rebound momentum. I replaced my steel IC drive shaft with a demon drive z-link to cut down on the slave pedal mass and to reduce slack from the u joints. but my slave still feels heavier than master.
 
If we start going into all the no-name pedals, the list would probably get really complicated. Might even start a trend of people searching for the hard-to-find no-name stuff, not unlike guitar players looking for "booteek" gear :p

- Reggae Mangle


I've never owned any of the pedals on your list. Only tried some of them out in stores.

So - no comment.
 
As mentioned in the original post, neither have I! The ranking was based on research, planning to buy a new pedal.

I used to have the Powershifter Eliminators though and have tried an ex-bandmates Iron Cobra Jrs. Gave a Speed Cobra a whirl the other day at the music store.

So basically, I was shooting in the dark. I'm still waiting for someone to come and slay me. You know, "YOU KNOW NOTHING, WHELP. YOU'RE GONNA DIE TONIGHT".

- Reggae Mangle
 
Oops - just noticed in post #3, you listed the DW9000. I have that one.

Everyone says it's 'heavy', but it doesn't feel heavy to me at all. The build is heavy duty, but the feeling is light to me.
But hey - what do I know - ha ha.
 
Light to heavy based on my experience, as follows:

1. JoJo Mayer PB
2. Speed King
3. Tama Iron Cobra
 
That wasn't my order, wildbill. dre25 revised the list with the addition of DW pedals. I just thought it would be interesting to draw an imaginary line dividing the list into two halves -- light and heavy, so to speak...

Where do you think it would sit on the list? Revise it and post. This is entirely subjective, but I believe it will eventually help determine some sort of "ranking" of the playing feel for people like me looking for pedals.

gr82bagn, some great pedals there... How about incorporating your pedals within the larger list so that some sort of tentative order can be arrived at. dre25 came up with this list:

Axis AL-2
Pearl Demon Drive
Tama Speed Cobra
Pearl Eliminator
Mapex falcon
Dw9000
Tama Iron Cobra
Dw5000

Where would these pedals go, ie. the Jojo and Speed King pedal?
1. JoJo Mayer PB
2. Speed King
3. Tama Iron Cobra

- Reggae Mangle
 
Last edited:
DW9000 > Speed Cobra > Pearl Eliminator? Purely from a "playing feel" perspective?

This is not about weight, or how the pedal reacts. I suppose the best comparison would be an Axis or a Trick to say an Iron Cobra or a DW5000.

- Reggae Mangle
 
Append it to the list. That'll set some people off and we can have a good old-fashioned shoot-out.

- Reggae Mangle
 
That wasn't my order, wildbill. dre25 revised the list with the addition of DW pedals. I just thought it would be interesting to draw an imaginary line dividing the list into two halves -- light and heavy, so to speak...

Where do you think it would sit on the list? Revise it and post. This is entirely subjective, but I believe it will eventually help determine some sort of "ranking" of the playing feel for people like me looking for pedals.

gr82bagn, some great pedals there... How about incorporating your pedals within the larger list so that some sort of tentative order can be arrived at. dre25 came up with this list:

Axis AL-2
Pearl Demon Drive
Tama Speed Cobra
Pearl Eliminator
Mapex falcon
Dw9000
Tama Iron Cobra
Dw5000

Where would these pedals go, ie. the Jojo and Speed King pedal?
1. JoJo Mayer PB
2. Speed King
3. Tama Iron Cobra

- Reggae Mangle

Ok, based on the big picture I see it as follows:
JoJo Mayer PB
Axis AL-2
Pearl Demon Drive
Speed King
Tama Speed Cobra
Pearl Eliminator
Mapex falcon
Dw9000
Tama Iron Cobra
Dw5000
 
Ok, based on the big picture I see it as follows:
JoJo Mayer PB
Axis AL-2
Pearl Demon Drive
Speed King
Tama Speed Cobra
Pearl Eliminator
Mapex falcon
Dw9000
Tama Iron Cobra
Dw5000

Seems controversial to me! What do Trick and Axis users have to say about that? Anyone plan to use two Jojo singles on their double bass drums? Why? Why not?

I'm also wondering about the placement of the Mapex Falcon above the DW9000 in the list. Isn't the Falcon heavy like an Iron Cobra, heard some people say that.

Remember this is about the feel of the pedal, not the responsiveness... if that doesn't confuse you, that is.

- Reggae Mangle
 
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