DW "Hardcore" bass drum beater... Opinions?

Ian Ballard

Silver Member
I'm kinda of falling out of love with my felt Iron Cobra beaters and my right-side beater is worn almost to the plastic so I need to replace it. I've been doing some research and I'm wanting a really LIGHT beater with a great tone at all dynamic levels. The DW Hardcore beater looks really interesting and seems like it would fit my needs of being able to give me "different" sounds at different volumes. Before I drop $50 for beaters, has anyone used these? Thanks!
 
Mapex falcon beaters are awesome. Double sided, nice and light and you can add weights to them if you want.

Can't speak for the dw ones you're looking at but the stock dw 9000 beaters are way too heavy.
 
Can't speak for the dw ones you're looking at but the stock dw 9000 beaters are way too heavy.

Not for me, I like 'em a lot. Besides, the Hardcore beaters are decidedly different from most beaters on the market.

I haven't tried them, but I did see them in a store- the foam looked pretty cheap to me and I didn't give them a second look. I wasn't sure what they were at the time, though, so I wouldn't take my word for it.
 
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I had one of those beaters on my DW 5000 pedal. It is very light, but that comes with some volume loss. I had to move the weight all the way up to the beater head to get the most comfortable feel and volume out of it. The foam isn't great quality. You have to be careful how you pack them up for transport. I just put my kick pedal in my hardware case, and didn't take the beater off, and now the corner of the foam is permanently dented. After that, I started taking the beater off and putting it in my stick bag.

Overall, it was pretty good. Made my playing a little faster, but I ended up switching back to my stock DW beater. It gave me too much click and not enough thud, and there wasn't enough weight to it to get the volume I want. The hard felt seems to be the sweet spot for me.
 
Foam is terrible quality. The whole point of the beater is that you can adjust the foam/plastic beater ratio to "tune" the beater. Problem I found is no matter what I did, the plastic was the dominating force because the foam is so soft and crappy. I took them right back.
 
Man, doesn't sound like it's worth the $25 a piece. I was really wanting the beater that JR Robinson uses in his DVD and it kinda looks like the Hardcore beater. I know he uses Axis pedals but he's not using the typical small beater they have. It's big and square. Seems like such a great idea, but obviously not a great execution. Maybe I'll wait a year and they might make an improved version with better, denser foam. I'm pretty happy with the Iron Cobra hard felt beaters, so I'll probably just get a replacement for the one that's wearing out. Thanks guys!
 
I used a hardcore beater on my Axis pedal for awhile, it was ok. I did feel it needed a bit more oomph, so I switched it out for a Danmar Zoro signature square felt beater. This beater is great , such a great and solid, full sound.
 
Man, doesn't sound like it's worth the $25 a piece. I was really wanting the beater that JR Robinson uses in his DVD and it kinda looks like the Hardcore beater. I know he uses Axis pedals but he's not using the typical small beater they have. It's big and square. Seems like such a great idea, but obviously not a great execution. Maybe I'll wait a year and they might make an improved version with better, denser foam. I'm pretty happy with the Iron Cobra hard felt beaters, so I'll probably just get a replacement for the one that's wearing out. Thanks guys!


JR uses a JR Robinson signature beater made by Danmar.
 
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