An interesting newcomer to the pedal market...

evogel

Senior Member
http://rkmdrumpedal.com/

It appears to be even more adjustable than your usual pedal with an interesting foot board design.

Who is going to try it first? As always, any further info and impressions are most appreciated.
 
It's probably a nice pedal. But, everything else has been done and is currently in the market - all-aluminum, adjustable cam, separate beater and footboard positioning - it's not so unique. The sliding footboard hinge may be the only truly unique feature, depending on how it's implemented (there are other swappable/moveable hinge adjustments out there.)

It looks simple enough to be a really good pedal, but there are plenty of really good pedals out there already, and for less money. I don't know if he's been able to solve an adjustability roadblock that someone else hasn't already addressed.

Can we expect to see him at NAMM? I wonder if dealers are ready for another pedal!

Bermuda
 
Website-
The RKM Pedal's footboard is constructed with the same geometry and is hinged like the great pedals of the 60's and 70's.

Whaaat!?


The lever that holds the beater should be set so that upon impact with the head, the beater shaft is parallel to the bass drum head.

Im out. My beater shaft is never parallel to the head, always forward. Anything parallel, or throne side has gravity working against you and beater. I want most of my effort in the stroke (or as much as I can get) to be applied fwd of the pedal's shaft, going downhill.



This results in the optimum rebound, because unlike most pedals where the beater shaft upon impact is at a forward angle, the shaft does not have to travel in an upward arc in order to rebound from the head.

Brilliant observation, tho that's the springs job, along with help from any head rebound this part of the stroke is easily handled/covered by the spring.

Now if you apply that thinking in the other direction, 'fwd angle' is the same as 'rearward angle' they both have to overcome gravity, c'ept on the rearward/throne side its the drummer who's responsible for the effort, not the spring. Its easier to push downhill so to speak.


Unlike other adjustable devices where the cam is hinged at only one end, the entire arc of the RKM Pedal's drive cam becomes a larger radius as the lever moves outward towards the head. As the lever is moved outwards towards the drumhead, the leverage increases exponentially. The power lever can be adjusted to the point where the cam almost touches the bass drum head, for exceptional power with little effort, or it can be adjusted rearward to give more speed...the possibilities are endless.

Not really fixing anything. With all modern day footboard angle adjustments you also affect leverage, so its not 'independent' by any means other than the beater angle isn't affected at the same time as cam angle.

I've got my leverage where I like it (cam position/angle), I want to change my footboard height, can't do it 'independently' with this and modern day designs.

Independent footboard angle would mean leverage isn't affected- the cam stays in position when the footboard height is adjusted. The only way to achieve this is by lengthening/shorting the connector (chain, strap, direct drive piece). All companies need to do is supply a longer chain, the excess would be contained under the footboard. If you lower the cam while lowering the footboard, its not an independent adjustment, well... that's what everyones calling it anyways, b/c they're using it as a marketing scam, but its not true.



This pedal was designed by a working drummer, who, for decades noted what was wrong with most pedal designs, and was determined to make a better product.

Except footboard angle/height is not independently adjustable from cam position on any pedal...yet*.

Like everyone else, this working drummer/designer dude fails to see there's a difference between cam angle and footboard height. They can be made to go together (as the industry is doing), or they can be separated for truly 'independent' adjustability. if you have a comfortable leverage (cam position), you can't keep it and adjust the footboard independently up, or down.

Now some of you will counter with saying you can drop the chain on a DW 5k independent of cam angle, which is true, but by doing so you change the pull position on the cam. The obvious place to lengthen/shorten a chain to affect foot board height is from the bottom at the footboard. Pull should remain at the same place on the cam.

*The DRUMNETICS magnet driven pedal does (did?) have an adjustable direct drive connector (which I have praised).
 
I am the inventor of the RKM pedal. What I have read here is ludicrous! I invented this pedal because after the advent of the Rogers "Big R" Pedal, the one-piece footboard like the one on the Rogers Swiv-O-Matic was taken off the market with the exception of the one-piece footboard model of the DW 5000.

I am 61 years old and learned to play on a Ludwig Speed King, which I later replaced with a Rogers Swivo. After trying some of the newer pedals, I found that I could not play as well on the "hinged" footboard, the one offered by most companies, the one where the heel plate is stationary and the footboard is shorter as a result. My resentment over that was so great that I bought newer pedals and modified them...I drilled holes in the baseplates and mounted footboards from Rogers Swiv-O-Matics on them, so that I didn't have to give up what I liked just to have modern pedals with nice bearings.

The adjustments on this pedal are all good sound adjustments. Problem is, folks nowadays don't know the joys of the one-piece boards because you weren't around when they were prevalent. It's like trying to tell kids now that the government used to pay most of college tuition.....the students now just don't get it! All a lot of players now want is a double pedal so that they can bang away on their double-bass chops...a drum solo now is a bunch of "look how fast I can bang on my double bass" instead of having any musicality to it, in MY humble opinion. The pedal is also made in the USA, something else people nowadays may not care about if they can get a cheaper item from China! I have lowered the price, and will probably soon go out of business for lack of orders, but if I were you, I'd get one of these while you can. There's simply nothing that compares in my opinion. As far as customer support, you can't break one, it's way overdesigned, and not even cost effective to make, so don't even worry about that. Our profit margin is nothing! We sell them at a loss. I just wanted to get it out there before I die! And if it didn't have "unique" features, the US Patent office would not have granted me a patent in what my attorney said was "record" time.
 
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I have some questions Mr. funkutron.

Is the cam position separately adjustable from the beater angle on the shaft?

It looks like a hex shaft holding the cam and beater shaft. That means if the cam is adjustable, it has to go to the next flat spot right? Or am I missing something?

Can the chain be shortened easily? From the top or bottom of the chain?

I feel for you going through all this effort and not making anything. Thank you for your sacrifice. I appreciate it.
 
That's not a plastic beater, it's a black superball. It has the impact and tone of a wood beater, but it has a Lot of rebound.

And no, the cam angle relative to the beater shaft is not separately adjustable. You gotta draw the line somewhere, otherwise you'd never quit adjusting it. Truth be told, it doesn't need much adjustment at all.....just make the beater parallel with the head on impact, and then find the leverage that suits you. The chain angle is separately adjustable from the power lever on the cam. It's not a hex shaft, it's a round shaft, which is interrupted by the cam. This gives you a "swing" which is centered on the shaft, rather than the hex design which is standard to most pedals. The chain length IS adjustable though, to a point.

Feel is everything with a pedal, and I'm really sorry I don't have a ton of money to get this pedal out there to the stores, and I sure as hell can't afford to go to NAMM what I was hoping is someone would just buy my patent.

But I WILL tell you this....my pedal is not designed with "profit" in mind. There is way more metal in this pedal than ANY other manufacturer would dare use, because I designed it to be indestructible, damn the torpedoes and the cost! I am 6'3", and I weigh 255 pounds, and I have NEVER broken a part on any of my personal pedals, and I would dare anyone else to as well! You may be shooting yourselves in the foot by not getting one, because I can assure you, this is going to wind up being a rare and esoteric item once they are gone, and there's only 40 or so left. The aluminum in the cam is 7075 T6, the stuff they use for wing spars in 747's! NO other manufacturer would use that, it's not cost effective. But I have never been a good "capitalist"...when I worked at Boeing, I never had any parts I made rejected, and all I got for that was "don't make your parts so pretty, just hurry up and make them fast!"

I can't work for people like that, I seek perfection, both in my drumming, and in my pedal. So go ahead you guys,be skeptical, but I would not use ANY other pedal but this one, and if it fails in the marketplace, well then, I'm going to have quite a personal collection of my favorite pedals!
 
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And I wonder how it's doing since it has been 2 years since the OP.
 
And I wonder how it's doing since it has been 2 years since the OP.

Excellent point. Did not notice the origin date of the thread. If I did, would not have responded.

Time for a beer!
 
Hey Larryace, I guess I misunderstood your query....The cam has a hollow mandrel with two sliding arms in it...the right arm is for the beater "hammer, which adjusts forward and rearward over an inch. This arm controls the distance, or the "reach" of the beater shaft relative to the drum head. The left lever, which has the cam on the end of it, also slides forward and rearward, and adjusts the power, or the leverage of the chain relative to the cam. Both adjustments can be done easily from the playing position.

The footboard has a fine screw adjustment which slides it forward or rearward along a track in the baseplate, a total of about 3 inches of forward or rearward travel. There are no pre-indexed positions, all adjustments are fluid and "infinite", that is until you reach the end of the possible adjustment range in either direction.

I liken it to a bicycle with derailleur gears.....you have your front chainrings, which change the leverage in the front, and your gear clusters in the rear. In just this way, the leverage of the pedal can be changed from either point. But once you find what you like, lock the adjustments and leave it alone! It's not made to adjust, it's made to play, and feel better than most pedals out there.
 
I am the inventor of the RKM pedal. What I have read here is ludicrous! I invented this pedal because after the advent of the Rogers "Big R" Pedal, the one-piece footboard like the one on the Rogers Swiv-O-Matic was taken off the market with the exception of the one-piece footboard model of the DW 5000.

I am 61 years old and learned to play on a Ludwig Speed King, which I later replaced with a Rogers Swivo. After trying some of the newer pedals, I found that I could not play as well on the "hinged" footboard, the one offered by most companies, the one where the heel plate is stationary and the footboard is shorter as a result. My resentment over that was so great that I bought newer pedals and modified them...I drilled holes in the baseplates and mounted footboards from Rogers Swiv-O-Matics on them, so that I didn't have to give up what I liked just to have modern pedals with nice bearings.

The adjustments on this pedal are all good sound adjustments. Problem is, you "kids" nowadays don't know the joys of the one-piece boards because you weren't around when they were prevalent. It's like trying to tell kids now that the government used to pay most of college tuition.....the kids now just don't get it! All these kids now want is a double pedal so that they can bang away on their double-bass chops...a drum solo now is a bunch of "look how fast I can bang on my double bass" instead of having any musicality to it. The pedal is also made in the USA, something else the kids nowadays may not care about if they can get a cheaper piece of junk from China! But one day, this country is going to be finished as we know it unless we start making things here again. I have lowered the price, and will probably soon go out of business for lack of orders, but if I were you, I'd get one of these while you can. There's simply nothing that compares in my opinion. As far as customer support, you can't break one, it's way overdesigned, and not even cost effective to make, so don't even worry about that. Our profit margin is nothing! We sell them at a loss. I just wanted to get it out there before I die! And if it didn't have "unique" features, the US Patent office would not have granted me a patent in what my attorney said was "record" time.

Fact is, I don't care if you buy one or not! I make nothing, I've given up on the idea of being rich, and in a year I get Social Security, so the heck with it, I'm gonna kick back and do a few gigs and the rest of the time sit home and drink beer and watch Judge Judy and collect my pension.....I invented this to help other drummers, but mostly to help ME!!! LOL!



You have to admit, asking $300 for something untested, un-reviewed, is going to be met with some resistance. Your average guy like me can get a DW5000 for $180 new, so to ask me to spend $300 for an unknown, I might just balk. Being an angry vendor at the people you're trying to attract isn't a great idea either.

Why not offer one to somebody to get it out there? I did that with one small drum company and the product turned out really good and I recommend it to everybody I know. I'm sure you must know other players who would be willing to take your pedal through it's paces and make a YouTube video so people can see it in action, no? In fact, DW started out just that way, they got the pedals to players in town, begged Pro Drum Shop in Hollywood to carry a couple, and the name spread. So even the biggies had to start somewhere. That would do more to get the word out than coming back here and yelling at all of us for not getting the concept.
 
It was reviewed by Modern Drummer, April 2015 I believe it was. You'd also pay more than what I am asking for a decent 16" crash cymbal....
 
AND, I did give quite a few of them away at first. I know some "famous" drummers in Seattle, but they can't "endorse" it, because big drum companies are PAYING them to endorse other pedals. It all boils down to having to be rich to get rich, I don't have dough for full-page ads in Modern Drummer, and Drum magazine, etc.....I think it's just too late, like the guys said, there's too many pedals out there now.
 
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We have pretty much the same issues around here. We pay more taxes, sure, everybody does, except those at the top. Not much different, just a few more things that are covered through taxation. Doesn't mean that the quality is always that great or there are sometimes issues getting certain thinhs covered.
 
This country is NUTS! All they advertise on TV is Insurance and prescription drugs, drugs which cost us more than anyone else in the world pays, and believe me, they want it ALL, they're going to squeeze every drop of money from the elderly that they can before they leave this rotten world.

You got that right brother. Good luck with your business.
 
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