Are you looking for the best double bass pedal? Then, you are in the right place.
As certain music styles grow more and more extreme, demands get higher on the speed and precision of the drummer. So it is clear how crucial the bass drum is for music. It provides the steady beat and constant bass hits that make music feel as good as it does.
The hardware limits a drummer with less-than-stellar equipment. So, where do you put all that hard-earned cash? A good start to staying competitive as a drummer in extreme or heavier music is investing in a good pedal, but good comes expensive.
The question is, what pedal is the best investment? What is the best bass drum pedal for the money?
Top 5 Best Double Bass Pedals:
DW 3002 Double Bass Drum Pedal (Editor’s Choice)
Perhaps one of the best middle-of-the-road double pedal offerings comes from one of the world’s most renowned high-end drum manufacturers. It is no surprise that DW has achieved a level of notoriety when even their middle-budget pedals are this good.
The 3002 features a double-chain drive design smoother than many top-range pedals from other manufacturers (ahem, Iron Cobra?) The all-metal design ensures durability and weight underfoot. Furthermore, the beaters feature a few different sides for different tones.
On top of this, DW has a reputation for producing incredible pedals, and this one is no excuse. The 3002 includes all essential adjustment factors, including spring tensioning with high-quality springs, throw distance adjusting, beater height adjustments, a drum key holder.
The off-set cam design is engineered to translate the maximum amount of your foot’s energy on the board into better impact energy so that even when playing fast, power is less likely to be compromised.
Furthermore, the dual spring-bearing rocker system provides as smooth a ride as the 3002’s older brothers are known for providing.
The 3002 also packs other niceties at this price point, including an adjustable toe clamp. That may seem like something silly to consider an “added feature,” but when sweat or beer or water gets on your pedal at a gig, and you have the 3002’s toe clamp making sure that your foot is not flopping around quite so much, you will know who to thank: the DW 3002, easily the best pedal for your money this year.
There are, though, a few cons to this pedal. First, these pedals are NOT longboards; they are standard size pedals. So, heel-toers may want to look elsewhere if they believe that longboards are essential to their technique.
Furthermore, DW offers pedals that are even more rock-solid and reliable, so maybe a little further saving can get you a pedal that will last a lifetime.
Pearl P932 Demonator Double Bass Drum Pedal
The Pearl Demonator series has gotten a reputation as the pedal for speed-kings who don’t have an Axis Longboard. However, unlike the 3002, these pedals are longboards. They also feature a sleek, all-metal aircraft aluminum design.
The 3002 pedals feel heavy because they are heavy; the P932 is deceptively lightweight while almost as sturdy.
The P932 is an incredibly well-built pedal making few sacrifices to put it in this price range. The pedal is machined out of aircraft-grade aluminum. It features the iconic design of Pearl’s recent pedals that is simply incredible to behold, and drummers across the room will know what you are playing.
The biggest sacrifice made here is the presence of the single chain. I prefer the single-chain or strap-drive systems. However, for most people going for speed and power over finesse and accuracy, the single-chain is just a little bit weaker and a little bit more liable to break and not provide maximum returns on footspeed investment.
Other than that, the pedal carries a lot of top-quality features. It includes a Powershifter design with interchangeable “circle” cam (oldest-school design Pearl offers, trying to translate directly between foot stroke and beater strike) and an “eccentric” cam (trying to enhance the power in the backend of the beater’s path). Describing it with words will make very little sense.
Suffice to say that the “circle” cam will accurately reproduce everything you do, while the “eccentric” cam translates the motion to add a little bit more power at the cost of a little bit of smoothness.
You can change out the cams on this pedal gives it a little bit of an adjustability edge over the 3002. However, the P932 may be less satisfying to the moderate to advanced double pedal bass drum player due to the lack of a dual-chain drive.
However, the P932 may be the best of both worlds for anyone seeking an ultra-lightweight pedal: high-quality construction and design features and lightweight yet sturdy.
Iron Cobra 200 Double Bass Drum Pedal
The Iron Cobra brand by Tama Drums has brought great pedals to the market for many years that feature an exquisite design with the black and silver color scheme and great features for a new double pedaller.
The Iron Cobra was a brand of pedals at the forefront of the “pedal” race. In 1993 when the first Iron Cobra was introduced, not much could touch it in terms of speed and power but, most importantly, durability.
The Iron Cobra brand’s durability is why I would push any gigging drummer to examine this pedal seriously. Of course, this pedal is not a cutting-edge Iron Cobra, but it does fine in speed and power.
However, it does carry on the tradition of Iron Cobras being nearly impossible to break because of their heavy-duty metal construction.
Durability aside, the features of this pedal area are required. It features an adjustable beater length, adjustable throw distance, adjustable spring tension, and everything you need to dial in your feel. Also, it features a dual-chain design contributing to speed and durability.
The Powerglide technology in the cam is much like many cams today. It is designed to straddle lightweight action and powerful impact force. It used to be cutting edge, but it is a Powerglide and only a Powerglide, a lower-end Iron Cobra.
Anyone new to double pedals or seeking a quick and durable pedal will be pleased with the Iron Cobra, but it is not much to write home about when it comes to cutting-edge features. What it has going for it is excellent playability and durability.
It is an older design without the features of its older brothers like the Iron Cobra 900, so it is not the fastest pedal or the smoothest, but it is sure to last a long time while providing good performance.
Mapex P500 TW Double Bass Pedal – Best on a Budget
I can only recommend this pedal if budget is your absolute number one concern. Bear that in mind as this section goes on. Mapex is a well-known company offering mid-to-upper quality drums at affordable prices.
Its top-range drum kits and hardware are excellent for the working musician with a budget, but they are not the best equipment money can buy.
The P500TW is a double pedal made by a budget company for budget-conscious consumers. It is the most useful, cheap double bass pedal.
If you are purchasing a double bass drum pedal for a beginner drumset player, look no further. However, if you are an advanced player looking for value, I recommend looking at any of the above three pedals.
The P500TW features some basic configuration settings like adjustable throw distance and beater height, spring tension, etc. but none of these feel the most rock-solid.
That can be said for the whole pedal itself. However, something that was especially questionable in my mind was the quality of the springs and cam.
An additional plus added that is not typically seen in budget pedals is the retractable floor spurs meant to help the pedal from sliding during play. The rest of the pedal is thoughtfully designed to provide the beginner with the best possible playing experience.
The P500TW will offer beginners an excellent introduction to double bass playing. It is lightweight, and the build quality is passable. In addition, it offers some necessary adjustment features for configuration purposes to help the beginner feel comfortable during play.
Overall, I cannot recommend the P500TW to anyone but beginners. However, it is an excellent value for beginners, and I would not point you anywhere but to the pedals above if your budget could stretch.
Trick Drums Dominator Double Bass Pedal
In the eyes of many, the trick is a custom drum company out of California that revolutionized the double bass drum pedal when they released the Pro 1-V system a few years back.
The Pro 1-V has been decried as being massively overpriced for what you get and out of any average drummer range. The Dominator is an attempt to bring that technology down to a slightly lower price range.
Unfortunately, what you get is comparable to the 3002 or the Pearl Demonator. You also are not getting a longboard in this pedal.
You are getting a decently fast direct-drive pedal. However, if you wanted a direct drive, here’s one for almost triple the others’ price on this list.
As far as adjustability goes, there is nothing special here. It has everything you want, which is better for about $600. In addition, the description shows that there are “universal zero-backlash free-floating joints,” which are of Trick’s design.
These are among a bevy of pretty meaningless features.
I have never struggled with joints being “free-floating” on a mid-to-top tier pedal from any reputable manufacturer. In other words, this claim from Trick is not worth almost a $400 premium over any of the other pedals on this list. It is not worth more than any other top-end pedal on the market.
If you are looking for top-end pedals for speed, look no further than Axis Longboards, which, even at their professional prices, come in cheaper than this supposedly more budget-friendly oriented version of the Pro 1-V.
If I have to pick a reason to pick this pedal, it is purely one of luxury. It is an excellent pedal. There is no denying that. But is it worth $600? The short answer is that I do not know if there is a pedal worth $600.
Bass Drum Pedal Drive Types
Bass drum pedals come in three major drive types: direct drive, chain drive, or strap drive. Each of these feels slightly different than the other, and each is really about personal feel preference.
We will spend hours adjusting our pedals to feel like we want them. It is important to make when deciding drive types because certain drive systems feel a certain way, and you cannot replicate that feeling on the other two types.
Strap drive pedals tend to have a slightly relaxed, buttery smooth feeling to them. Strap-driven pedals have been around for a very long time and are favored by drummers who don’t necessarily need split-second accuracy coupled with intense power returns.
Strap-driven pedals are a good balance between the speed of the chain-drive and the direct-drive styles’ power and offer perhaps some of the more precise response times out of all three drive types.
Chain-drive comes in two variations: single chain and double chain. That delineates the number of chains connecting the footboard to the cam and beater apparatus.
Single-chain is less durable but possesses response times closer to the strap-drive systems, whereas the double-chain offers the maximum power out of all three types of pedals.
Finally, direct drive is the most difficult to get used to but the most rewarding in speed. For most players, it is recommended that the direct-drive system is not the first system played on as it requires more intentional playing and muscle memory that you can only develop through practice.
Once one is skilled enough on either a strap or a double-chain configuration and desires the most speed possible out of a pedal configuration, they should consider moving to direct-drive.
What Adjustments Are The Important Ones?
A lot of beginner pedals are elementary in terms of adjustability. There is a fine line that must be walked between adjustability and out-of-the-box playability, especially for working drummers with limited budgets.
This portion of the article will break down a few different, important adjustment types to ensure you are getting the best bass drum pedal for the money.
Your selected pedal must offer adjustable throw distance. The space that the beater travels from the resting position to the drum head can be too far to be efficient or too short to offer any power.
Having adjustable throw distance is a simple way to ensure that your technique maximizes payouts in time to play.
Just like when you play drum with sticks, a portion of the drum head produces the best sound when hit. The same is on larger drums like the bass drum.
The ability to adjust the beater height allows you to locate the bass drum head’s location where the best sound is produced. If you cannot accurately adjust and ensure that your beater hits the head at the optimal location, you cannot ensure that your bass drum produces the best sound.
Finally, there must be an effective mechanism for adjusting the spring tension on the pedal. Additionally, high-quality springs are vital.
Bass drum pedals are converting your downward motion into lateral-ish motion, and the springs make sure that the energy is accurately transferred.
The tension on the spring can make the pedal a bit stiffer under your foot, requiring more power and precision to strike the bass drum, or you can adjust it down to loose and floppy depending on your desired feel.
Conclusion: The Best Double Bass Pedal Is…
The 3002 by Drum Workshop offers the best in value and playability. You are truly getting a professional pedal at a budget price. It is, though, quite heavy-duty and entirely infinitely adjustable.
I would recommend this pedal over all the others, but that recommendation carries with it the caveat that it is only for someone serious about double bass.
Perhaps it is an excellent upgrade from an Iron Cobra or the P500TW! The P932 is very similar in adjustability to the 3002 but features a lightweight and eye-catching design.
It suffers a bit from having a single chain, but the interchangeable cam system is considered. The Iron Cobra is a great durable pedal for someone going for a reliable and not the flashiest double-pedal.
Finally, the P500TW would make a great purchase as a first double bass pedal.