Build your own Rock Band kick pedal

[banddad]

Here is a kick pedal I built using a standard kick pedal and some plywood. It fits right under the Rock Band drums. I have the PS2 version and this pedal works great!!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k287/banddad5011/DSC_0034-800.jpg

[greenbrick]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2380/2189627649_0402a53491.jpg?v=0

[tier312]

Those kicks are awesome... could you post some brief instruction as to how you constructed them... I broke my kick in half the first night I played so its an alternative to getting a new one under warranty and breaking it again and again.

[12metillica]

that is the coolest bass pedal ever! these might come in handy for me because 3rd day I got RB I snapped my pedal and had to reinforce it with some hard plastic. tier312 how did you break yours?

[greenbrick]

mine is pretty much a hack but it actually works really well.

they are really easy to build. basically all that is coming out of the drum kit is an 1/8" jack and 2 wires (speaker wire is a good replacement). if you touch the wires together the drum sounds. it doesn't sound again until you take them apart and touch them again. (it "listens" for an off to on switch).

all you have to do is get an 1/8 jack from radio shack and connect it to some speaker wire. leave a healthy section of bare wire at the ends and spread them out between a few layers of tinfoil. secure them with electric tape. then then tape one to the toe of a shoe or flip-flop and then another to some sort of base (piece of wood or something). thats all there is to it.

My first attempt worked well but wasn't durable so i rebuilt it using screws to secure the wire to the base and to the toe of the flip flop. This flickr set has some more pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/82828043@N00/sets/72157603702971798/

[banddad]

I tried a couple different methods. There is one method out there that uses a magnetic reed switch with magnets to throw the switch. It doesn't require any physical contact to the switch. I built one of those and it worked fine. I thought it was a little to complicated though. So I came up with a more simple method. I am using the metal pedal as one conductor and a small piece of spring steel for the other. When the pedal touches the little piece of steel (you can see it's shadow), it closes the circuit. I bent the steel in a 90 degree angle and used epoxy to secure it to the pedal. I soldered one conductor to the piece of steel.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k287/banddad5011/DSC_0035-800.jpg


http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k287/banddad5011/DSC_0036-800.jpg

If you look closely, you can see where I pinched the other wire under the steel pedal. This is my second conductor.

The plywood is just a way to stop the beater. I used contact cement to attach an old mouse pad where the beater hits. Next I am going to try and flip the beater over so it just hits the ground. Then I can eliminate the plywood stand altogether.

You can buy a mono 1/8" cord at Radio shack and cut one end off. when you strip and separate the 2 wires, you have an open circuit. When you touch the 2 wires together, the game senses a closed circuit and triggers the kick drum. It is up to you to come up with a creative way of closing the circuit. Like a flip flop and tin foil....


I am working on an even better design that I will try to sell on Ebay. There are wood and aluminum and carbon plates you can buy now for the original pedals that make it so those pedals don't break. My daughter is a drummer and this pedal gives her more of the feel of a real kick drum.

[Project_Mercy]

I like that design a lot. If you check the old Roland electronic kick triggers, you can see what they did about bending the beater to hit a rebound pad attached down on the ground. I think KD-6? I forget exactly.

[banddad]

Here is another version someone posted to my thread on another web site. The velcro under the plywood gives you an easy way to adjust the spring location. Great idea!! His user name was McPostal.

I would have moved the screw on the pedal down to the bottom part of the pedal that doesn't move. On my pedal, I got continuity on that piece as well.

I would love to see some more designs...

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee197/McPostal/pedalmod03resized.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee197/McPostal/pedalmod04resized.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee197/McPostal/pedalmod01resized.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee197/McPostal/pedalmod02resized.jpg

[fletch4x]

great job guys with these amazing ideas!I just snapped mine in half and I know the way i play seeing as I play drums for real that it would just keep breaking until i was s.o.l.