making a drum pedal

[karate_robot]

im interested in making my own pedal, can anyone help me out?

i know i want to do the door alarm sensor version but i dont know how to go about doing it.

i may or may not be using a bass pad either so both ways would help

thank you

[akwok]

http://rockband.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2967

[karate_robot]

Mega Thanks!

[akwok]

For what it's worth, I did both the sensor-under-pedal method (as outlined in that link), and the sensor-inside-practice pad method. The sensor-inside-practice pad method is MUCH, MUCH better in my opinion. Essentially you embed the reed sensor inside the foam of the Gibraltar GBDP practice pad, drill a hole into the pedal's beater and glue the magnet in. I find it to be much more accurate, and a lot more professional looking.

I do believe this is also what the Destroyer Pro is attempting to do (sensor inside Gibraltar GBDP + magnet in beater). It is not that expensive -- about $120 in parts in total, however I assume that the Destroyer Pro will be $200+.

More info about the practice pad method here: http://rockband.scorehero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7624.

Image of mine here: http://akwok.org/pictures/basspracticepadmod/IMG_6241.JPG. Please ignore the sensor underneath the pedal, it was just a remnant of the previous mod.

[karate_robot]

awesome! thank you so much! i was actually about to ask you if you could just use the magnet in the pedal, but you already thought of that

[akwok]

Just be extremely careful when you get the reed switch out of the bass pedal. Handle it very gently -- it has a high tendency to crack (rendering it useless) at the slightest shock.

Now you might wonder.. wouldn't embedding it inside the practice pad, and then hitting it repeatedly with a beater be a bad idea then? No, because the foam is extremely thick (make sure you cut a deep slit) and the foam is protected by another air pocket + rubber.

[karate_robot]

how much tweaking did you have to do to get it hitting the right spot and no double hits, im getting a bit nervous cuz i dont wanna like totally jank up my beater/pad

[Archaicbereft]

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?p=952901#post952901

specifically:

Nah, it's not an edrum kick trigger pad. It's a Gibraltar practice pad, as was mentioned earlier in this thread.

Here's some pictures of my setup, which is exactly what Archaic was asking about:

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee298/davidshek/kickpad1.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee298/davidshek/kickpad2.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee298/davidshek/kickpad3.jpg

And making it is extremely simple.

It's this pedal (but you can use any pedal):
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Pearl-P2000B-BeltDrive-PowerShifter-Eliminator-Bass-Pedal?sku=448279

With this beater (but you can use any beater):
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibraltar-Lightweight-Drum-Beater?sku=446521

With this sensor:
http://www.smarthome.com/7113.html

Glued onto this pad:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Gibraltar-GBDP-Bass-Drum-Pad?sku=446025

<3 Davidshek

with second hand or lower quality components you could put it together for $80-$120

[rob l]

I have a reed switch taped onto the front of my practice pad below the beater hit area and then an old hard drive magnet on my beater arm. Works great and I can move everything around to fine tune the sensitivity. Mine is somewhat similar to David Shek's rig.

BTW I highly recommend going with a real pedal and doing this type of mod. A real pedal is about 4 quadrillion times better than the OEM pedal.