Universal Rock Band Replacement Kick Pedal
Officially licensed and original replacement kick pedal for Rock Band 2. Features steal enforced diamond plate cover to prevent breakage. Includes double bass adapter that allows for two pedals to be used at the same time. Works with both Rock Band and Rock Band 2 games.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Double Bass action
Since this is the official replacement Rock Band 2 bass pedal, you would expect it to perform identical to the orignal that came with the Rock Band 2 drum set, and it does.
The pedal can be used as a replacement pedal or as a second pedal with the included double bass adapter. (needs 2AAA batteries, not included) When using the adapter, you plug both bass pedals into the adapter and then plug the adapter into the drum set. There is a selector switch on the adapter that lets you change the compatibility mode (360/PS3/Rock Band/Guitar Hero/etc).
Now, there’s a catch to using the adapter, which makes the adapter work much better when drumming but you’ll lose a tiny bit of functionality when navigating the song lists. The catch is that the adapter sends a short “on” signal to the drum set telling it that you pressed the pedal down and then turns the signal back to “off”. This is great when using two pedals at the same time because it keeps them from interfering with each other when going for those lightning fast bass hits. In essence, you can press one pedal down and keep it down and then press the second bass pedal at the same time and it will still register a bass hit. This is a much better solution that simply using a splitter because when using a splitter, if you hold one pedal down you will get no response from the second bass pedal until you release the first pedal. It’s easy to miss notes when using a splitter, but you won’t have that problem with this adapter. Without trying to sound cliche, it rocks!
Here’s the downside to that catch I was talking about; since it only sends a short “on” signal before turning the pedal back to “off”, you can’t use the pedal to navigate your song selections table of contents because that requires you to hold the pedal down. (there’s a note in the instructions that tell you this also) The only thing the pedal will do when using the adapter is to “page down”, which is what it always does when you press it once, with or without the adapter.
To me, it’s not a big deal considering I gained a vast improvement in my double bass note hits and completely removed the leg fatigue I’d get when trying to play really fast songs on hard and expert. It does take a little practice to get used to it if you’re not used to using both feet, but keep at it and you’ll wonder how you managed with only one foot for so long.
I think the adapter alone makes this replacement pedal worth the cost. If you’re only playing drums on easy or medium then it may not be worth as much to you because you don’t really have any need for fast bass hits. But if you’re like me and want to use the regular Rock Band 2 drums with the standard pedal you already have and just add a second pedal to it, this is the cheapest way to go.
So obviously there’s other pedal choices out there and the other option you have is to just buy a better replacement after-market pedal. If you broke your first pedal from being too rough on it, you might want to consider this route instead. The quality of some of them is vastly superior to the stock pedal, but remember you’re still using one foot in that situation, it’s more expensive, and you don’t get an adapter. To me, it’s just easier to use both feet to get those really fast bass hits. And honestly, since we’re just smacking around fake drums anyway, I’ll use the method that gets me the best scores, which is two seperate bass pedals. Plus I figured if I buy an expensive pedal I’d still have to use a generic Y-cable splitter if I wanted to use 2 high-end pedals at the same time, which means you still have the limitations I described above.
Sorry for the long winded review, but if you’re bothering to read all this in the first place, you’re probably seriously considering all your options to improve your game. I think this is a really good option for the money, especially if you already have a working pedal and want to try out double bass pedals. (The splitter sealed the deal for me. It was worth the cost alone.)
2 Stars Works great! wanted to change the rating to 5/5, but review system won’t let me.
NOTE: When I initially reviewed this, I thought the pedal & double bass adapter were not working. It actually ended up being faulty AAA batteries. Once I replaced those, the pedals & adapter worked as expected.
I now give this product 5/5 stars for both fun and overall ratings, but Amazon’s stupid review system won’t let me change the ratings.
Here’s the new review:
This is the answer to your prayers if your leg tires out in Rock Band songs, or if you want to play the Expert+ mode in the latest Guitar Hero games.
As long as you can alternate your legs (I play heel-up), this effectively allows each leg to play half as fast. If you’re not an actual drummer, there may be an initial learning curve when adding one more appendage to your drumming, but it is well worth it.
“Fade to Black” by MetallicA is twice as fun with this on Expert+!
The ONLY downside is that I have found my left leg/knee to be far inferior to my right one.
5 Stars Great Investment
This was a great investment for my RB2 drumset. I really enjoy finally being able to beat some of the more difficult songs.
4 Stars … and you don’t have to assemble (or destroy)
i got this pedal to replace the pedal that i broke after trying to assemble one of those replacement pieces. in my case was definitely a better choice.
1 Star So terrible. Not even 2 of these for double bass is worth it.
***PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS A REVIEW FOR THE PEDAL ONLY, NOT THE SPLITTER.***
Oh my gosh, where do I start with this pedal!? It’s so terrible. It puts a very big hole in the fun of Rock Band drumming. The only improvement is the reinforcement plate, which does not make it much better.
Let’s start off with the design. It’s nothing like a real bass pedal. It’s basically a piece of plastic with a spring. No chain, nothing. Not even customizable to your liking.
The resistance is terrible. I find most of my bass notes dropped because of the terrible resistance. Good luck fighting that spring under the plastic. It does not have that great push-back of a real pedal. My leg suffers from pain after a short amount of time, especially on songs which require a lot of bass pedal usage or fast double/triple kicks. The special 2-feet-on-1-pedal technique is very hard to do on this pedal also. Songs like Painkiller, Panic Attack, Visions, Mayhem Track Pack songs, and many of the Iron Maiden songs are very hard to get a good score on. It’s all because of the pedal.
It even has issues with response! It’s not very accurate. The contact point is way too early. This means that the pedal activates before it hits the ground! So, if you are trying to hit fast bass notes, most of your hits aren’t gonna register since the contact point is too early and the pedal must leave the contact point in order to register another hit.
STILL not very durable either. It can still be snapped in half even with their new reinforcement plate attached. My pedal snapped in the center one day. It was still functional, but made loud clanking noises. Then the pedal snaps by the hinge mid-song 2 weeks later. So, Harmonix, are you SURE you fixed the pedal-snapping-in-half issue?
It’s so loud and clanky. 2-feet-on-1-pedal technique can be done if your lucky enough, but expect your pedal to make more noise than the TV.
I’m going to admit that I like the loud, clicky guitars from Guitar Hero 1 and 2. But drumming is a completely different story.
Harmonix, this is a BIG no-no. Shame on you for still making your pedal pathetic like last time. I would pay $100 more for the drum controller to have an actual realistic pedal. This pedal does nothing but take the fun out of Rock Band. Please consider getting a Rock Pedal instead.
