Review: Drumnetics Bass Drum Pedal (list $300)

There’s No Need to Soft Pedal: Drumnetics is the Future

www.drumnetics.com

By Brian Hardgroove

Being a multi-instrumentalist, I’ve always appreciated well-thought-out and practical improvements to the gear I need. As the bassist with Public Enemy, I’ve always looked for basses that have all the basics in place (reasonable tonal range and solid construction). I’ve also sought out amplification systems that bring that tonal range to the listener in as unaffected a way as possible. As a guitarist, I’ve looked for instruments with as much tonal diversity as possible, and amplification that enhances that diversity. And as the drummer (which is my favorite position in a band) with EV2, I’ve struggled with the myriad gadgets and gizmos that claim to make a drummer’s job easier, but have very little to do with the sound of the kit.

Until now. As far as I’m concerned, the new Drumnetics bass drum pedal (Fig. 1) is the smartest and most logical next step in playing the drums. The pedal uses what the company calls “reversed magnetic polarity” instead of a conventional spring configuration to return the beater to the “ready position.” The results are truly amazing.

YES, IT REALLY IS DIFFERENT

Fig. 1: The Drumnetics pedal.
(Click to enlarge)

The first obvious improvement is the complete lack of noise. As much as I love the song “I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want To Dance)” by the mighty James Brown, I’m going to assume that the engineers, the band and Mr. Brown would have preferred to avoid the squeaky bass drum pedal that accompanies the track. Similarly, while the pedal squeaking on Led Zeppelin’s epic “Since I've Been Loving You” doesn’t even come close to ruining the production, given the opportunity to avoid any extra noise I’m sure Mr. Page would have jumped at the chance. With that said, they would have loved the new Drumnetics bass drum pedal.

From the player’s side, it’s even more revolutionary. Imagine a pedal that needs nothing more than the smooth, natural and noiseless force of reverse magnetism to return your pedal to the ready position. If you think it through for a minute, you’ll probably say exactly what I said to myself: “Why didn’t I think of that?”

USING THE DRUMNETICS PEDAL

The Pedal plays just like a traditional pedal, and has great adjustment flexibility (Fig. 2) with regard to the beater angle as well as the distance of the footrest to the rotor cam and the center-housing block. The overall construction of the pedal is very solid and economical; the magnets are set in the base and the footrest. By sliding the magnet in the footrest up or down, you can adjust the pedal tension within the same range as the most expensive pedals on the market.

Another very cool feature is the “magnetic pouch” that holds the two hex keys (Fig. 3) that Drumnetics supplies for overall adjustments and fine-tuning. This pouch is located directly under the bottom magnet and due to magnetic attraction with the magnet, it takes considerable force to pull the keys out—they’re very difficult to lose. This is always a good consideration when you’re on the road.

The Drumnetics Bass Drum Pedal ships with a beater from a company called Superbeaters, although I prefer my trusted Danmar felt beater. But the fact that the beater hole is machined to accept pretty much any beater on the market is another reason why I call this pedal design “smart.” There are other features that I’m sure drummers of every level will find useful, so if you want to know more, check out the Drumnetics site for more information.

Bottom line: I own it, and don’t see a reason to go back to any of the pedals I’ve used in the past.

Fig. 2: The adjustable linkage allows extending or shortening its length without needing to disconnect anything; you just loosen the two set bolts, and slide it to the desired setting. (Click to enlarge)

Fig. 3: The adjustment wrenches are stored in the bottom cartridge and held in place by magnetic attraction. The bottom magnet slides within a track to vary the amount of spacing between the magnets; this increases or decreases the amount of repulsion so you can get a particular feel. (Click to enlarge)