What’s considered budget?
“Best budget bass drum pedal” might sound weird, but gear evolved over the years and so did their price. Pedals nowadays can go for as high as $1,000, so does that mean you need to sell a kidney every time you feel you need an upgrade? The answer is NO!
When starting out, even though learning the correct technique should be your priority, picking the right drum pedal can offer a much-deserved boost in confidence. However, even a cheap drum pedal can achieve that, if you recognize what to look for.
In this article I’ll mainly focus on drum pedals from $60 – $100, since that’s what I consider a “budget drum pedal.” In my honest opinion, it’s not worth at all to buy anything below ~$50, because you’ll definitely end upgrading sooner than you should.
Like the good old proverb says, “buy cheap, buy twice”. Why not pay $10 or $20 more now to buy something that won’t disintegrate after half a year?
Straightaway, let’s dive into my picks for the best budget bass drum pedals of 2021:
Specifications:
- Drive: Single Chain Drive
- Drive Cam: Perfect Circle Cam w/Removable Eliminator-style Eccentric Cam
- Footboard: Demon-Style Long Board
- Beater: Control Core DuoBeater
- Beater Angle: Infinitely Adjustable
- Spring Tension: Click-Lock
There’s no way I could begin this list without mentioning the Pearl P-930, the newest addition to the Pearl drum pedal family.
It combines innovative features from Pearl’s Demon Drive, which is Pearl’s top of the line drum pedal, with their Eliminator line, to provide one of, if not the best, price/quality ratios when it comes to the best budget bass drum pedals.
It has an extended footboard (in other words, no heel plate), favorable for high-speed single and double strokes. You can adjust it using the two screws at the bottom.
On top of that, the technology from the eliminator series on the drive cam allows two types of playing feel:
- The Perfect Circle cam with no resistance;
- The removable Orange Eccentric Cam for accelerated strokes.
You can choose between using or not the orange eccentric cam, it’s a matter of personal preference.
Furthermore, the beater comes with a felt side and a plastic side and you can adjust it as much as you want (up, down, more or less angled).
You can also adjust the spring tension, which includes a special feature by Pearl called Click-Lock that prevents your spring from moving after you find out the sweet spot.
My personal experience
I currently own this one, which I purchased 18 months ago. I’ve been using it pretty much every day for at least one hour a day on my practice kit. To be totally honest with you, after a year and a half of regular use, I must confess it’s way better than I expected and it still looks as good as new, as you can see here:
If you’re looking for a “premium-type” of pedal that looks good, feels amazing and doesn’t leave you bankrupt, while also being pretty simple for a beginner without lacking any of the adjustments needed to match your own style, it doesn’t get any better than the Pearl P-930.
Specifications:
- Drive: Power Glide chain drive
- Beater: Adjustable beater angle
- Spring: Adjustable spring tension
- Footboard: With heel plate
- Optional: It can be fitted with Cobra Coil®
Having said that, in my humble opinion, the HP200P is “miles ahead” and the ~$15 price difference doesn’t justify opting for the cheaper one, except if for some reason you can’t, or don’t want to save for another couple of months.
If I had to pick a few words to describe this pedal, I would probably choose “the robust workhorse.”
It follows the same concepts as the Iron Cobra 900, which is Tama’s top of the line drum pedal, and both the beater and the spring tension can be adjusted to match your preferences. It includes Tama’s single-chain Power Glide Cam to improve your power and speed, and a heel plate, unlike the Pearl P-930.
It’s not included with the pedal, but you can also buy Tama’s Cobra Coil (only brand that offers such thing).
What’s “Cobra Coil” used for, you might ask?
It’s an add-on that helps the pedal board get back to its original position without the need to over-tight the spring tension on the side of the pedal. The Cobra Coil itself can also be adjusted, using the two screws under the pedal, to bring it closer or farther away from the beater.
All in all, if for some reason you don’t like the Pearl P-930, the Tama HP200P is the way to go, as long as something simple but with enough adjustments for most of your needs, that will last you a while and won’t let you down it’s what you’re looking for.
Specifications:
- Drive: Single-chain drive
- Beater: 107 “Flyweight” Beater
- Base plate: Steel
Just like the previous two, DW 2000 is a pretty sturdy drum pedal, but unlike the others, it’s as simple as it gets, since it’s the entry-level line of the DW drum pedals.
Let’s start from the beginning: it has a single-chain drive and a two-way beater, but unlike the P-930, both sides are plastic instead of the usual plastic and felt side.
You can change both the beater angle and the footboard height using the lug nut on the side of the pedal, but sadly they’re not independently adjustable, or in other words, you can’t change one without messing the other.
Beneath the footboard is a steel baseplate fitted with some Velcro and retractable spikes.
The point of that is to prevent the pedal, and the bass drum, from moving while playing.
DW 2000 is pretty similar to the old-school DW 5000 in case you’ve ever owned one.
Compared to the previous two from Pearl and Tama, it’s way less adjustable (which can be a good or bad thing, depending on your current needs). That doesn’t stop it from being one of the best drum pedals you can buy for less than $100.
Final thoughts
All things considered, if you’re either a beginner or someone on a budget and you’re in the market for the best budget drum pedal, you’ll be pretty satisfied with any of the three pedals listed above.
On the contrary, if you’re already an intermediate drummer or even a professional, you might want to look into something between the $200 – $300 price range at the very least, but who am I kidding, if you were a professional, you wouldn’t be here.
My personal preference, as stated before, is, without a doubt, the Pearl P-930, which I currently own and use regularly on my practice drum kit. Mostly because of all the adjustments it allows me to make, as well as how it looks and its modest price.
If you’re like me and prefer to tweak everything to match your personal preferences, the P-930 should be your pedal. On the other hand, if you like to able to make some adjustments, but the main priority is sturdiness, Tama HP200P is the way to go in case the P-930 isn’t an option.
Of course, if for some reason you don’t like either of those two and you actually prefer the simplicity of the DW 2000, just go for it. I’m pretty sure it will never let you down as long as you acknowledge what the “best budget bass drum pedal” really means.