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Is there a decent sustain pedal made these days?


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Hello all,

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for sustain pedals? The $15-$20 ProLine/On-Stage/made in China stuff is absolute shit. The switches inside are frustratingly unreliable. While I know how to replace a bad cable, it's another thing when the heart of the device is defective.

 

I searched back the maximum 2 years and read a couple of threads, but there were no satisfactory answers inside.

 

Thanks for your input!

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Yamahas are good but my favorite is the Casio with extra rubber.

Ive had it for 16 years and have Yamahas as spares.

 

Stay away from Donner. It looks okay but are meant for a child.

Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic
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After going through about 3 M-Audio pedals, a friend recommended OnStage pedals. Haven't had a problem with the one I bought probably a year ago now.

Soul, R&B, Pop from Los Angeles

http://philipclark.com

 

Cannonball Gerald Albright Signature Alto, Yamaha YC73, Fender Rhodes, Roland Juno-106, Yamaha MX61, Roland VR-09, MicroKorg XL, Maschine Mikro, Yamaha Reface CP, Roland MKS-50

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I searched back the maximum 2 years and read a couple of threads, but there were no satisfactory answers inside.

Not a surprise since you can't account for each person's "technique", lol. My hated M-Audio pedal has lasted me years, although I did redo the cable once.

 

The suggestion to use a Yamaha is fine but you didn't say whether your keyboard uses the Yamaha or Roland standard afaik the Yams are not switchable.

 

Good luck.

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I have 2-3 Yamaha pedals floating around. I like the way they feel, solidly built, etc. but most every pedal slips unless you take steps to prevent it. So +1.

 

The only pedal I own that doesn't slip is the Nord Triple Pedal which has this rubber sheet that extends out the front. Great design, really. A nice piece of gear, but ...

 

Major downsides include outrageous cost ($399? WTF?), they only work with Nord gear, and I've burned through two that have stopped working due to the optical sensor getting dirty or similar.

 

The only reason I have them is that they come included with the Nord Pianos that I play.

 

That being said, always a joy playing with it for acoustic gigs. It helps with the illusion that maybe I'm playing a real grand. That, and great amplification.

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Roland makes that DP-10 with the rubber under heal mat to keep it from sliding away. Sturdy, but pricey at $49.99.

 

I can give a thumbs up to the $19.99 Nektar NP-2 pedal. Its pretty sturdy feeling and it has a polarity switch.

 

I find most pedals fail in the cable where the wire gets kinked. If they use decent gauge wire and the cable feels well insulated - those are good signs.

 

 

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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That depends a LOT on what board youre playing. I use both Roland and Yamaha pedals, depending on rig.

 

M-audio sucks.

Hammond: L111, M100, M3, BC, CV, Franken CV, A100, D152, C3, B3

Leslie: 710, 760, 51C, 147, 145, 122, 22H, 31H

Yamaha: CP4, DGX-620, DX7II-FD-E!, PF85, DX9

Roland: VR-09, RD-800

 

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I use a Korg DS1-H with my SP6 and a DP10 Roland with my FA-08.

But I always keep an M-audio in my gig bag just in case, because it works.

Boards: Kurzweil SP-6, Roland FA-08, VR-09, DeepMind 12

Modules: Korg Radias, Roland D-05, Bk7-m & Sonic Cell

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I've had good results with Kurzweil's older pedals. The older ones appeared to be made by Fatar or one of the other Italian companies. I do have one later model that is made different and has a switch that doesn't look as sturdy, but it has not given any problems.

I also modified two of the dual-pedal Kurzweils by cutting out the center area and adding the mechanism from a single pedal in the middle to make a three pedal arrangement.

Kurzweil pedals follow the normally-open standard (i.e. not the same as Yamaha), although their boards will sense the pedal when first turned on if it is already plugged in.

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

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"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

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I use a Yamaha FC4 as well. Sure, it slips around, but after a while I got used to it.

I have an M-Audio that I have strictly as a backup, should the Yamaha ever fail.

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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Depends on the board. My favorite are the Kawai but they only work on my Kawai stage pianos. I like Yamaha but they only work on my Yamaha. I think it is the way each company implements half-dampening.

 

On the Korg Kronos I use the Korg DS-1H. It also supports Half Dampening but I didn't like the travel at first. Also I can't really feel the half damper. But I eventually adjusted to it and it's okay now.

 

I have an M-Audio SP-2 connected to the FA-06. I'm surprised that I've had no problems with my M-Audio. Maybe it's because all pedals are mounted in a pedal case. So far it still works since buying it when I preordered the FA-06.

 

The best pedal is probably the one you use. Meaning the more reps you put on a piece of gear the more you become physically attuned to its characteristics.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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I got so tired of cheap sustain pedals that I modified the Polypedal from my Moog Polymoog to work with my MIDI controller (wasn't currently using it with the Polymoog). The sweep pedals are a bonus for MIDI volume. Owned them since 1985 without a problem and it doesn't move at all, I no longer have to "hunt" with my feet.

 

Frankly I don't think there is a decent sustain pedal made these days.

 

http://www.analoguediehard.com/tour/offsite-rig/offsite-rig-base-system-01-controllers.jpg

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I use Kawai's F30 pedal that comes witn vpc1, but with this modification.

Have no clue how it would work with other controllers though. AFAIS - works like a charm, shouldn't ever brake down thanks to the mod, and you can change calibration in the pedal's app.

if you can't tell the difference, does it matter?
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I still have and occasionally use the FC3 that came with my CP33 waaaay back in the day.

 

It doesn't get along with my Casio PX5S. I actually have the inexpensive ProLine. It works.

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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The pedals I have had in the past were a Yamaha (never failed), several Rolands (failed after a couple years). M Audio had lock nut problems from the start and then failed after a year. It had a good heavy spring though.

 

I buy the Chinese Doppler pedal on Amazon for $12. I buy 2 in case one fails.

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Thanks for all the tips! A day after my post a fellow keyboardist and FB friend posted his sustain pedal woes on FB, and a bunch of people chimed in. It's a dilemma!

 

So just the other night my Yamaha FC-? died on me and I was stuck with a backup OnStage that only seems to consistently work if you apply a ton of pressure to it. Since most of my two-rig gigs involve my Nord Stage and a Casio PX-5 controlling the Nord Stage - so all sounds are coming from the Nord - I can easily get by with one sustain pedal (unless I use "Dual Kybd" mode on the Nord.)

 

I was examining the OnStage pedal, and I noticed the rubber stop keeps the pedal from fully bottoming out unless you really apply pressure. I had a small knife on me and shaved off a couple millimeters of the stop, and now the pedal works like it should.

 

Brought out one of my M-Audio pedals last night that I replaced the cable on. Seemed to work okay. The thing I have to remember at the end of the night and packing up is to remove the sustain pedals carefully, both from tangling with other cables and from the sharp corners of the bottom of the K&M 18880 stand I use.

 

You all probably know to do this or have better solutions, but I'll share my cheap fix for bad sustain or expression pedal cables. Hosa cables are almost the same "girth" (not sure about wire gauge), so I buy 15-foot TS (for sustain) and TRS (for expression) cables, cut them in half and solder them in as replacements. I don't go through the trouble of creating jacks for these pedals as they're all cheaply made anyway.

 

And RealMC, that's a badass setup!

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I have 2-3 Yamaha pedals floating around. I like the way they feel, solidly built, etc. but most every pedal slips unless you take steps to prevent it.

 

Did that with the 3 pedal unit on the Kawai VPC1. I used a spring-rod part from a window curtain part I bought at Home Depot. Painted it black and adjusted its length. Has worked perfect for years. The top of the spring-rod goes under the controller and the bottom on the 3-pedal unit. Spring pressure holds the pedals in place. It removes and replaces easy by pushing the inner rod in by the spring with a stroke of about 2 inches. Sets up in 2 seconds.

 

WH

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