M-Audio SP-2

I'm a keyboard player at a church here in Dublin so as expected I need a reliable sustain pedal to use at home for practice, during rehearsals and during the services. I've owned 2 of this specific model of sustain pedal.

In the beginning I was very pleased. It did exactly what it said on the tin, sustains the note with no problem. However the price gives away a hint, it's not great in the long run. The build quality is impressive to the naked eye however the internals of the sustain pedal don't seem to last.

As I said, I've gone through 2 of these pedals already and the same issue arose. After maybe 3-4 months of consistent use, the pedal was worn out and ceased to function correctly. After purchasing another pedal within about 2 weeks of the first one failing, I began to run into the same issues, premature failure.

Great build quality for sure but it doesn't last. I wouldn't recommend it as a pedal to use in the long run. Maybe at home for practice but you wouldn't want your pedal failing live. It's certainly not worth it.

It performs great at what the price offers.
It does not easily slide off the floor, and it's an overall decent sustain pedal. However, with accumulated usage I found it to degrade in performance, no longer allowing for swift delayed pedalling. It would sometimes "numb" the sound abruptly, other times it would hardly stop sustaining the sound. It also did not allow for sensitive half pedal use as you would commonly expect in a piano. If you are on a low budget or need a "quick fix", this pedal will be a fine choice, but if you expect consistent, realistic performance - it might be better to check other options instead.

Great price for a great pedal. Works perfectly, doesn't slip.

plus points:

I don't know of a pedal that comes close at this price point for the quality it offers.

It has great anti-slip at the bottom. It sits rock steady on the floor.

It does what it needs to do.

Cons

At one point there was a bad contact at the switch on the bottom. Which reverses the pedal (sustains when it isn't pressed). This meant that sometimes the notes would hang when releasing the pedal. Almost wanted to return it. But a quick back and forth on the switch fixed that. Still it seems a bit of a weak spot.

After extensive use for a week, it started to squeak. probably an easy fix, but I'm too lazy atm. I can live with it. However in a perfect world, it wouldn't even be there in the first place.