Roland SPD::ONE Kick

I play guitar and sing and this is my third and so far final stomp box (sorry drummers and percussionists!).

I use the kick drum sound when I play gigs. I play it with either of my feet.

This pedal feels very solid and is the best kick stomp box I've had by a very long mile. For a long time I was hoping someone would make something like this. Finally Roland did it. Thank you, Roland!

I love that unlike the others that I've had, this one you can just plug and play. The others I always had to EQ a lot to make them sound decent, then add reverb, compressor... This one has the EQ and reverb (even distortion), and you can even adjust the sensitivity so there's no need for a compressor. I find that for stomping kick drums with my food less sensitivity (less dynamic range) is way better and easier on the foot.

These pedals all tend to slide away as you stomp on them by the way.

This product has no competition as far as I am concerned.

I think it's quite expensive so I hope it will last awhile. So far, 5-6 gigs with it, no problem.

Most of the positive reviews come from guitarist or other musicians who just want to tap their foot on it in time.
OK… maybe that is the idea and it does that well enough. But the pedal boasts about ‘bass drum sounds’ and other samples that would work well with a bit more technique that just stomping, I play drums - I was hoping for a pedal to play unplugged acoustic sets where a real kit is too loud and I use a cajon or something. My problem is - I want to play bass drum patterns on it - and for me this just doesn’t work.
The shape, the angle, the height is all wrong and it isn’t adjustable. It has a post mounting bracket, so can it be mounted so you can use a pedal on it? No… because the bracket sticks out one side, meaning their is too much off centre leverage and the pad doesn’t line up with the pedal. An additional problem with the bracket is that, once screwed on, you can’t open the battery case without unscrewing it again. The pedal isn’t midi interface-able and it doesn’t have a remote trigger input, so you can’t use another widget which does fit a bass drum pedal to trigger it.
Playing my first gig with it was agony as my foot was in totally the wrong position. I ended up mounting it to a wooden board with a platform to get the angle and height correct, but the lack of spring was still uncomfortable.

It could have been so much better and more versatile with a bit of thought, just a percussion post bracket that was mounted centrally instead of off to one side would have transformed it - as would a remote trigger input or midi interface. It is solid and well made and the sounds are good and if all you want to do is stomp your foot on it for a few songs then it works fine, but it was frustrating for me that I couldn’t really make proper use of the samples provided.

Used in an acoustic/live setting: It's good. The sounds you get are very effective however I may have been better with just a regular stomp-box as my partner has one and it actually sounds better than this (obviously you don't have the variation options with a stomp box but you're splitting hairs with the variations any way).

Notes:

* I find it hasn't got good grip on the ground therefore it slides away from me mid-playing at times which will need to be sorted out. Also it slides up towards my mic-stand too which triggers the sound which is annoying.
* I at times amn't that accurate with my foot placing and end up hitting the knobs at the top therefore changing the sound/effects mid song which is a hassle.
* It's hard to know where to put your heel as if you have it on the ground you can't really get as good a sound out of it compared to if you hit it full on. They should have wrapped the rubber around the front of the device which I think would worked better.

Still though I really like the product other than the few cons.

Its a bit pricey, but for me it really works. Over the years I've tried all kinds of drum devices from Alesis, Korg, Beatbuddy. I've made & bought stomp boxes based on wood & microphonic devices. I've used Trio's, Sdrums, Finhols, a cajon with backbeater. Theyve all had varying degrees of success, but theyve all had misgivings. My application, by the way, is to accompany my guitar/mic/sometime harp for solo performance. This pedal is exactly what I was looking for - a simple but realistic squelchy bass thump thru the PA. Its got many different sounds but around 3 are good for me, - a nice solid thump but with a realistic 'shhh' to it & a touch of reverb. Its soundly made - although suffered from usual slippage and footangle problem. I rectified both issues by building a wooden block with floor grips that supports my heel and sets the pedal face horizontal - so it's like tapping on the floor. I feel it is overpriced for what it does but it seems unique in what it offers. I must add my other favourite accompaniment is my Boss DR01s, a great simple automated but natural feeling accompaniment. So a double whammy for BOSS !