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  1. News

In Pictures: Jojo Mayer discusses his Perfect Balance pedal

By Rich Chamberlain
published 3 May 2012

Take a look at the Nerve man's labour of love

In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal
Jojo talks you through his labour of love

In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal

Jojo Mayer has spent years toiling away creating his perfect bass pedal, and here it is. Jojo’s Perfect Balance pedal is a real labour of love, hence that the Nerve man had plenty to say about it.

We’ve got an interview with Jojo about the pedal in our brand new issue, but here’s a little more for you.

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer bass pedal
Jojo talks you through his labour of love

In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer bass pedal

Jojo: "The pedal has an almost invisible, stealth feel that will smoothly translate the movements of your foot to undistorted, linear and perfectly balanced strokes. Also, it can be folded up for transportation to and there’s no need to tighten a wing nut to mount the pedal on to the hoop. The clamp attaches to the bass drum automatically."

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal
Jojo talks you through his labour of love

In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal

Jojo: "I guess another aspect that sets my pedal apart from other pedals, is that it was created by a working drummer to enhance his own playing. It has the professional working drummers concerns in mind. It was not just built out of hypothesis, marketing or price point considerations , but mostly experience on the road.
"

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal
Jojo talks you through his labour of love

In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal

Jojo: "To get the right balance between the moving parts took a long time as it was basically a process of trial and error. I initially started out to cannibalize pedals and combined parts that I liked from different brands into my own Frankenstein pedals. Eventually, I moved onto customizing parts like drive cams and footboards myself. Eventually, I had the specs for the blueprint of the perfect balance pedal and showed it to Sonor. This was the start of our collaboration and the engineers at Sonor started to look for solutions that allowed the pedal to be folded up for transport and mount itself on the bass drum automatically. I guess I’m a hard guy to please, so I have to give the folks at Sonor props for not loosing their minds over my neurotic compulsive escapades concerning my vision."

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal
Jojo talks you through his labour of love

In Pictures: Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance bass pedal

Jojo: "I’m definitely happy to have accomplished this and I hope that it will turn out to be useful for drummers out there. At this point though, I also have to mention that I was fortunate enough to have the pleasure to collaborate with many great and creative individuals on this project. Without them, the notion of the pedal would still exist, but not the pedal. I thank all of them for their trust, support and hard work."

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
Rich Chamberlain
Rich Chamberlain
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Rich is a teacher, one time Rhythm staff writer and experienced freelance journalist who has interviewed countless revered musicians, engineers, producers and stars for the our world-leading music making portfolio, including such titles as Rhythm, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, and MusicRadar. His victims include such luminaries as Ice T, Mark Guilani and Jamie Oliver (the drumming one).

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