Roland SPD1-Kick Stompbox Review: Add RHYTHM to Your Songs

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Hey friends. This summer, I decided that I am going to “put myself out there” and perform in small venues and do street performances wherever I could – to get some experience points.

My SPD-ONE Kick.

I looked for a way to make my performance more interesting (as a solo act) – and besides a looper – which is “the obvious” choice here, I also found out about these “stomp boxes” – that can add rhythm and drive to your songs.

After a lot of research and trying out different models in guitar stores, I bought this one from Roland, the SPD1 Kick (also called “SPD-ONE Kick” – because it seemed the most versatile – and I’m very happy with it. In this video and text review, I am going to share with you why.

A Couple of Points to Remember About the SPD-One Kick
  • It’s a pretty revolutionary stomp box – because usually most stomps offer just one sound, or a few more, but this one has 24 – including many kick sounds, tambourine, X-sticks, claps, etc. – which make it a lot of fun.
  • Even if you only plan to play it at home, with an un-amplified guitar – this gadget can be a very cool add-on to your practices and to whenever you are playing to family and friends, so I highly recommend checking it out.
  • It’s a lot of fun, and it will massively improve your sense of rhythm as well – since you are now physically involving another limb in the rhythm.
  • You can plug it into most amplifiers, but it will sound best when it’s plugged into a PA with a good bass sound – or at least into a higher quality amplifier than the one I use. (the Roland Cube – which costs about 500$ and is OK, but not more than that…)
The other pedals in the series. They offer different sets of sound (one of them for example offer the sound of electric beats) – so check them out, there might be ones that might fit your style better than the green one. (The “Kick” version)
What I LIKED About the SPD-One Kick:

✅ It WILL enhance your song performances. Besides my own feelings about how I sounded much better and more interesting, I noticed that whenever I played with it – people are a lot more attentive, and even moving their body along with the rhythm.

✅ The sounds are very high quality samples – and you have 24 of them. While I only really liked about 3-4 – and that’s the only ones I really use (see the video for a demonstration of them at about 1:45s in) – it’s always good to have a large amount of options to choose from.

✅ It works on 4 AA batteries, which means that it’s completely portable and you can use it wherever you want to use it. This makes it ideal for buskers. (Street performers)

✅ It’s relatively small, and it easily fits inside the pocket of my guitar case. (Along with a lot of other stuff that’s in there)

✅ It feels very high quality and durable.

✅ The price – about 180$ – is affordable compared to the other options in the market. (a lot of them are more expensive while giving you far less options)

Purchase the SPD Kick on Amazon:
What I Did Not Like About the SPD-One Kick:

It SLIDES on many surfaces – which can be very annoying. I think Roland could have done a much better job by adding some good anti-slide bottom to it. Instead – you find yourself having to think of your own DIY solutions – like putting it against a mic stand when you have one around.

It’s not easy to grasp the skill of tapping your feet along and in time – I met another guy who had the same model but gave up on it. So take it into account that it’s gonna take some practice to get used to it.

The green paint job can wear off pretty easily – so if it’s important to you that it won’t – handle it attentively and try not to put it next to things that might scratch it.

The 4 AA batteries don’t last too long. Usually it’s about 4-5 hours max.

It does not come with a power adapter, so unless you buy one (which is probably just a few dollars when you get it off of Amazon) – you have to rely only on batteries.

That’s it. The bottom line in general is that I really love it despite the drawbacks – so if you’re in the market for a stomp box – I think that it is indeed a revolutionary option that you HAVE to check out.

Enjoy!

Cooper

 

Alon Cooper

Alon Cooper

Hey! I'm Cooper, and I hope I can be a helpful friend on your musical journeys. I'm a music artist based in Austin & Amsterdam, playing venues with a band / solo, and trying to learn with the most inspiring musicians wherever I go. In the last 8 years I've lived in Australia, northern Europe, the US and more.

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The Guitar Campfire Songbook

I hope this list has given you some great ideas, and if you want to have another bunch of song ideas in a fancy PDF songbook form, then feel free to download the songbook in this link.

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