So I was playing Rock Band a week ago, and I was halfway through “Nine in the Afternoon” when snap bang! The pedal broke in half and flew right up in my face. I responded in an eloquent and mature manner (“Dammit!“) and then almost cried. I couldn’t rock any more. It’s a common problem, and there are a preponderance of wiki entries, YouTube videos, and mod kits on eBay that offer a way to fix it on your own or with help.

Apart from the plate being snapped clean through, the pedal was still electrically functional, but my options were limited. The closest GameStop didn’t carry new pedals, and the closest Best Buy would close too soon for me to get there. But I wasn’t about to wait more than 15 minutes to go back to rocking. That just seemed like a dumb idea to me. So I went to the garage and got some industrial strength bonding clue for ceramics and plastics, a paint stirrer, and some Gorilla Tape, which is like Duct Tape on steroids.

I removed the orange plate, glued the two plastic pieces back together, snapped the stick in half and glued the pieces side-by side as a splint against the pedal, and then wrapped it top and bottom with Gorilla Tape before screwing the orange plate on the bottom back in. Took less than ten minutes.

But here’s the funny part — my playing got better and a lot easier after this fix. Funny how sometimes when things are heavier they’re easier to move. So to all you rockers out there, I’d recommend the hasty reinforcement of your kick pedal. It will enable the kind of rockage you never dreamed possible.