Soft pad wood mod - any way to make it more comfortable?

[RAJ821]

I bought a universal DDR soft pad from Gamestop and did the usual soft pad mod-- tape it to a piece of ply wood, staple vinyl carpet runner over it, etc. However after playing extensively at the arcade and on a friend's Cobalt Flux (and getting back into the swing of things; for a while I was only playing 6's and 7's on my soft pad), my calves hurt a LOT when I play on my pad. I can only play one or two songs before having to stop.

I suspect it's cause the wood doesn't "give" at all, or maybe it's cause I'm not wearing shoes. Does anyone know a way to make these pads a little more comfortable? Maybe untape everything and put some thick foam between the wood and the pad?
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[yukihime]

Hi Raj!

I tried the softpad mod pretty much as instructed - used a heavy gauge shower curtain double-face taped to the back of the wood since I don't have the right kind of vinyl and no car!

Anyway, I have arthritis in my knees, hips and lower back. So I know just how much the mod can hurt. It quickly became impossible for me to be able to use the mod, so I just took it all apart, kept the wood and did the following:

Went to my local sporting goods store (Modells) and bought a pack of the 12mm interlocking "gym floor" mat ... called Shock Athletic Interlocking gym flooring. It comes in 2 sizes - 1x1' ($14) - I think 12 in a package, or 2x2' ($20) - 4 in a package.

There's also a 20mm version which covers 4x6' ($40) and is much denser. I have that under my area rug to help with noise and vibration - and I never have to pick it up and put it away ;

then put down a 5x8' of grippy rug mat stuff? about halfway down from where the wood will be;

then the wood, then the 12mm stuff (the 1x1' works better for this), then fold the remainder of the rug gripper over that, then put the dancepad on top.

The rug gripper helps to keep things from moving around so much. With a flat soft pad it's pretty much impossible for it to not move at all, but the good rug gripper stuff - don't get the thinner, cheaper stuff, get the good thicker one - does help (got that at k-mart).

Yes it is kind of stupid and it is alot of prep - but it really does help with noise, vibration and most importantly - my poor joints.

I'm right now using an evilbay "iginition" knockoff with the dense foam inserts? on the wood, but I'm still putting that extra layer of 12mm under the wood and doing the rug gripper foldover to help keep things in place.

My roommate isn't complaining half as much as she used to - I'm on the third floor of an old house and her living room is right under mine - and she owns the house so it's to my benefit to do what I can to not annoy her too much.
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[DAVE101]

You can put a rug or mat between the wood and ddr pad.
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poop

[Future Master]

Does anyone think that drilling holes on a 3 foot by 3 foot sheet of plexiglass and screwing it on to a 3 foot by 3 foot wood base and then puting the soft dance pad on top of the plexiglass would help it be less painfull? I am just asking cause I know plexiglass hurts less than wood but I dont know if it would still hurt too much or not.
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[yukihime]

[ChilliumBromide]

Use Da-Rugz! (but say no to drugs)

Like Dave said, except try putting some rug on each side of the plywood, that will give it better friction if you have carpeted floors too.
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[rddr]

[yukihime]

Hi!

I've moved from the default flat pad to various, use 'em til they fall apart (literally - my current one is all taped up under the right arrow) dense foam pads. I can't even use a flat pad anymore, it's like impossible.

While I was using the flat pad and doing my own variation of the mod, it did work pretty darned well. The heavy gauge shower curtain worked surprisingly well and it dead cheap to replace, along with not having any overlapping on the top of the pad. Just use double sided tape to tape it to the wood!

As far as underpadding for noise/vibration? I ended up going to supersoundproofing and getting closed cell MLV which is on top of a layer of SSP Dimple mat - then my area rug. THEN another 4x4 piece of SSP attached to 1/8" SSP Foam mat, then the piece of wood, then the dense foam dance pad.

Why? because my roomie was about to evict me, she hates everything about DDR and ITG. Even with the above, I can only play when she's not home. She owns the house, so ...
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[rddr]

yukihime,

Thank you for your reply. I'm trying to come up with a softpad mod design that is primarily for shock absorption so that my knees won't hurt as much after a DDR session and secondary design goal of reducing shock transfer to the carpeted floor. Your idea of using some sort of athletic floor foam seems to be an idea that I'm thinking of incorporating into my design.

[yukihime]

Hi again!

Yes and yes, your diagrams of the softpad mod and the current dense foam pad design are correct

I know, it seems like a lot of work, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

If you decide to do my variation of the softpad mod and use a shower curtain instead of the clear floor runner (which I've not seen without those little "cleats" on the bottom lately), just make sure it's the clear heavier gauge. Instead of being totally clear and shiny? it will be slightly "greyish" though you can see through it and it will have more of a matt finish. Also much less slippery.
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[rddr]

yukihime,

Here's my current idea so far...

[yukihime]

hmmmm, trying to visualize here, and please note I don't do carpentry, just the occasional minor repair of something, so this is guessing.

OK

Clear sheeting for cover - check

Problem area:
photocopy of arrows
interlocking gym flooring
dance pad

I suspect if you put even the thinner 12mm and then paper over the actual dance pad? you're not going to be able to register any steps. It's just too thick, especially on a flat pad that has such small sensors.

I understand the idea and thinking behind it, but I don't think it'll work.


So, some thoughts:

Clear sheeting/cover
-----------------------
dance pad
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1 OR 2 layers of 12mm (test drive this before doing anything even semi-permanent - the 12mm is softer, more cushiony, just not sure if 2 layers wouldn't make the pad "mushy" or unresponsive
----------------------
wood, like 1/2" thick
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the 20mm (I'm assuming this layer would be for vibration and noise? - it won't do a whole lot, it'll help some, but not perfect. A little better if your pads are near the outside wall or in a corner). If it's not for that, you may not need this layer. The 20mm is definitely denser, but it doesn't have as much "give" as the 12mm, even stacking 2 12mm on top of each other, which would mean:
--------------------
either rug gripper - OR you know, you could use a length of the actual vinyl floor runner with the "spikes" on the bottom and just attach it to the bottom of the wood - that should help keep the whole thing from moving or at least moving very far.

You could get and cut the runner a bit shorter (it's already going to be narrower than the wood base) and then use double-sided tape to attach the clear sheeting/cover to the underside of the wood.

That way, if you need to replace either the cover or a pad? for the cover obviously the whole thing will have to go, but if it's a pad? just undo one side of the double-sided tape, slide the new pad in, smooth it, re-tape the cover. Exacto knife will be your friend with the cover, you'll need a heavier box cutter if you get the clear floor runner.

Then put that in the "tray", add some sort of bracket to the front and back of the tray(s)for your doubles. The tricky part imho is making sure the "trays" are the same height as the pads, you don't want to go flying over an edge - especially if you get to quads! This I don't think is going to be an easy project. And it's going to end up weighing a ton!
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