The ability to use your foot instead of one of your hands adds an extra useful limb to your arsenal that can realy make a difference. Either it is a cymbal, a tambourine, a shaker, or any percussion you can imagine, the freedom acquired by puting a foot in the game gives a great advantage, especially for a live player. This particular pedal is a solid, well built structure, definitely more reliable choice than a more common cable cajon pedal. It's more accurate when it comes to press - hit response, closer to an actual bass drum pedal, while with a cable pedal there's usually a small time gap. Additionaly, there's no worry of a sudden cable break while performing live, which would be inconvenient. On the disadvantages, the angle in which the De Gregorio pedal can be used is limited as the rod that connects the beater to the footboard doesn't work if too angled at both ends (too angled meaning no more than about 110 - 120 degrees, anything closer to a right angle will get the whole thing stuck. Nothing too uneasy but it limits the angle in which you are able to sit and play, as opposed to the complete freedom of the cable. Also, the packaging is kind of uncomfortable with no instruction manual whatsoever. I had to assemble the whole thing using zoomed pictures of the product from the internet. That should be fixed.