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I dug out my old Zoom RT-123 drum machine/bass synth, and realized it has a midi input that I never fucked with.

Thinking it would be really cool to be able to do bass lines/drones and/or drums with my feet, but don't have the budget to dish out on actual bass pedals...unless someone knows something?? Kind of the point of this thread. Any body go down this rabbit hole or have any ideas?

Sort of thinking my best bet is to buy an arduino nano, and just build a custom controller with arcade buttons or maybe normal footswitches.

Soft step out of your budget? I bet there is some custom fcb1010 firmware out there that pulls it. you'd be two buttomns short tho

I would totally look at one of those Keith McMillen controllers with one of his MIDI din adapters. But beware—I’ve seen reports that they fail when used on carpeting.

There really isn't a budget for this. Cheap as possible. Those McMillen Soft Step ones seem logical/nice, I'll try and keep an eye out for a used one.

Bet I could find a random 80's/90's monstrosity for next to nothing.

Arduino or Pi and a bunch of stompable arcade buttons, then?

Depends on what you are trying to control. If it's just CC or PC commands, I can vouch for these: https://www.actition.net/

I have a few of them that I'm about to replace with some of his kits and a custom enclosure I'm making. I know of no one else out there who makes footswitch stompable midi controllers for this cheap. Have had no issues with them since I acquired the first one six years ago.

Had a Soft Step for a bit and it worked fine too. But multiple Actitions fit my setup better and was more affordable than multiple Soft Steps.

I can reccomand these 2 devices:
DMC Midi Baby 3
Morning Star MC3/6/8

I have the MB3 and MC3 and both are stellar solid units, Mibi Baby more simple, no banks.
But if you have the budget it's worthy having a look at the Morning Star offerings.