offset beaters

[joeysnare]

a younger drummer came and asked me a question the other day about recording and his pedals,he has a yamaha flying dragon double chain drive,single bass drum,he wanted me to take a look at it for him,i realized that no matter how you tweak it you can only get the right beater dead center and the left slightly off center.played it a bit and noticed i did get two slightly differnt sounds from the beaters even after tuning the head,the right was more focused and the left a bit more boomy,it was slight but the sound was there,am i being to anal about something like this for recording?

[Ironcobra]

Ummm, what if you have both the beaters slightly offset to their own sides, then it's the same sound (thats what i do and i think everyone else does)

or maybe i just missed the point?

[joeysnare]

sorry i meant that the right one could be either moved far right to land dead center,or moved off to left of center,and the left beater can be moved from slightly left of center to way left of center.you cant off set them equaly no matter what you do.

[komodo]

so the pedal cant be just moved further to the right of the bass drum so that they will be equally centered?is that right?

[harryconway]

Just about all double pedals are set up like that. The main pedal hits dead center and the slave pedal is off set. One pedal system that is not like that is the Off-Set pedal. Here: http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u162/hrconway/134-3415_IMG.jpg and here: http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u162/hrconway/134-3441_IMG.jpg Both beaters strike the kick equidistant of dead center.

[Ironcobra]

ummm, well thats news to me, mine are both about 2 cm from the center, why can't you just move the pedal more to the right? it works perfectly fine for me, never even thought there was another way.

[ledzepjb]

Just about all double pedals are set up like that. The main pedal hits dead center and the slave pedal is off set. One pedal system that is not like that is the Off-Set pedal. Here: http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u162/hrconway/134-3415_IMG.jpg and here: http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u162/hrconway/134-3441_IMG.jpg Both beaters strike the kick equidistant of dead center.

Not only is it a great system, it makes the kit look cooler from the audiences view!

[That Guy]

ummm, well thats news to me, mine are both about 2 cm from the center, why can't you just move the pedal more to the right? it works perfectly fine for me, never even thought there was another way.


I have always known double pedals including my own to have the slave beater far left. If I try to move my pedal to the right to try to center the beaters equally the pedal has to crawl up the edge of the bass and becomes tilted. Your pretty fortunate to have a double pedal that sits the beaters equally spaced from the center.

What type of double pedal do you have?

[joeysnare]

well this kid has a old yamaha flying dragon chain drive,i just got a newer yamaha flying d direct drive,im just wondering cause ive always had pedals that were pretty even,but this one is really off no matter what you do,will this affect sound during recording?

[Ironcobra]

What type of double pedal do you have?

hehe...think..........

[harryconway]

well this kid has a old yamaha flying dragon chain drive,i just got a newer yamaha flying d direct drive,im just wondering cause ive always had pedals that were pretty even,but this one is really off no matter what you do,will this affect sound during recording?

Honestly, thousands of recordings have already been made using these pedals. If the situation was that critical, we'd have seen changes in double pedal design 15 years ago. Most double bass players never get their kicks sounding "the same". Close enough for rock and roll, sure. Throw it on an oscilloscope match, almost never. Not only is it a great system, it makes the kit look cooler from the audiences view!

Indeed yes, chicks dig it.

[Les Ismore]

The only pedals I know of that can hit equal distance from center are the Sonor Giant Steps and Axis (with Sonic Hammer beaters). Since the Sonic Hammer beaters can be used on any pedal Axis would be off the list without them.

Even w/Giant Steps, unless you pay attention to tuning both beaters produce a different sound if you really want to nit pick.