Bassdrum pedal tension....

[RUSTE]

Hi guys. Ive resently started playing single pedal in a alternative rock band after ditching the double pedal & adding a tamberiane to the hihat & im loving it. Although my only problem is doing nice fast double strokes on single pedal. Im quick but i think my spring tension is letting me down. Im not quite catching it when i want to.
A little while ago i was playing with a very loose tension but at the moment im playing a fairly high tension setting. Im using an iron cobra powerglide (great pedals).
I was just wondering what sort of tension you guys like using as it may help me in someway or another. Thanks alot

Russ

[harryconway]

Some cats want really light tension, which gives me a bit of trouble when I use a pedal set up like that. So cranking a bit more resistence is easy enough and then I run with the ball. I've got Yamaha Flying Dragon Direct Drive's (2 single pedals), and I set up all my pedals, first at about medium tension, and then crank more tension into the pedal until it feels just right. So it's in the neighborhood of 3/4 firm. How you set up your kick drum is gonna affect your rebound a lot, if you're going for real fast doubles. So be aware of that too. A 5 year old Pinstripe batter tuned real low is not gonna make your quest easy (just an example). Also what kind of beater you use. A plastic beater is gonna bounce of that batter head better than a felt one.

[johnnyfivetimes]

i have my tension set to the least resistence. it seems to me that the tighter it is, the harder it is to play. I play a combo of heel up and heel down, and when i play heel down is when i really notice if the spring is too tight because that is when its hardest to play.

[tomtom]

I use a IC flexi-glide. The spring tension is set as tight as it goes. Feels great and works for me.

[RUSTE]

Thanks for the replys. I think i might head in the way of a plastic or wood beater. I will also play with how far back the beater sits. Its 5 inchs away from the head at the moment. Will bring the tension right down & start from scratch. Hopefully then i will find what works for me. Cheers again for the replys

Russ

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

I only use a single pedal and often pull out quick doubles like you describe. I like to play with the ball of my foot towards the back of the pedal, just above the hinge. By doing this, I can quickly slide my foot up higher on the pedal to pop out the second stroke (probably not as efficient as heel/toe but I've been doing it for years this way). As for my tension, I keep it a little loose, but if you make it too loose then the pedal won't spring back soon enough to pull off the quick doubles. I use a hard felt beater, and medium tension on the batter. I'm using an old DW5000 single chain.