Bass Drum Pedal Adjustment Questionnaire

"Know your drummerworld villain"

What brand and model of pedal? Trick Dominator
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Metal
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Heel down
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 5
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 3
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 4
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Direct Drive
Cam system: round or non-round? Round
Footboard: split foot board or long board? Long board
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, or leather? None. Rubber
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? Yes



Just an FYI. Rubber beaters exist and need to be included in the options for question 11.
 
What brand and model of pedal? Tama Iron Cobra HP900
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Rock, Alt Rock, Pop, Electronica/Dance
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Heel down
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 4
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 3
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 3
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Chain
Cam system: round or non-round? Non-round
Footboard: split foot board or long board? Split
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? Felt
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No
 
What brand and model of pedal? Drumcraft series 8
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Rock, Latin, metal, blues
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Heel up
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)?4
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)?3
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)?2
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive?Chain
Cam system: round or non-round?Round
Footboard: split foot board or long board?Split foot board
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? Plastic or felt
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No (but I'm planning on learning it )
 
What brand and model of pedal?......................................... The cheapest PDP's....
Single or double pedal? ......................................................double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? ......................................Progressive
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? ............................heel up
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? .......................5
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? ........1
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? ...........1
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? ...................single chain
Cam system: round or non-round? ........................................round
Footboard: split foot board or long board? .............................traditional split
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? ...............plastic
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? ................................no
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? ...............................no
 
A quick questionnaire for bass drum pedal adjustments. I can wrap all the replies up in a spreadsheet if interested. Try and keep in mind that this is for your main pedal(s), in case some of you have more than one set, etc.

  1. What brand and model of pedal?
  2. Single or double pedal?
  3. Style(s) of music you mainly play?
  4. Do you mostly play heel up or heel down?
  5. Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)?
  6. Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)?
  7. Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)?
  8. Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive?
  9. Cam system: round or non-round?
  10. Footboard: split foot board or long board?
  11. Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather?
  12. Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)?
  13. Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)?

Thanks!

Ludwig Speed King/Pearl Demonator double.
Mostly single but recently dove into the double world.
Classic rock and surf.
Heel up.
4-5
3
2.5-3
Direct on the Speed King / single chain on the Demonator
Round
Split / Long
Felt
No
No
 
  1. What brand and model of pedal?
  2. Single or double pedal?
  3. Style(s) of music you mainly play?
  4. Do you mostly play heel up or heel down?
  5. Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)?
  6. Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)?
  7. Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)?
  8. Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive?
  9. Cam system: round or non-round?
  10. Footboard: split foot board or long board?
  11. Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather?
  12. Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)?
  13. Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)?

1: Axis AL2 and Mapex Raptor
2: single (two singles, two bass drums)
3: rock, metal, blues
4: Both, probably equally.
5: 3
6: 3
7: 1-2
8: direct drive
9: technically round
10: longboard Axis, split Mapex (prefer split)
11: felt
12: no
13: I usually don't need to, but do on occasion.
 
New pedals, time to update my entries:

What brand and model of pedal? Trick Bigfoot 2
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Metal, Rock
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Up but low
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 3.5
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 3
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 3.5
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Direct
Cam system: round or non-round?
Footboard: split foot board or long board? Long board
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? undecided
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No
 
What brand and model of pedal? Modified DW 7000s (dual chain)
Single or double pedal? 2 singles
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Metal, Rock
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Up
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 3.5
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 1
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 3.5
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Chain
Cam system: round
Footboard: split foot board or long board? split
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? felt
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No

I modified the pedal by adding a DW 5000 hinge, heavy duty spring, and by moving the foot board back to increase the chain angle. The last mod is similar to what Tama did with speed cobra.
 
  1. What brand and model of pedal?
  2. Single or double pedal?
  3. Style(s) of music you mainly play?
  4. Do you mostly play heel up or heel down?
  5. Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)?
  6. Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)?
  7. Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)?
  8. Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive?
  9. Cam system: round or non-round?
  10. Footboard: split foot board or long board?
  11. Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather?
  12. Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)?
  13. Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)?

1. Yamaha, their cheapest.
2. single, of course
3. all forms of jazz
4. mostly heel down
5. I don't know- middle?
6. as it came from the factory- middle, I guess
7. varies, generally tuned higher
8. I don't know
9. I don't know
10. split
11. felt, sometimes fluffy
12. no
13. no
 
What brand and model of pedal? Tama speed cobra
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Rock/funk/latin
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Up
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)?5
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)?3
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)?2
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive?chain
Cam system: round or non-round?non round
Footboard: split foot board or long board?long
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather?felt
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)?yes
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)?yes
 
What brand and model of pedal? - I have an old Tama Camco and Pearl Eliminator. I don't know which model though. The cheapest. It's not super heavy.
Single or double pedal? - You can have two?!
Style(s) of music you mainly play? - Various styles of jazz, mostly.
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? - A little of both. More down though.
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? - I dunno, however it came out of the box.
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? - See above
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? - I guess 4-ish
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? - Chain
Cam system: round or non-round? - The Camco is round. I think the Pearl is kind of oval shaped or something. It's the blue one.
Footboard: split foot board or long board? - Split
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? - Felt, although I'd like to try one of these fluffy ones that seems to be all the rage right now.
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? - No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? - No
 
What brand and model of pedal? Pearl Demondrive / Axis A longboard
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? punk/metal/rock/jazz
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Up
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)?3
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)?3
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)?5
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive?direct drive
Cam system: round or non-round
Footboard: split foot board or long board?long
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather?wood
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)?yes
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)?yes
 
What brand and model of pedal? DW 5000 Accelerator (AD2)
Single or double pedal? Single
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Pop Cover Band, 50's Rock n Roll, Jazz
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Heel down
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? Medium 3
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? Medium I guess?
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 2 loose
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Chain
Cam system: round or non-round? Non-round
Footboard: split foot board or long board? Split
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? Use both felt and plastic
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No
 
  1. What brand and model of pedal? Gibraltar Intruder
  2. Single or double pedal? Single
  3. Style(s) of music you mainly play? Everything but straight-ahead jazz
  4. Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Half and half
  5. Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 2
  6. Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 2
  7. Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 2
  8. Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Direct
  9. Cam system: round or non-round? Round
  10. Footboard: split foot board or long board? Split
  11. Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? Plastic or felt, depending on need
  12. Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? Seldom
  13. Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No, to my loss

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
 
  1. What brand and model of pedal? Sonor Perfect Balance
  2. Single or double pedal? Single
  3. Style(s) of music you mainly play? Electronica, D&B, Hip Hop, Funk
  4. Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Both
  5. Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 1
  6. Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 2
  7. Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 3
  8. Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Strap
  9. Cam system: round or non-round? Round
  10. Footboard: split foot board or long board? Split
  11. Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? Felt or Wool
  12. Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
  13. Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No
 
What brand and model of pedal? Tama Speedcobra
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Metal/Hard Rock
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Heel-Up
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 5
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 1
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 4
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Chain
Cam system: round or non-round? Round
Footboard: split foot board or long board? Long Board
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? Wood/Rubber/Felt
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? Sometimes
 
Last edited:
What brand and model of pedal? DW 5000 on 22", Pearl P-2000B PowerShifter Eliminator on 20" kit with Gibraltar bass drum lift
Single or double pedal? Single
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Classic Rock
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Heel-Up Some tunes down
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 3
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest) 2
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight) 2
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive DW Chain, Pearl Belt
Cam system: round or non-round DW, non round, Pearl round
Footboard: split foot board or long board? split
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? hard felt
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? No
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? no
 
What brand and model of pedal? Axis A21 sabre
Single or double pedal? Double
Style(s) of music you mainly play? Metal, prog rock
Do you mostly play heel up or heel down? Up but low
Spring adjustment (1 = loosest, 5 = tightest)? 3.5
Beater placement from head (1 = furthest, 5 = closest)? 3 , 45 degrees
Bass drum batter head tension (1 = loose, 5 = tight)? 3.5
Chain, strap, direct drive, or other type of drive? Direct
Cam system: round or non-round?
Footboard: split foot board or long board? Long board
Beater types: plastic, wood, felt, rubber, or leather? felt
Do you use counter weight(s) (yes/no)? yes, centered on iron cobra beaters
Do you use a heel-toe method (yes/no)? No
 
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