Yamaha pedals?

I really like the action and feel of the 9500D, but I'm a little concerned with how well it's going to hold up in the long run. Parts of it seem pretty cheaply made.

For example, I took a look at the way the link is held on both ends. For what it costs, I was expecting to see machined pins riding in bushings. Well, the bushings are there, but instead of a machined pin with threads on the end, it's just a regular screw/bolt with threads all the way down.
So the threads are the contact points for the bushings which take the brunt of all the motion.

My older Yamaha pedals seem better made.
 
I really like the action and feel of the 9500D, but I'm a little concerned with how well it's going to hold up in the long run. Parts of it seem pretty cheaply made.

For example, I took a look at the way the link is held on both ends. For what it costs, I was expecting to see machined pins riding in bushings. Well, the bushings are there, but instead of a machined pin with threads on the end, it's just a regular screw/bolt with threads all the way down.
So the threads are the contact points for the bushings which take the brunt of all the motion.

My older Yamaha pedals seem better made.

If you recall, on the old Ludwig Speed King, that thin strip of metal running from the beater cam to the pedal wasn't really connected to the pedal. It was simply bent and you slipped it under this clip on the pedal board. What was more surprising was that the pin-clip on the pedal board never broke, the connection piece always did!

Maybe you could modify the bolt on your Yamaha?
 
Yeah I'm not sure when the bag/case craze came from, never had one, never had a use for one. Now I have 3 sitting in my basement LOL!!!

I think a case should come standard with pedals! Having something to safely transport gear, even if you don't get out much, shouldn't be under-rated! The Trick Dominators I just bought didn't come with a case, I'm thinking I'll jury rig a small suitcase to protect my investment.

Enjoy the new pedal, Bo, sounds like quite a piece of equipment! I've always liked Yamaha's rep for consistency and quality.

- Reggae Mangle
 
So here's my short condensed review of the Yamaha FP9500C pedal: extremely smooth and easy to play, especially with the strap connection as opposed to using the double chains (these seem to add weight to the feel). The rubber used on the clamping area is a nice touch - no more hoop rash if you have a nicely finished bass drum hoop. The side wingnut for clamp tightening is also very nice. The pedal plate has rubber on the bottom: up towards the front and then under the heel. No velcro - what a relief that was!

One questionable thing: Yamaha is the only manufacturer that casts a bar between the posts - stating that it helps the rigidity of the pedal and aides in keeping the bearings straight. Time will tell about this feature as I've never had bass drum pedal posts go out of alignment. The reason I state this as a "claim" is because this cross bar between the posts gets struck by the cam if you let the pedal fly backwards all the way. Granted you may never have your cam fly back all the way like that, but I did, and I just wasn't expecting it to hit the cross bar.

A nice thing: The two-way beater Yamaha uses is much lighter than any other manufacturers' beater. In fact, when I tried my DW beater, and then a standard felt beater, those were much too heavy and did not allow me to fly on the pedal. So keep in mind, if you like to use different beaters, you may have to readjust your spring tension, beater angle, footboard angle....It would probably be easier to just carry around a spare Yamaha beater should you break one on a gig rather than have to readjust your pedal. It's funny because on my other pedals, they feel perfectly normal with heavier beaters. Yamaha seems to have engineered these pedals with their beaters in mind and they are extremely easy to play because of the lightness of the beater. But the beater face itself is about the same size as the DW beater, just alot lighter. The beater shaft holder hole is not perfectly round. It's a bit tear-drop shaped so the beater shaft gets locked into position with moderate tightening of the drumkey screw holding it in. A nice touch.

I almost hate to say it but the normal 'fast' things I might play on a bass drum pedal happen really easy with this pedal. I keep my spring at a medium tension and my beater angle is almost 50-degrees back with a normal footboard angle. Having a smooth footboard is nice on the shoes allowing me to 'dance' on the pedal when I need to do that. This is one nice pedal that I'm surprised is overshadowed by most others on the market. If you're in the market, blah blah blah.....
 
i own a 9500d pedal... i started on a speed king and liked the feel of it, but not the loose and shaky part... i don't know the difference between a chain or direct, since i have only played direct, i just know in my mind a direct link seems more logical.... things i like are as follows, smooth squarish footboard... i play in sock feet and the smooth board feels good... the pedal is very smooth and i guess could feel finicky, but it responds to your foot... feels solid... and a funny thing maybe people don't think about, but the heel plate is at an angle that nearly matches the angle of the footboard, rather than an abrupt angle... cons, i don't know, maybe the footboard feels heavier than the speedking... but certainly with proper adjustment you can get this pedal really floating... also if you get it swinging you can clank the bar, but there is a rubber thing to help dampen that... it rarely happens and you learn to not let it get that wild.. if you get the height set so the linkage is on the downward travel when it strikes the head, but before it starts to fight itself, you can really get a lot of power... very noticeable difference to my speed king which cannot be adjusted for that... anyhow, a lot of rambling
 
That Yamaha direct drive feels really nice, but you have to be one of those people that dig direct drive. I prefer a round cam, and a strap. The direct drive doesn't have a direct relationship between the foot going down and the beater moving forward. It loses a bit of power near the end of the stroke. Negligible, but it's a slightly different animal.
 
...I'm set for pedals now. Would never have to get another one, and I'd be happy with what I've got.
Still - I find myself toying with the idea of checking to see if I could trade my two older Yamaha doubles in towards a Yamaha DFP9500D double pedal - LOL


Ha ha - I ended up getting the DFP9500D, and keeping the other pedals too (for now).
Couldn't resist it, and I think they're well worth the cost for me,

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110141
 
First I wanted a DW5000 but when I´ve tried both and find out that dfp9500d has more adjustments and also more lighter, I choose Yamaha....but wildbill is right . Older Yamaha pedals are better....the steel used is not very good.
the steel footplate is so soft that I can scratch it with my shoes...
Also have tried to remove a screw and I´ve ruin the screw without taking it off
Oh but this is my second pedal , the first one was replaced by the music store, since it was malfunctioning................hope this one don´t get me problems
 
With any screw that has a nut on the other end, you should use a wrench on the nut, and just keep steady pressure on the screw end.
I start to loosen any screw that doesn't have a nut on the end with an impact driver.
Too easy to mess up the slots otherwise.

Hard to see what could malfunction on it though. They're pretty simple pedals.
 
My son plays the 9500c pedal, which comes with the optional belt drive. He liked this pedal the best after trying about a zillion pedals at the music shops in town. He tends to switch between chain and belt drives--can't seem to decide what he likes best.

I have one comment that might be helpful to others with this pedal. Yamaha provides the same length bolts for both the chain and belt drives, even though the belt mount is much thicker. In my opinion, those bolts, when used with the belt drive, are not really long enough to engage enough of the threads, especially on the aluminum pedal, and there is a considerable risk of pulling those weak aluminum threads out. Even though stripped threads can be fixed with a heli coil, that's not something you want to deal with. At any hardware store however, you can find 6mm bolts (get the high grade ones) with allen heads that fully engage all threads and work perfectly.

The bolts supplied by Yamaha are plenty long enough for the chain drive.
 
Digging up an old post here -
Last year, after going through several of the Perfect Balance Jojo pedals (various issues with thte strap, heel hinge, hoop clamp and the folding hinge/button) - I thought I'd wait a while to find a direct drive pedal I liked.

Well I found it. The Yamaha FP9500D direct drive pedal.

Didn't care for the Pearl direct drive offerings , they felt too light. Still have my trusty old Eliminator. Axis pedals are just too expensive…

The FP9500D feels great. Very smooth, very fast, light feeling yet powerful and has some dynamic feel to it. Seems well built, time will tell I guess. Got a deal on a demo pedal. You'd think a Yamaha fanboy like myself would have clued in a little faster. Duh.

I'd say this is an excellent alternative for any of you that have turned away from the Jojo pedal for whatever reason. And it's half the price!

Neal
 
I have the 9410 model. Three, actually. Two, set up traditional, and one set up as a reverse pedal, to use with my Roland KD-7 kick trigger.​
 
Timely post Neal! I'm planning on getting the 9500D next month. I already have the 9500C that comes with strap/chain drive options that I use when playing with the punk band I'm in and I've been wanting to try out a direct drive pedal to take it's place. I also have the JoJo pedal and thankfully (touch wood!) haven't experienced the issues you have had with it - I use it primarily for jazz playing and with my other band, who play quieter stuff. Glad to hear that the 9500D gets the thumbs up.
 
Digging up an old post here -
Last year, after going through several of the Perfect Balance Jojo pedals (various issues with thte strap, heel hinge, hoop clamp and the folding hinge/button) - I thought I'd wait a while to find a direct drive pedal I liked.

Well I found it. The Yamaha FP9500D direct drive pedal.

Didn't care for the Pearl direct drive offerings , they felt too light. Still have my trusty old Eliminator. Axis pedals are just too expensive…

The FP9500D feels great. Very smooth, very fast, light feeling yet powerful and has some dynamic feel to it. Seems well built, time will tell I guess. Got a deal on a demo pedal. You'd think a Yamaha fanboy like myself would have clued in a little faster. Duh.

I'd say this is an excellent alternative for any of you that have turned away from the Jojo pedal for whatever reason. And it's half the price!

Neal

What took you so long, my Yamaha brother? ;-) After trying a ton of them, this is where I ended up as well. My favorite by far and the one I spent the least on. Yamaha also makes a nice, inexpensive belt-driven pedal--same as the DD but a strap and no baseplate. I use those a lot for rehearsals and carry one around for a back-up (though the DD has never let me down).

I've actually wanted to get a JoJo since they came out but all of the issues have kept me from going through with it. Seems Sonor really screwed the pooch on that.
 
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What took you so long, my Yamaha brother? ;-) After trying a ton of them, this is where I ended up as well. My favorite by far and the one I spent the least on. Yamaha also makes a nice, inexpensive belt-driven pedal--same as the DD but a strap and no footboard. I use those a lot for rehearsals and carry one around for a back-up (though the DD has never let me down).

I've actually wanted to get a JoJo since they came out but all of the issues have kept me from going through with it. Seems Sonor really screwed the pooch on that.

I know, I know. I was just trying out everything else out there for the past few years. DW, Pearl, Tama, Ludwig, Gibraltar, etc.

I did my first gig with my FP9500D last Saturday night, and it was great. No learning time, my foot just flew on it. Effortless and like it had been there all along. That's what I want, the big cliche : for it to feel like it's not there, an extension of my foot. But it also needs to be able to fuel some power and feel solid too. Check check.

I have a hard time explaining how I see ( or feel) the kinesiology/mechanics of it all. What's weird is I grew up on a Tama King Beat pedal…miles from anything in my current arsenal. Or is it?

I do have a couple of the cheaper folding Yamaha bottom plate-less , belt driven pedals. I keep one in my vehicle in the spare tire well, along with a spare snare stand and hihat stand.

Neal
 
....Last year, after going through several of the Perfect Balance Jojo pedals (various issues with thte strap, heel hinge, hoop clamp and the folding hinge/button) - I thought I'd wait a while to find a direct drive pedal I liked.

Well I found it. The Yamaha FP9500D direct drive pedal....


Since the original post a couple years ago, I now only use the Yamaha direct drives.
I've got two singles and a double.

I still have a few others, including the DW9000, but I haven't used them for over a year.
I hope Yamaha doesn't change them too much in the future, and never
discontinues them.
 
I have the 8500b pedal which I like a lot, however when I use my 20" kick I also use the Gibraltar bass drum lift. When I first attached the pedal to the lift I noticed that the screw that attaches the strap to the bottom of the footplate would hit the base of the pedal. I have made adjustments and it seemed to fix the problem but the screwhead is still very close to hitting.

I was wondering if anyone knew the screw size, maybe I can replace the drum key type screw with a flathead screw to give me more clearance?
 

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If you recall, on the old Ludwig Speed King, that thin strip of metal running from the beater cam to the pedal wasn't really connected to the pedal. It was simply bent and you slipped it under this clip on the pedal board. What was more surprising was that the pin-clip on the pedal board never broke, the connection piece always did!

Maybe you could modify the bolt on your Yamaha?


Yamaha Bolt you say?
15BoltRed_1500-01.jpg


I keed. I've been playing on DD flying dragons for the past...4(?) years, and I love them.
 
i used to really like the Yamaha Flying Dragons i had. The glow in the dark wings on the base plate was a special treat. would like to see those pedals come back in some fashion.
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Old thread but can anyone tell me the footboard length without heel plate on the fp9500? Tried a Speed cobra and liked the length and feel but I really like the simplicity of the fp9500 and the great things I am reading about it. Thanks.
 
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