can I replace the thick heel plate on DW5000?

mauve

Junior Member
I have a new dw 5000 pedal, it has this ridiculously chunky heel plate (designed for stacking more, WTF?).
I like the old Camco style low heel plate; older DW's had those.
I am tempted to file down the heel on the new pedal.
But, perhaps, there is a better way to just replace the plate with a thinner one.
Does anyone have any ideas?
 
The 3000 has a much thinner heel plate, they should be interchangeble if you can buy it separately. I hate that huge heel plate as well, its the reason I got rid of my 9000.
 
Yes, the 3000 is the original heel plate size. I like that one better myself.

You might just be better off buying a 3000 foot/heel board. They are both the original size.
You will need a large, really good screwdriver to get the screws out because of the loc-tite they use.
 
I think the bolt pattern might be different.
Filing the heel down would be the easiest and fastest option; it is a solid piece of aluminum. Plus, I am not planning to resell it.
 
I know exactly what you mean, with me, not so much the bass pedal, my dw5000 hihat plate is just stupidly thick, 6 months later, still can't get used to my heel being up behind my head ( well allmost that high) think I'll change mine out too.
 
I was auditioning a DW 5000 belt drive pedal a few weeks ago and it was the high heel plate that made me decide against it.

Dennis
 
I always hated those heel plates. Once I got a different pedal, I'll never go back.

I now use Mapex Raptor Direct Drive double pedals.
 
That's my only complaint, the meat tenderizer heel plate. I play in socks, and I really hurt my heel when once on the last note of a song...I got too excited and lifted my leg and came down hard on that plate with my heel. Yea, I think I injured bone. It took a while for my heel to heal lol.

tried to super glue a piece of leather on top of the heel plate but it didn't last.

I recommend a grinding wheel in lieu of a file though.

Kick drum pedal manufacturers need to make those heel plates smooth for us shoeless players.
 
That's my only complaint, the meat tenderizer heel plate. I play in socks, and I really hurt my heel when once on the last note of a song...I got too excited and lifted my leg and came down hard on that plate with my heel. Yea, I think I injured bone. It took a while for my heel to heal lol.

Yeah, did the same thing at a gig two weeks ago, and it STILL hurts. I play in socks also, and I tend to sit back a little further than a lot of drummers My heel sits right over the back edge of the "meat tenderizer". I've had this pedal for 5 years and never did that before...but I went for a big kick + crash accent and *OUCH*. I was nearly limping out of the bar that night.

What I discovered is; I don't even notice the heel plate if I just scoot up an extra inch. I can hammer on it for hours if I don't setup in a hurry and sit back from the kick, further than usual.

It has me re-thinking the whole play-in-socks idea though!
 
Zam my heel hurt for months after that. Haven't done it since though, that was 2006. It's a bad habit for recording too, when you nail that last note so hard you distort the kick drum track..I just can't play in shoes though, I want no resistance whatsoever. Battery heated socks for cold gigs would be nice...mmm......toasty
 
Zam my heel hurt for months after that. Haven't done it since though, that was 2006. It's a bad habit for recording too, when you nail that last note so hard you distort the kick drum track..I just can't play in shoes though, I want no resistance whatsoever. Battery heated socks for cold gigs would be nice...mmm......toasty

I hear ya! I can't stand playing in shoes. I can do it, but always feel like I can control my notes better with bare feet. I've noticed that other manufacturers have smooth, tapered heel plates, which makes more sense. It's not like you need a spikey chunk of steel under your heel. How many drummers have lost control of the pedal because the heel plate wasn't gripping the foot well enough!?

Unfortunately, I think it'd be a custom job to change the 5000. I still think it's a vastly superior pedal to anything else on the market.
 
I think the bolt pattern might be different.
Filing the heel down would be the easiest and fastest option; it is a solid piece of aluminum. Plus, I am not planning to resell it.

From the pattern on my 3000 and 5000 stands, the holes are the same--unless they changed it in the last year or so.

I changed the heel on my 5000 "light" hat stand before they changed the number to 3000 with an older, smaller heel plate I had.

If you bought a 3000 heel plate, it should work on the hat stand or a bass drum pedal.

Sanding the plate down, if you have the right equipment, would solve the harder, prickly feel playing barefoot or in socks though.
 
I finally got sick of smashing my heel down on that thing, and took a Dremel to it, this morning. It's a big improvement, but I need to grind it down a bit more to get it just right. I ground-off the bottom two rows of meat tenderizer spikes and rounded off the back edge. Doesn't even look too bad, if you're concerned about that kind of thing.

It took about 15 minutes and since it's aluminum, the Dremel tore through it like butta. Easy fix.
 
I think DW sells heal plates in various heights, don't they? Check out page 5 of this pdf. http://www.dwdrums.com/info/manuals/DW5000D3PedalManual.pdf

They do. see the link above.

Just this weekend I got the kit with the different plates and you have 3 different heights to choose from. I for one like the higher plate as it sets my foot more level on the board overall.

Those saying the thick heel plates turned them off this pedal did themselves a disservice. I've found the 5k is just a trifecta of smoothness, durability and adjustability.
The double pedal version must be all that & a bag of chips.
 
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