Tama Speed Cobra

Hi folks,

I have been playing on and off for the last 4 years with a very cheap and basic Mapex bass drum pedal, which I always felt the pedalboard is too small for my big feet.

I recently purchased an acoustic kit and decided upon investing on a decent pedal, and bought myself a Tama Speed Cobra single pedal.

Well... the pedal looks definitely fancy, but I must be doing something wrong.

I was expecting that a better pedal would improve my technique, or at least, make it "easier" and with less effort and more precision.

Whats happening is exactly the opposite. I cant play my fast with this Speed Cobra like I used to play with the Mapex. I definitely feel like something is "wrong" but I cant pinpoint exactly what should I change on the Speed Cobra to make it feel better.

I noticed the Mapex had a much harder string tension, so I set the Speed Cobra to the hardest spring tension, and yet, the Mapex still feels like it has more tension and less "soft" as the Tama....

The Tama feels like its "loose", out of control, while the Mapex feels "steady", controlable, I can deliver exactly what I want with it, while with the Speed Cobra there´s always something going wrong, like a missed note (in a fast row of notes), or some flam thrown in while I dont want to. Seems like it strikes the head and immediatly rebounds and strikes again!!!

Also, comparing both pedals, playing one after the other, makes me feel like my feet needs to depress the pedalboard farther (deeper) to make the beater strike the head on the Tama then on the Mapex. Got the point? Feels like theres more feet movement required on the Tama.

Well, my point is: can I assume this pedal just doesnt fit my lack of technique or style and therefore I should take it back and get another type of pedal, or does it means I havent configured it yet to the way I need it to be?? It has so many possible settings that I dont know what do change!


One thing I DEFINITELY like about it is the long board!! Definitely more confortabel than any other smaller pedal I ever played.

Any comments, please??

OK, first a question.

How many threads are there on DW here about the SPEED COBRA already?

Im going to guess 8


I cant play my fast with this Speed Cobra like I used to play with the Mapex. I definitely feel like something is "wrong" but I cant pinpoint exactly what should I change on the Speed Cobra to make it feel better.

You have to change 'everything'. Start with getting the foot board and beater angle/height to match your MAPEX, then mess with spring tension... not happy? Mess with foot board height then beater angle in that order.

You have to find it, we can't tell you where it is, we can just point you in the direction. It might take hours, but exhaust the possibilities, then get back to us.

A few years ago I also had a cheap pedal. I was using that for 3-4 years before I upgraded to an Iron Cobra Flexi. Well when I tried it at first, it just felt weird. I started messing up with changing the footboard angle, spring tension, beater height etc. But after all I just needed to get used to the new pedal. Even if it´s a better, faster pedal, I was used to my old crappy pedal. It took me a while till I got used to the feel. Since then I´m flyin on it lol.
So just take your time and start practicing with it. If it won´t feel right after a few weeks, then I´d say it´s just not your pedal.

Long boards won't give you the catapult sensation you get from short boards. They will feel lighter because you end up using more leg than ankle if that makes sense. The 'sweet spot' kinda gets lost on a long board and in my opinion you have less control. Maybe take the tama back and keep using your mapex? Or get a regular iron cobra, they're great.

I have pearl demon drives and luckily you can convert the boards.

I used the reg. Iron Cobra for years and when I got the Speed Cobras it just felt right for me and I was way faster with more power. Unfortunately you just have to try a bunch and find what works for you.

Have you tried to adjust or remove the cobra coil??? This is a feature the mapex pedal does not have.