Base drum peddle spring tension question.

OK I got my first double base peddle and its a PDP left footed peddle. I just couldnt afford the other peddles at the moment especially set up left footed. There seems to be a price jump for it when ordering it. Anyway, I took it out of the box, put it on the drum and wow, the spring tension is really high. At least I think it is. My old peddle, which I loved was an old tama belt driven with a felt beater. I mean this thing is OLD. Loved the feel though, really really light.

A thing to note may be with the old peddle I always burried the breater when not actively hitting the drum with it so this is something I'm going to have to re-learn not to do.

What tension do most of you use on the spring for your peddle?

hi! I use a high tension (max) on my speed cobras, but thats because i have the beaters at max height and about 4-6 inches (too lazy to measure) away from the drum, and i like to play fast (200+) Whatever you like is right, i played at low tension for awhile (minimum) and mid. set it at whatever feels good, but keep in mind that eventually you will have to tighten the springs to improve the pedals resoponse (i find the mark to be 210-220 for my playing) good luck!

I use medium tension on my pedal. I don't like to kill my leg but I like to feel a slight resistance in the pedal while playing.

Mine is set just a little above as loose at it will go. I started off very tight, but over the years I've found myself preferring looser and looser settings.

tkav1980 said:

What tension do most of you use on the spring for your peddle?

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It depends on the pedal, you mentioned the light feel of your old pedal (Flexi-Flyer?), well I have both a new and a very old pedal, medium to low spring tension on the old pedal and medium to high spring tension on the new one.

When I recieved my new pedal, I found the spring too tight for my liking, but since I adjusted all options within the pedal, it's almost at the default factory tension now...

Usually it takes me much time to really adapt to a change in spring tension. In the end I returned to a medium tension but it took some experimenting/learning to arrive there. At some time I was more and more cranking up the tension which changed the response but didn't let me play any faster. Now, with 16 months into drumming, I feel medium spring tension is best for me, everything can be done with the pedal. I might experiment with the tension in the future though - no real reason to do so except for striving for a "better" setting even if this is utopia ;-)

What my pedal absolutely needs to be able to do is both single and double strokes with equal ease. Works good with medium tension for me.

PS: Base drum peddle -> -> Bass drum pedal (please!!)

Pedal tension is usually a great example of practitioners starting off with the extremes and usually ending up somewhere in the middle.

I use a medium-low tension in all of my pedals and can play any one (of my three) pedals with equal proficiency. For the record I have a 'Jacques Capelle' pedal that is very bizarre (but feels very good) an older Pearl P-100 Double (which I think is superb) and a DW5000. I tend to use the DW5000 more but use the others sometimes. I also use a Vater 'Vintage Bomber' beater that gives much less 'bounce' than most beaters (because it's about twice the size!).

I used to have my pedals fairly tense and realised quickly that this didn't work for me. I decided at that point that extremes didn't work and set to a 'middle' tension and have since reduced the tension slightly more. The last time I actually experimented was about six years ago and I haven't changed since. One of the biggest issues for newer players is constant adjustments to equipment because they think it'll make things 'easier'. Actually, the opposite is true - if you're constantly having to adjust formative technique then your technique won't form properly at all.

The best solution is to stick the tension in the middle, learn to play and then adjust for preference if you find definite evidence that it will help. Changing settings too often really can make things very hard to learn. Find a tension, work with it for at least two weeks and then adjust. The same is true of sticks. Don't just buy bigger or smaller sticks because you think they'll help; buy a middle weight (5As are perfect) and stick with them until you have a grasp of the basics and technique self-awareness. Then change if you need to. I honestly think 5As are the 'perfect' versatile size and although I use other sizes, they're not radically bigger or smaller - the bigger variable to me is tip shape.

Also depends on your playing style. I do mainly heel-toe on a longboard now (1st started with the single DW9000). Spring is set a little looser than medium.

Lately I've been practicing the slide technique. For me, this requires a really light spring tension.

I like what mediocrefunkybeat says about first keeping it at medium settings. Begin to adjust after getting used to it, or when the current setting is defeating you.

IMO, we always have challanges going from one pedal to another. Going from belt to chain can be a noticeable change that will require multiple adjustments to get things comfortable. I went from shortboard (DW9000) with chain, over to a Longboard double pedal with direct drive. I had to adjust pedal angle, spring tension, beater distance. Also a slight modification in my motions and foot strokes.

Arky said:

PS: Base drum peddle -> -> Bass drum pedal (please!!)

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Yeah sorry about that. I noticed how bad I misspelled that when I got home from work last night.

As for the pedal tension, I think Ill stick to the factory setting for the time being and just get used to it. I'm so out of shape anyway it's like I'm re-learning to play from scratch again.