Ludwig Speed King Vs. ?

My father in law has a mid 60's twin spring speed king. That thing feels so damn fast and smooth. I was wondering how these older pedals compare to some of the newer singles like the DW 9000, or Pearl direct drives?

I'd say that the Speed King has an overall lighter feel about it. New pedals are much more...subsantial feeling. That is no knock to the Speed King, it's a great pedal, just a lighter feel.

I recently bought an old Speed King that has been taken apart, cleaned and grease repacked. It's very fast. I used one of these years ago, but sold it with an old kit I had. I A-B compared it with my Iron Cobra and it's just as fast if not faster. The Cobra will generate more velocity with a shorter stoke, but that's about it. I did replace the SK beater with a weighted Cobra beater. I've been using it for the past few gigs and it's like getting together with an old friend.

The engineering and adjustability of modern pedals makes them very difficult to compare to a 50+ year old design. Speed Kings are great and were a staple for many years, but there's no doubt they have been surpassed.

That is not to say that they are not playable or that they aren't good enough for the job, but check the adjustable features on the Demon Drives, Axis, Trick, DW9000, IC's Elims etc....you'll find they just don't compare.

If you like the feel of it, use it.

Anyone ever use a Ghost? I have one that's probablyl 40 years old and it's still going strong.