How many pedals have you owned?

Five in 52 years but I did take 25 years off. :)

1) Some piece of no name junk that I got with my starter Slingerland set in 1967.

2) A used Ludwig Speed King I bought around 1970.

3) A single chain dw5000 that I bought new in 1983 with my Yamaha Recording Customs when I actually started to make money playing drums.

4) A Terry Bozio "Shark" in 1986 when I was playing a Simmons SDS7 set in an 80's band.

5) A dw5000 electronic pedal in 1987-88 when I I got tired of the Shark falling apart.

Then back to the dw5000 for a few years, then 25 years off, now back playing and still using the same 1983 dw5000.
 
Seems like a lot of users using the DW5000s on these boards!
 
Seems like a lot of users using the DW5000s on these boards!

The 5000 has always been a great pedal, kind of the Shure 57 or Remo Ambassador or Ludwig Supra of pedals. Safe to say it's DW's flagship pedal. I had used them starting in the early '80s and continued for many years through their various improvements (most notably the addition of a baseplate, and upgraded footboard hinges.) That's not to say other pedals aren't more suited to one's needs, but the 5000 seems to serve the majority of drummers well. I still have 5 of them, long after my DW endorsement ended. :)

Bermuda
 
Hmm, that's a tough one, since I've had so many that would come with kits/shellpacks I bought new, and some of them I would just sell right away without needing to use them. I'll mention the ones I've used for longer periods:

I have two single Tama Speed Cobras and a double Pearl Eliminator Redline (w/ Trick driveshaft) in use at the moment.

Single pedals owned and used a lot (usually in pairs). Tama IC Powerglides, Trick Pro-V1, Mapex Falcons, Tama IC 600
Double pedals: Yamaha DFP-880 chain drive, Pearl Eliminator belt drive, Mapex Falcon, DW 8002, Yamaha DFP-9500C

As well as several cheaper single pedals (all single chain drive, I believe) from Yamaha, Tama, Pearl, Sonor, Mapex....
 
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Premier 252 for years.
Pearl "Export" type.
Pearl Powershifter Double.
Tama Iron Cobra Powerglide Double.
DW 9002
DW9002 (New)
DW MDD Double.
 
Slingerland, Yellow Jacket
Ludwig, Speed King
(2) Sonor, 400 Series ( Backups )
Yamaha, Flying Dragon Direct Drive ( Main Pedal )
 
I started with a pair of Tama King Beat hydraulics in the 80's when i was rocking double kicks. Went through various other crap/no-name ones for a few years until I got the DW5k Delta double in 1998.
Still have it, will always have it. I even got a 5k single just for the smaller gigs.

I did acquire a Speed King that I like a lot because it folds up for easy packing.
 
Have to put on my thinking cap as this goes over a 50 year playing career .

Starting with :
Stewart pedal from the 60’s
Pearl Pedal from the 70’s
Rogers Big R Supreme pedal
Yamaha 800 series chain drive
Tama Iron Cobra Flexiglide
DW 5000A double pedal
Tama Camco
Axis X Longboard ( still own this )
Yamaha FP 7210
Axis A short board
Axis A Long board
Trick Pro 1V bought from Bermuda
DW 9000 series
Axis A21 Laser ( wish I still had this )
Sonor Perfect Balance ( my
Main pedal for gigs )
Sonor Perfect Balance standard ( backup pedal for gigs)
Slingerland Yellow jacket ( have it to a friend )
Rogers Big R Supreme ( yes got another - not using it )
Yamaha 900 series direct drive double pedal ( on my e-kit did practicing ).


After all these I have come to the conclusion that I like direct drive and strap drive pedals only . I only regret selling the Axis A21 Laser pedal .
I love the Sonor Perfect Balance but for louder music I prefer the Axis direct drive pedals .
 
Yamaha 9000 double pedal
Tama Iron Cobra 900 double pedal
Tama Iron Cobra 600 double pedal
Tama Speedcobra 310 double pedal
Tama Speedcobra 910 double pedal
Tama Speedcobra 910 2 x single pedals
Pearl Demon Drive direct drive double pedal
Pearl Demon Drive chain double pedal
Trick Dominator double pedal
Axis X longboards (2 x singles)
Axis A longboards classic black (with e-kits) double pedal
Mapex Falcon double pedal

I am currently using a Tama Iron Cobra 600 double for my TD-17 E-kit, and I am using Speed Cobra 910's and Axis A longboards on my acustic kit with dual bass drums.
 
Pedals that I’ve had but no longer own
- basic Ludwig pedal that came with my first kit (Ludwig Rocker II)
- DW 5000 single
- DW 5000 double
- Yamaha double
- Calato pedal
- Tama Flexi flyer (if I could have any one of these pedals back it would be this one
What I have now
- Tama Iron Cobra- this has been my primary pedal for almost 20 years now; has needed minimal maintenance, bulletproof durability
- Tama Iron Cobra junior- backup/practice/ rehearsal pedal
- current version basic Yamaha single chain pedal, no base plate- actually really like this pedal, very simple design but plays great; would have no qualms using this as my main pedal
- Mapex single chain pedal, no baseplate- same design as the Yamaha, has a longer foot board; for whatever reason does not play anywhere near as well as the Yamaha. Going to swap out the bearings at some point; maybe that will improve the feel

I am considering purchasing a kit to convert my Powerglide IC to a Flexiglide. Found a website selling the kit for around $30.
 
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I currently have 46 pedals, and have owned probably 20 more. Ludwig, Trick, Yamaha, Sonor, DW, Camco, Taye, Premier, Pearl, Tama, Rogers and I may be forgetting a few, and I also have some lesser-known pedals from RKM, XL Specialty, Calato, Drumnetics and just for fun, the horrible Catapult from Gibraltar!



Yes and no. A pedal that feels good (very subjective of course) makes playing effortless, and a pedal with different angles and ratios may require more effort to adjust and can hamper the foot's ability to do everything it's capable of (Gibraltar's Catapult is a perfect example of a pedal that doesn't work well with the foot.) Not every pedal can be adjusted to every drummer's desired feel. That's why many drummer's keep seeking them, and manufacturers keep trying to improve them.

Bermuda
Hi Bermuda,

Can you share with us your experience with the Calato pedal? Used to see those advertised years ago, and always wondered what they were like.
 
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Ludwig 201 Speed King from 1978.
Pearl P-880 from 1988.
Tama HP-45 from 1993.
Tama Iron Cobra Power Glide from 1999
Tama Iron Cobra Jr. Double from 2001
Pearl Eliminator from 2012
DW 3000 from 2012
 
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Pedals that I actually played as main pedals

Generic MIJ first pedal, 60's era
Ludwig Speed King
Tama 6740 Imperial Star Hi Beat
Gibraltar Intruder double pedal
DW 5000 double pedal
Off Set double pedal
Sleishman double pedal
Yamaha Flying Dragon
Camco by Tama single and double pedals
Pearl P 930 single and P 932 double pedals

then I have my pedal museum/pedal collection ..... stuff that I've acquired over the years .... curiosities mostly collecting dust. A Zalmer twin .... probably the most unusual of the bunch.
 

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Pearl POS that came with my Super Deluxe kit. It lasted about a year and I replaced it with a Ludwig Speed King. Now I use the Gibraltar 6711DD. Love the direct drive after about a 30 minute trial. I also have a Gibraltar G class chain drive. It's OK, nothing special though.
 
Seems like a lot of users using the DW5000s on these boards!

I wish my DW 5000 was a turbo and not an accelerator. I have a DW 7000 ( now a 3000 ) which I like over the accelerator. My main pedal now is a Mapex Falcon. It's between a long and short board.
 
Axis AL2 Double
Axis A21 Laser Double
Iron Cobra Double
Pearl Eliminator Double
Pearl Demon Drive Double
DW5000 Double
DW9000 Double

Tama Speed Cobra Single
Ludwig Speed King Single
Old weird pearl strap singles (many)

There are several more slipping my mind that I have personally owned, and I think I have borrowed, or gear shared every other type of pedal under the sun.
 
God , I’ve owned a ton over the years. From my first Slingerland pedal to pearls, Mapex, Tama iron cobra and I’ve been using the Dw5000 double kick for the last 10 years.
 
Hmm... I'll have to dust off some brain cells for this answer.

I started playing in the 1970s, my first kit was a "well used" Japanese stencil kit with the "Del Rey" name on it. The pedal didn't have a name, but I have no reason to believe that it wasn't original to the kit.

I was with my bassist cousin at a pawn shop in 1975. He bought a used 1974 Fender Telecaster bass. I was looking to upgrade my cymbals and pedal. The cymbal selection was awful, but I picked up a used Premier pedal from the late sixties, early 70s for about $20 if I remember correctly. It was decent, I used it for several years. It had rubber pads and a sticker with the red "P" on it. It was my first decent piece of drum gear.

In 1978 I bought a beautiful set of 1965 Slingerlands. They were in "as new" condition. The flat based stands didn't impress me at the time, but the pedal (and the drums) were great. The Slingerland became my primary pedal, the Premier was my backup. In 1983 I was living in south Florida, newly married, and we were struggling financially. I sold all of my drum gear.

A few months later I was divorced. A new girl friend was easily acquired, new drum gear, not so much. December of 1983 my boss asked me to meet him at the office on Christmas eve, he needed help with something. Stacked in my office was a rather beat up set of 1957 round badge midnight blue pearl Gretsch kit that he bought from the local green sheet. The drum set consisted of a bass drum without a front head, hoop, or hardware, a matching snare drum and floor tom, and two chrome over brass Gretsch timbales of the same era. The cymbals were a mix of 1950s and 60s Zildjian "A"s and an amazing 19" Turkish "K" ride that I have to this day. The pedal was a WFL Speed King, a pretty good pedal. (Thank you Harry!)

I fixed up the Gretsch kit and gigged it for several years. I ran across used Slingerland and Premier pedals cheap and went back to a Slingerland as my primary, the Premier and WFL became my back ups. The Gretsch kit was stolen out of a storage locker in early 1991. They didn't steal the hardware, and happily my case full of Zildjians was safe in my home. I was looking for a new (used) kit and borrowed a friend's Rogers kit for a few gigs in the mean time. I put money down on a used set of Slingerlands in mid March of 1991. March 22, 1991 I was run down by a truck on my motorcycle. Drumming would have to wait a while...

After thirteen surgeries on my left leg, three surgeries on my left arm, and over a year of rehab I was ready to think about drumming again. I went into a shop in Pittsburgh and found a set of 1975 Slingerlands. They came with a Gretsch COB 4160 snare drum (that I love) and a mixed bag of hardware. I still had my vintage Zildjians and hardware from Florida. The kit came with a Slingerland "Yellowjacket" pedal, up to this point it was the best pedal that I ever used. I had a new primary pedal. I ran across another Yellowjacket pedal and bought it. For the first time my backup pedal was the same as my primary. I gave the others away to friends. I was set. (Pedal wise.)

Around 1995 or so I played my first DW 5000 pedal. WOW. This changed everything. I bought two DW 5000 pedals, a primary and a backup. I was set forever. (Or so I thought.)

In the early 2000s I got a good deal on my first DW 9000 pedal. This is still my primary pedal to this day. I have a few DW 9000 and 5000 pedals these days, as well as matching high hat stands. I'm comfortable with either. Nothing else that I've played so far has made me think of changing.

I've acquired many other pedals over the years while buying and selling used kits, these are the ones that stand out.

Reading back through my post I'd say that I've had seven different pedals underfoot in forty-five years of serious playing.
 
I've owned 4 other than a shitty stock pedal that came with my Sears kit in 1993:

1) DW 5000 Accelerator (late 90s)
2) DW 5000 Accelerator (late 90s)- 2 bass drums, one for each

3) DW 5000 Accelerator (2018) bought a new "fresh" pedal as I returned to drumming, single bass drum
4) DW 5000 Accelerator (2018) bought a 2nd one to bring to gigs in case other breaks

I'm thinking of trying a direct drive pedal soon and see how it feels in comparison and may consider the switch.
 
I have no idea how many I have tried. I'm sure it's more than 10.

You should have no shame about this. Matching pedal to person is very important in drumming. We all want it to feel differently, and if a drummer isn't loving the pedal, it's not good for the music.

Consider the cost of the explorations Tuition about music life. That's how I look at it.

I actually had a hard time getting comfortable with a pedal after resuming drumming. I started when I was 9, and I'm in my late 50s now. Along the way, I took a long break. Then when I came back to it, I broke my right leg and ankle in multiple places. I will never have the right foot strength and comfort that I had in my 20s. The Hardest part of coming back after the lay off was - my foot. I went through a number of pedals before I found something very right and comfortable for Me.

All part of the journey. Enjoy.
 
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