28 inch kick drum pedal beater configuration

babuz87

New Member
How to set up the kick pedal beater for a 28 inch drum kick? How much high it can be set? Is it possible to beat on the center of the drumhead? Is there more possibility to break the drum head?
 
You could shoot for just under center as a theory is.... that BD's sound better when hit off-center.
I think it's true.
 
How to set up the kick pedal beater for a 28 inch drum kick? How much high it can be set? Is it possible to beat on the center of the drumhead? Is there more possibility to break the drum head?
I always set up the pedal for comfort and playability. Where the beater falls on the head is secondary. And as green glass said, the best sound doesn't necessarily come from the center of the BD head anyway.

As for breakage - you're not any more likely to break the head one spot or another. The only thing that breaks BD heads is the fact that the beater hits the exact same spot every time, so if you don't use a patch of some kind, it will eventually wear through.
 
When I’ve recorded with my 28” bass drum, I’ve tested different beater spots (held the bass drum pedal in my hands and tried playing it dead center, just off center, further off center…several different places). Luckily, it turned out that where I have the beater on the pedal set for a 22” bass drum is exactly where it sounds best on the 28” (which, ends up being about 40% up the drum from the bottom rim, or about 10% of the drum diameter below the center). I saw luckily, because I don’t have a pedal with a long enough beater shaft to reach the middle of the head.

The biggest factor for me for 28” bass drums is ported vs unported.
 
I never changed the beater height/length when I went to a 28" bass drum. But I still had a 22", that I played more. There are a few pedals that have adjustable height posts (like the Yamaha above ..... though the Yamaha is a very old pedal). A newer pedal that comes to mind would be the Tama HP50. However I don't know if specifically the Tama will accommodate a 28" bass drum.

If your current beater shaft won't reach, certainly a longer beater would be cheaper than buying a new pedal. Getting a longer beater will change the geometry of your pedal (and change the feel), but getting a different pedal will ALSO change the feel.

When I started driving a 28", the "whoa" moment was how much bounce off the head I got (beater bounce, beater dribble, etc.). I ported the reso head, and that substantially tamed bounce. My pedals were DW 5000's.

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Second all the people saying not to worry about it from a sound perspective. I'd say you're good as long as you're within a few inches of the center (however you take that).
 
If it really drives you crazy not having your beater closer to center you can get the... Vater, if I remember correctly? They call it the long range bomber or something like that? It's got a really long shaft intended for larger bass drums.
 
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