Am I the only one bothered by this?

Cmdr. Ross

Platinum Member
Here's an overhead shot of a common pedal. The one thing that's always bugged me is how the beater is off set from the cam.
When you hook this onto your hoop, the clamp is under the chain & cam, while the beater doesn't hit the head in the middle.
Pedals like the Speed King have everything in line.

Anyone want to take a stab as to why this off set exists? Was it so they could use the same tower for double pedals & nothing would get in the way?
I honestly don't know.
 

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It seems to be a chain/strap drive thing. The speed king is a direct drive, and like my new pdp dd the beater is centered. On my chain drive Mapex, it's offset to the right, like your DW pic. I believe @MrInsanePolack is correct that the two items cannot share the center location without putting the beater slot into the cam and I don't think that would function correctly and it would certainly have a weird feel.
 
and it would certainly have a weird feel.

More so than the Speed King? I have one & it feels like any other DD pedal I've played on.
Couldn't the cam & beater share the same space & if you adjust the beater angle the chain would just go with it?

I can usually figure things out, but this one is a head scratcher as to why a centered configuration works with DD, but not chain or strap.
 
I can usually figure things out, but this one is a head scratcher as to why a centered configuration works with DD, but not chain or strap.
DD utilizes a single hinged point in front of the rotating axis to operate the "cam" (perhaps rocker arm is a better term). It pulls the hinge, down it goes. The cam/strap must complete a partial rotation and is pulled from the top of the rotating axis. As the cam rotates, the pull point rotates along the surface of the cam and moves forward. The hinged rocker arm of DD does not do this. It is always in front of the rotating axis.

A cam/beater holder could be made with the beater holder above the cam. It would need a channel for the chain/strap to run through so rotation still happens. Or they could just offset the hoop clamp slightly to center the beater. That would now put your footboard off center. Pick your offset poison, beater or footboard.
 
My FP9500d direct drive pedal has an offset beater. This is done so that the beater angle and pedal height can be set independently.
I love these pedals and wouldn't want them any other way.

fp9500d_1200x480_83a709d2324ea784e1842804b1bdb271.jpg
 
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When you hook this onto your hoop, the clamp is under the chain & cam, while the beater doesn't hit the head in the middle.
Pedals like the Speed King have everything in line.

That's pretty messed up. My Tama pedals have an offset beater but when mounted they hit the center. I would actually prefer the double pedals were offset like that DW, so neither beater was centered. I hate having only one beater offset.
 
Pick your offset poison, beater or footboard.

Good point.
I think my OCD kicks in & I fail to understand why it works with one drive system, but not the other. It's just me, but you all helped me see it better than I otherwise would've. ❤
 
Good point.
I think my OCD kicks in & I fail to understand why it works with one drive system, but not the other.
You're thinking all direct drive pedals center their beater, and they aren't. The Yamaha is off set, the Pearl Demon Drive is off set. The Gibraltar is off set. The Tama is off set. The old Ghost pedal was centered. The DW and the Axis might be centered. The Speed King is indeed a unique pedal. Using compression springs, also.
 
I acquired a Mapex Rebel brand pedal in a trade recently. It's a beginner pedal, but I actually like it. It has a nice feel and surprisingly has a 3 position beater angle adjustment (moving the screw that the springs sits on to different positions). This is a nice pedal considering it's a "budget" pedal. It also hits the head directly centered, much like a Speed King. Worth checking out for the price!
 

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I acquired a Mapex Rebel brand pedal in a trade recently. It's a beginner pedal, but I actually like it. It has a nice feel and surprisingly has a 3 position beater angle adjustment (moving the screw that the springs sits on to different positions). This is a nice pedal considering it's a "budget" pedal. It also hits the head directly centered, much like a Speed King. Worth checking out for the price!

Wow that looks exactly like my pedal. I didn't know what kind it was. I've had others, but this is my favorite pedal.
 
Not an issue for me. It's hard to imagine that the beater being 1/2" or so off-center would make a sonic or playability difference. Even on a 16" kick, 1/2" represents only a 3% shift in the strike spot.
 
I acquired a Mapex Rebel brand pedal in a trade recently.
Wow ..... that certainly looks like they copied the Speed King geometry pretty close ..... then just added chain drive and a more common side located spring tension unit.
 
The offset design, although probably for other engineering reasons, ensures that you don't hit the head "dead" center. I remember with the Speed King and Ghost you had to adjust the beater height to make sure you weren't hitting the bass drum head dead center. Not a big deal to adjust it up or down, but with the offset, hitting dead center is not even a concern.
 
Here's an overhead shot of a common pedal. The one thing that's always bugged me is how the beater is off set from the cam.
When you hook this onto your hoop, the clamp is under the chain & cam, while the beater doesn't hit the head in the middle.
Pedals like the Speed King have everything in line.

Anyone want to take a stab as to why this off set exists? Was it so they could use the same tower for double pedals & nothing would get in the way?
I honestly don't know.
This is the reason I returned a DW9000 pedal. Terrible. Couldn’t center the beater, so when I did, the pedal was off center. When the pedal was off center, the bass drum tilted to one side when tightening the pedal. I’ll stick with my direct drive, thanks.
 
I don't worry about it because I usually hit above the center of the head anyway. Sounds Like a Drum did a video where they tested the sound differences from moved the beating spot of the pedal. I didn't think it really made much of a difference.
 
Sounds Like a Drum did a video where they tested the sound differences from moved the beating spot of the pedal. I didn't think it really made much of a difference.

You (and they) are 100% right.
My issue is both aesthetics and the illogic as to why a direct drive system can have everything line up, but the chain/strap cannot. The OCD engineer in me frets over this & I want to "fix it".

I'll get over it. ;)

I already have a perfect pedal set & have used them for years. They're "off-set" and I don't have an issue.
 
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