Beater angle when it strikes the bass drum head

Anyone noticed that with most pedal setups, in order to hit the bass drum head your beater has to go past 'perpendicular to the floor,' and as such your beater is striking the drum with more of it's top half?

I suppose the solution is to use narrower hoops, or to use something like an axis beater, where you can move the actual beater forward. Are there pedals that have an adjustment for this?

Is this a common issue? I checked all my pedals on all my kicks and it's pretty much universal. I'm really feeling the need to see what kind of effect a more efficient setup might have.
 
I was more thinking of something like the axis beater which would allow the beater shaft to be parallel to the head on impact. It just seems like it would be much more efficient. The main problem is that those beaters axis don't look too appealing to me and have fairly bad reviews.

Anyone know which pedals allow this type of adjustment?
 
Yep, noticed it. Never given it a seconds thought to be honest.

As long as the drum goes "boom" when I put my foot on the pedal, the overall geometry of the beater strike doesn't concern me in the slightest. As I'm yet to use a pedal that doesn't engage the head, I'm yet to pay it any mind.

But to answer your question, yes I believe the design of that style of beater is indeed to overcome the issue (or non-issue, as the case may be).
 
I have had this issue before, never though about it it plays fine.

Only time its an issue is when you have it set up, and you move to a kit where it isn't. the extra 1/2 inch of throw adds to the spring tension and feels a bit difference. just adjust your springs and your golden.

Axis pedals are top notch. I have had a set of doubles for 10 years. they are tanks, get tossed around, gigged with every weekend and have never had an issue. They are made better than 90% of the stuff I see on the market. Get the black ones if you don't like the chrome. But they do look different. I can't help you there.

The old axis had this issue and they made the sonic hammer beater to combat it.

I'd say just don't worry too much about it. get a round beater or and adjustable one.
 
You could tilt the bass drum back slightly, as many people do, to reduce the beater travel distance.
Or use a beater which adjusts vertically like Tama, Trick, and many others.

Also I believe Axis' original beater was shaped to strike flat when the beater is slightly forward of 90°. It's called the "Marksman" beater.



119-marksman-beater1-300x300.jpg
 
You can use a round ball beater, or one that curves top to bottom instead of left to right.
One of mine with a flat face was wearing down near the top edge, so I sanded it back a bit to make a nearly flat surface on the correct angle.
 
You can try raising the front Spurs a bit if it bothers you or effects your playing in any way? You could also try the Vickick Beater.
 
What would the Vick Kick beaters do? I'm not talking about the beater hitting the head flush, I'm talking more about the beater shaft being parallel to the head on impact.

I don't know if it affects my playing because I don't think I've ever played any other way. I do seem to play better when I have a 1/2" thick mute pad on my drum, but who knows if that's why.

I will continue to play as I always have, I currently have no plans to get the axis beaters or Trick pedals.

I guess I'm just rather surprised that this isn't something that gets mentioned often, and very few products deal with it.

Does anyone make a beater with a curved shaft?
 
Why are you concerned with the shaft being parallel to the drum head? That plays no part in the sound, but the beater hitting flush does. You are the only one that can see it and we promise not to tell anyone.
 
Gruntersdad: I believe it was you who has the Lowboy wood beater? Is the angle an issue with those, or is the face angled to account for it? Frankly, the issue addressed in this thread is what has kept me from getting a Lowboy -- it looks, to me, like it would beat up the bass head pretty quickly (even with a patch).

Another beater that appears to address the "angle" issue is the Danmar Tommy Aldridge model.

As far as the Vic Kicks go (I have one), when the narrow part is set to strike the head, the "wide" part is not that wide, so it really is not much different than a normal beater. When turned for the wide part to strike the head, the entire surface area of the wide side will not strike the head due to the angle.
 
The LowBoy has a flat face and does not fully contact the head when playing but it's light weight and solid feel make for a great sound.
 
Why are you concerned with the shaft being parallel to the drum head? That plays no part in the sound, but the beater hitting flush does. You are the only one that can see it and we promise not to tell anyone.

I'm not a physics expert, but I feel like striking at this point would be ideal and I would like to try it. I'm not stressing about it, just curious.

Also, I am not speaking from a sound standpoint, more of an economics of motion standpoint.
 
No physics expert here either but with the horizontal pedal shaft and the beater traveling in an arc, where the shaft is when it hits the head will not matter. Pedals can be adjusted as to how far they travel before hitting the head so the motion can be reduced/made greater here. Any bit would be minimal. I guess one could DIY a pedal where the mount is right up against the head or slides to accommodate this. The worry then would be any excess below the shaft may rip the head....
 
I guess I'm just rather surprised that this isn't something that gets mentioned often, and very few products deal with it.

I think the fact it isn't, speaks volumes.

I suspect so few products address the issue as all they'd do is provide a solution to a problem that doesn't actually exist in the first place.

If it's really that big a deal, tilt your bass drum back and be done with it.
 
The angle of the beater does affect the feel on impact. Unless I'm mistaken this was the reason for the Axis "sonic hammer" beater, and then later the A-21 additions to the Axis pedal line up.
Some people like the new feel (beater hits at 90°), while others still prefer the feel of the original Axis, which makes contact just passed 90°.
 
One other thing to keep in mind if indeed you are concerned about efficiency of motion, is that if the beater shaft is leaning forward toward the bass drum head, the top of it will get there faster, than if it is parallel unless the pedal is so close that it won't move. And then if the head of the beater has the adjustment so that it hits flush, for sound sake, you have the best of both worlds. Unless you design a pneumatic pedal that shoots the beater straight into the head, there will have to be some arc. I think pedals are over engineered anyway. The best one ever was the Ludwig Speed King and the others have too many unnecessary adjusters and cams.
 
My concern with beater impact angle is more that you simply do not get the desired sound with any flat-face beater if it hits the head while not... flat. I've experienced this issue with my Low Boy beaters and might have to shave a bit off my kick hoop in that specific area to compensate.
 
I would try to find someone to bend the beater shaft so that is hits flush before I would alter the hoop. Unless you plan on keeping this pedal forever.
 
Check out the Trick Detonator beaters, those can be adjusted in multiple ways so that they are flat when they make contact with the bass drum head.

As far as the beater shaft being parallel, it's very difficult to have that consistent with most pedals. My Tricks have a pretty nifty feature that allows you to slide the hoop clamp backward or forward, which allows you to hit at a 0-degree angle with most bass drums and even my stupid e-drum kick pad.

If I didn't have that feature, I would look into something like the Sonic Beaters, though you should note I've never tried one and have heard a lot of bad things about them.
 
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