Go-To Adjustment for Different Drum Sizes?

SoupCanSham

Junior Member
I recently moved from a smaller kick to a larger one (16x16 to 16x22). I'm not getting the same rebound or feel as before, and I'd bet it's a result of different head tension and different volume of air in the drum. In any case, if you were to try to compensate for this with a pedal adjustment, what's the first adjustment you'd make? Will spring tension alone address it, or do I need to go all the way down the rabbit hole of finding a new balance across all of the adjustable features?

Thanks for humoring an "occasional drummer" goober!
 
Changing pedal settings will just change the feel of the pedal. Rebound comes from the drum. You can tighten the head, fill the drum with laundry, get used to it. If you mess with the spring tension of the pedal, the pedal itself will feel different before you even get to the rebound portion. I say give it a chance and get used to it.
 
I agree with the above post - I wouldn't adjust the pedal right away. Just learn to work with the drum. I use the same pedal and adjustment on an 18" and a 24" bass drum, and once you get used to it, there is no problem.
 
Set your pedal how you like it and don't adjust between drums. It will cause more issues than solve.

Also do not rely on a specific amount of rebound in order to be able to execute things in your head. You can use it if it's there, but don't rely on it so much that you can't power through without.
 
I didn't change drum size but I went from playing on a mesh head to regular heads, and if we're talking about rebound, that's a huge difference in rebound. I didn't adjust my pedal(s), it just took a few days to get used to the change.
 
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If I was going to adjust anything, it would be head tension, but not the pedal.

I'm a bit of freak about my pedals. When I get a pedal set in my comfort zone, I don't want to Touch it. :) Except just to go over it and tighten stuff occasionally.
 
When I change between my different sized drums I slide the beater in or out nearly an inch to compensate for hitting further away from the centre.

To balance the weight/momentum change I have a small counter weight set to the very bottom of the beater shaft so that it gets longer when I shorten the beater height. The overall feel and speed is really similar across my different sized drums.
 
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