I think I dig DW 5000 pedals over my DW 9000

Road Bull

Silver Member
So I have been looking at picking up a pedal or double pedal for my house kit. My main kit that lives at my guitarist's house is a DW 9002 pedal. I have liked it alright. It is smooth enough and gets the job done. I have been keeping an eye open on the used market because I just bought my first house, and it seems as if it can consume money WAY faster than I can make it. This made me think that maybe I don't need another 9002, or maybe even a double at all. Our music doesn't really call for it much. So I decided to give a few pedals a good honest try.

I tried DW 9000, DW 5000, Tama Iron Cobra, Tama Speed Cobra, Various Pearl pedals, Ludwig Atlas and a few others. The Tama Iron Cobras felt fairly decent. I am not a big fan of the "cobra coil" though. It makes if feel as if it is bottoming out too soon or something. I know you can remove it, but that's just my impression. I don't think I like the long board pedals, so the Speed Cobra dropped off the list.

I have heard that the Ludwig Atlas Pros can take quite a bit of time to get used to. I would have to be able to mess with this one more in the store to figure it out.

But, the DW 5000 felt really nice. This was the Turbo version. The Accelerator version felt OK too, but I think the Turbo cam is what my DW 9002 is currently set up for. The 5000 felt very responsive and solid. The 9000 felt somewhat detached via its smoothness. I have yet to fully decide if I want to go double pedal or single, but I want a 5000 for sure. I might even sell my 9002 and get another 5000 down the road if I like the 5000 that much after playing it for a while.

I picked up a 5500TD Hi-Hat stand. That was a fairly straight forward decision. Now I just need a pedal and a throne and I will be up and running.

I used to have an older single chain 5000 double pedal. I believe those were the accelerator cam type pedals. What cams do you all prefer on your DW pedals?
 
Like everyone else, my first DW5000 pedal had the round sprocket and I got along with that because I didn't know any better. When I got to the later DW5000 pedals, I was committed to the accelerator off-set sprocket. This is what led me back to cams and straps, and eventually direct drive pedals. I like the feel of the off-set cam. So I made my Pearl Demon Drive do the same thing and I've been happy with that pedal ever since.
 
My pedal just has the old regular "nothing special" cam. I get on with that just fine. DW5000 = best thing they ever made IMHO, although I am getting some unreliability of the pedal clamp.

I have a Malleus single pedal. It's lightning fast by comparison, but I generally have no need for speed.
 
Do they make DW's with the round sprocket anymore? I have a 5000 with the round cam and it's practically bulletproof. The 5000 is a great pedal. I think it has a light feel compared to Iron Cobras, but I've heard people say the opposite, which I don't get, but whatever.

Mine has seen so much use in the last 10 years that the bottom 2 teeth on the sprocket are worn to nubs. If only everything was as reliable as my round sprocket DW5000 single pedal.

One of the master links that holds the chain on the sprocket either broke or came off years ago, but the pin it holds in place never got lost. The pin can't come out all the way because something on the pedal prevents that. I've been meaning to post a pic of my worn teeth and the missing master link that doesn't affect the playability.

Kind of a big fan of the DW 3000 too. It's like a 5000 for half the price.
 
agreed here...the 9000 is cool / amazing but feels like too much mass for me & my feet just love the latest 5000 turbo.
 
The DW 2000 pedal is basically what we bought as a 5000 Turbo. I bought mine somewhere around 1984 to replace my SqueaKing. My 5000 is so old that the teeth on the sprocket are like needles at this point. I replaced the spring on it recently but it's not the same pedal it was 30 years ago.

Do they make DW's with the round sprocket anymore?
 
Yeah, there is just something about the 5000 that just makes it feel solid and connected to the power and force you are putting into it. And while the 9000 is a great pedal and feels super smooth, it feels a bit disconnected and isolated from the vibrations of the impact.

Now... Double or single turbo...
 
I used to play a 5000 Accelerator double pedal I bought around 1998. Always found it perfectly responsive. Never had any problems other than having to replace a bending slave linkage.

I've tried out the 9000 series but something seemed a bit off to me, which is why I went with a newer Iron Cobra.

Seems like DW has already "unflagshipped" the 9000s in favor of that aluminum direct drive. Which of course is the price of a decent intermediate kit.
 
Cool thread!

I've used the double pedal (9000) for 8 years or so, I broke it a few weeks ago.

I checked out the Jo Jo Mayer Perfect Balance in a local shop and it was amazing, it reminded me so much of the Ludwig Speed King and the Rogers pedals my dad use to play (and I when I was little), so I purchased it and so far so good.

I sold dw9000 hi hat a few weeks ago....it's an OK pedal, it just felt like you said "detached" in smoothness, so I tried that 5000 and it felt nice and solid and again, it reminded me of just the old school pedals that I was brought up with.
 
Cool thread!
I've used the double pedal (9000) for 8 years or so, I broke it a few weeks ago.

Do you mind telling us just what happened? I am always curious what happens when pedals break.
 
Do they make DW's with the round sprocket anymore? I have a 5000 with the round cam and it's practically bulletproof. The 5000 is a great pedal. I think it has a light feel compared to Iron Cobras, but I've heard people say the opposite, which I don't get, but whatever.

Mine has seen so much use in the last 10 years that the bottom 2 teeth on the sprocket are worn to nubs. If only everything was as reliable as my round sprocket DW5000 single pedal.

One of the master links that holds the chain on the sprocket either broke or came off years ago, but the pin it holds in place never got lost. The pin can't come out all the way because something on the pedal prevents that. I've been meaning to post a pic of my worn teeth and the missing master link that doesn't affect the playability.

Kind of a big fan of the DW 3000 too. It's like a 5000 for half the price.

Yes, they still make the round sprocket. Called dw5000 turbo (TD4) . Great reliable pedal. Smooth too! The piece that holds the tension screw now moves in conjunction with the spring. Awesome feature if you ask me.
 
Kind of a big fan of the DW 3000 too. It's like a 5000 for half the price.

This is especially true if you do what I did to my 3000. Replace the hinge with the DW Red Delta hinge. Makes it even smoother and more 5000ish.
 
Do you mind telling us just what happened? I am always curious what happens when pedals break.

ya sure, I dropped it on a cement floor garter a gig... I was trying to clean it and I smashed the black part that holds the cam and everything else and to replace it was like $230 so I just bought the majer pedal.
 
ya sure, I dropped it on a cement floor garter a gig... I was trying to clean it and I smashed the black part that holds the cam and everything else and to replace it was like $230 so I just bought the majer pedal.

That's a bummer. I am thinking about picking up a new 5002 Turbo. It seems that the turbos are harder to track down. The accelerators are fairly easy to find in stores.
 
I used a 5000 turbo for 5 years or so and really liked it, but then I purchased a 9002 and I'll never look back. I do find it interesting though that a lot of drummers on this forum who play DW pedals prefer the 5000 over the 9000. It's all about personal preference I guess.

For me, the 9000 is the perfect pedal. I was able to fine tune my 9002 to exactly the feel I wanted. I really like having a lot of adjustment options in my pedals. As I've improved my technique over the years, I've been able to adjust my pedal accordingly.

Also, I like the fact that the pedal is overbuilt. Some people look at over built or over engineered drum equipment as a bad thing, and for actual drums I agree with this, but I like my hardware and pedals to be this way, if it's done right that is. I love how heavy and well built the 9000 pedals are. Also, I know the springs, which are located on the inside of the pedal posts are bothersome to some people, but it's never been a problem for me and I like the way it looks.
Also, I really like the feel of the free floating rotor-drive. Just has a unique, smooth and direct feel that I enjoy.

I know this kind of thing is very subjective and based on a lot of personal opinions. My needs in a pedal will be completely different from the next person. I'm really curious to try out a direct drive pedal sometime. The new DW Direct Drive looks pretty cool, though insanely expensive.... nice though!
 
Just an update.

I ended up pulling the trigger on a sweet deal I got on a 5002AD4. I am really getting into them. I have the older 9002s on my other kit that I play for band practice. I will probably be swapping them out so that my 5002s are on my band/gigging Ludwig kit.

I had been running my 9002s pretty close to turbo settings as far as the cam goes. But I am getting comfy with my accelerator cams and it will be interesting to see if I notice a difference in feel to power ratios. If I like them a lot, I might sell the 9002s to pick up a second set of 5002AD4s.

When it comes down to it, DW offers some pretty cool options for pedals that cover a lot of player preferences. Of course, one size does not fit all, but I like what they have to offer.

While the direct drive looks interesting from a feel and design perspective, I don't care to spend a ton of money to figure out if it is right of me when I have something that makes me happy now. I will just try to invest all the extra time I would have to work to pay for that pedal into extra time for practicing with what I've got.
 
In the last 30 years I've played single 5000 accelerators and both 5002 and 9002 versions, and have loved them all. But, just recently I have been playing a Perfect Balance pedal, and find the feel to be amazing. I don't know if it's the strap or the direct drive, but it's a phenomenal pedal.
 
In the last 30 years I've played single 5000 accelerators and both 5002 and 9002 versions, and have loved them all. But, just recently I have been playing a Perfect Balance pedal, and find the feel to be amazing. I don't know if it's the strap or the direct drive, but it's a phenomenal pedal.

I agree. The perfect balance pedal is a sweet pedal. I considered it, but there is not a double pedal option.
 
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