stevengadams

Hi Guys and Girls.
Can anyone out there help me. I have a Tama Iron Cobra double pedal, about 6 months old, and i cant get the setup correct. What i mean is that its almost totally unresponsive (the right one!). It seems to die against the skin. How sould I set it up - the tension of the spring (should it be tight, slack or in between?), the weight on the beater, height of the beater, pedal angle etc, or maybe should i tighten my bass skin to get it to return better. Any suggestions would be welcomed. How to you people have yours set up?
Thanks for your help

peter

OK. Don't fret. This is a fine pedal.

Answer these questions for me:

Is it the original beater?

What is the angle of the beater to
the floor?

What is the spring tension set to?

__________________
To Virgil,
A Drummer Who is Changing the World

peter

Start from scratch, with the spring
at the loosest tension, pulling back
the beater to 45-degrees, against
the floor. Make sure that you have
the angles all consistent, from the
right to the left pedal.

Let's see how this feels.

__________________
To Virgil,
A Drummer Who is Changing the World

Lad.

Damn, Peter should be a pedal technician.
Though I could use some "tech" ing for studio time.
Where are you from Peter?

__________________
"This planet was ruined the second we arrived. We're just plain evil."

Lad.

Wait, on second though, you should sit in for the session, haha.
Not really. I hate when bands do that.

__________________
"This planet was ruined the second we arrived. We're just plain evil."

jimi

No cams on the cobras Peter, i actually had a problem between getting the optimum double stroke feel, and getting the best single stroke response too. Luckily i ditched the cobras and have eliminators on the way, so i can continue my experiments with them!

__________________
As your prince, I promise to rob you blind, build great monuments to myself, and have my way with your women

peter

Sorry, Jimi. Of course you are right.
Having a baby makes it hard for me
to get enough sleep and I crossed up
my replies. I'm always fielding questions
on pedals these days! Forgive me.

Finding the right mix is a more difficult
thing. I have said it before but moving
down the footboard is what has worked
for me. I have increased power and also
beater action. Yes, it takes more control
but that is constantly developed and if
I need to control the dynamics, I just go
heel down, which is most natural for me.

Soon, I will have a video set-up that will
allow me to show you what I am doing
and a whole lot better than before.

As for pedal design, I believe in Darryl's
Longboards. They do it all for me. Having
the extra footboard allows me to get as
much action from that pedal as possible.
Of course, I think that you can tweak
most pedals for better action. I'm just
saying that the Axis A Longboard is the
optimum pedal, for me.

In another post, I mentioned the new
BOA or Gatzen Pedal, which is coming
from DW and it could be as soon as the
end of this year. I do not like the foot-
board design of DW's BUT this pedal is
looking like something new and the idea
of no springs and bow-flex action is a
mind-boggling one, to be sure. I will be
looking forward to trying these.

I hope I can keep from buying another
Axis-A Longboard before trying them.

Finally, I'll say again that, for the money,
there appears to be nothing like the vers-
atiity of the Pearl Eliminator - especially
with the new Purple and Yellow cams,
which I expect any day.

__________________
To Virgil,
A Drummer Who is Changing the World

peter

I just observe and ask a lot of questions,
if not of others; of myself.

I learn A LOT from you guys! Believe me!

__________________
To Virgil,
A Drummer Who is Changing the World

jimi

Cool Peter, no apology needed at all! I can't wait to Father a child, it saddens me that Virgil had to turn down something like that in life for the persuance of his drumming life
Anyways, way off the point there, as drummers improve and the novelty of dexterity with the feet wears off, i wonder what will take its place!

__________________
As your prince, I promise to rob you blind, build great monuments to myself, and have my way with your women

mgray

Hello everyone!

I may have missed this somewhere else, and I don't know if you guys have discussed it yet, but I know that you'll all have no problem talking about drum stuff with another Virgil fan. Do you guys play your pedals on the felt beater, or do you turn the beater head around like Virgil does? I noticed that he has the beaters like that on his 1997 Modern Drummer Video. Also, do you guys put anything on your bass drum heads to alter the sound of the kick noise? For a really heavy drive, an AWESOME low-end BANG and actually, a great sound altogether, I put quarters on the bass drum beater heads, as well as the two spots on the bass drum head where the beaters will hit. I find that it really makes the bass drum sound heavier, and there is a metal-on-metal clash when you kick. It's really interesting if you've never tried it before, and I think that it actually adds a feeling of sturdiness in the bass drum head, and i think you can get a good bounce off of the quarters. I find it is easier to play double strokes and do other galloping bass drum exercises, as well as songs. I play a lot of metal, although in my opinion, it sounds great for any kind of music. We're just playing a big game of preference here, guys! Also, I was wondering, how many of you have heard of Grant Collins? His skills on the bass drums just amaze me. Also, if you like polyrhythmic linear drumming, he's very similar to guys like Terry Bozzio. Cheers guys, keep drumming!

__________________
Hunting breeze of wasted bliss, I am,
For me and you, I will catch it....

Lad.

Jimi, have you tried a buttplug for that leak?

__________________
"This planet was ruined the second we arrived. We're just plain evil."

peter

I use the plastic sides of the quad, myself.

__________________
To Virgil,
A Drummer Who is Changing the World

mgray

That's great, Peter. I'm just curious, but do you find the plastic side of the quad to be more responsive with your style of playing? Or is your preference a mixture of feel and the sound that you get out of the bass drum? Cheers.

__________________
Hunting breeze of wasted bliss, I am,
For me and you, I will catch it....

Lad.

Peter awaits purple and yellow cams, while I await Halo 2 for XBOX.
Sorta the same feeling. Speaking of which...what is it that is supposed to be so special about those two colored cams? Are they like modified nautilus shapes from hell or are they more linear with a little more "umph" to them?

__________________
"This planet was ruined the second we arrived. We're just plain evil."