Non-drummer question about double bass pedals...

  • Thread starter Thread starter miroslav
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Greg_L said:
I've always wanted two bass drums. Not for any real reason other than aesthetics. Two kicks simply looks like you mean business. They're a bitch though for a gigging drummer. Totally unnecessary as they're a pain to haul and set up, and they make your drum footprint twice as large. Most club/bar stage drum risers can't accomodate two kicks. Not to mention an extra 80 dollars worth of heads to tune. The double-pedal is probably the greatest drum innovation since drums were invented thousands of years ago. In this day and age, there's no real reason to use two kicks unless they're different sizes and you play music with variety that can utilize two different kick sounds. They're not even really worth it for the extra mounting capacity. If you have that many toms and cymbals, just get a rack. You can mount tons of shit to a rack and keep the single kick drum with a double-pedal.
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Interesting that you should say that about the two sizes of kicks. I normally don't play the two kick set but when I do, it's a 20" and an 18" kick drum because I like the two tones for certain effects. I actually got the second kick drum (the 18") because it's smaller for small club gigs when I'm only playing a 4 piece kit.
 
Since I have an 18" floor tom with my kit...at one point I actually thought about setting it up as a second, smaller kick drum with a bit of jury-rigging since it has no side legs/spurs (isn't there some add-on hardware to lets you do that?)...
...mainly because it was way off to the side, and it rarely got used.
But then I moved it to the opposite side...so the 18" isn't next to the 16" since it was being pushed too far behind the drummer, especially since there's a 14" in front of the 16". The 18" is now on one side and the 16" on the other, where it would normally be.
It actually works out pretty good that way, and balances out the kit nicely. The drummer can hit both the 16 and 18 by just spreading out both arms and back a bit instead of having to roll half way around.

This isn't a real high-end kit. It started out as a basic 5-piece that I got from a guy at work who's kid decided drums were not his cup of tea, so it was hardly played and almost new. Then one day I spotted a couple of toms on eBay that were the same model/color and two sizes I didn't have...so I bought them. After that, I found the 14" and then the 18" also on eBay...and now the last piece, the second bass drum.

I put all new heads on everything, bought a couple of additional snares in different sizes/styles, and then spent a lot of trial-n-error buying used cymbals on eBay. I must have bought at least 20 cymbals, and sold back 10, but I ended up with a nice set of Zildjian A and K cymbals, a couple of 13" Mastersound Hats A & K, and set of 12" Zildjian Recording hats...but I like the 13" Mastersound much better.

If I was a drummer...I probably would have bought some different things...but this is plenty of drum kit for my recording purposes...and it looks really cool, and it can sound pretty good (when I get it right)...I can't wait for the second bass drum to complete the layout.
 
So just as a follow-up...I finally got my second bass drum set up with the rest of my kit, and here's a pic of the complete setup.

PearlKit.jpg
 
Trick makes great interchangeable double pedals but they are at least $700...
 
I got two new individual pedals for the bass drums...worked out well.

My most difficult thing was getting the HH placed properly, since the second bass drum takes up a lot of space....and the the damn legs of the HH only let you come so close.
Then I found the trick...using a small perc rod w/clamp that is desingned to go on the rim of the drum (like for a cow bell or block)...I was then able to fold up the legs of the bass drum, and then using a typical dual stand clamp, was able to clamp the HH stand to the small rod/clamp rig I put on the bass drum rim....which allowed the HH stand pedal to sit right next to the bass drum pedal, and the HH is in perfect striking position and is now more solid than when it was on its legs.

Then afterwards, I found out they actually make a small clamp rig just for that exact purpose...!!!...but the "homemade" rig I used did the same thing. :D
 
That's a very pretty kit, but where is the hat pedal? Is it a remote?
 
It's set up lefty...so the HH is on the left, looking at picture...and as I said above, it's attached to the rim of the bass drum which let me fold it's legs and bring it right in, next to the drum. The HH pedal is right next to the bass drum pedal.

I can do picture of it from the other side of you don't get what I'm saying.
 
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