well, i do like the speed king's internal compression spring, other pedals the spring stretches out, and i like the direct drive, yes the clamp requires a shim most of the time and it can cave heads or scrape heads depending on your setup. my main pedal has been a dw turbo 5000 for the last 20+ years, the regular round sprocket aluminum hinge, double pedal with the three uprights and the bent left pedal shaft. i recently got a newer double with roughly the same setup. but I usually like to time travel when im playing a 60's-70's set, so i opt for the Speed king.

I had a Ghost but was'nt thrilled no power. and the clamp was even worse!!

slingerlands strap pedal from the 60's 70's wasnt much better.

the only off-set cam lever pedal I have ever liked was TAMA's Pro beat from the late 80's early 90's, tama's camco/extra light was good too, right before the iron cobra pedals came out.

so in respect to pedals i guess im a Camco guy...

The Speed King was my first pro pedal when I got my first pro set. Ludwig Hollywood set in 71. I used that pedal until around 78 or 80 then went to a Fibes chain drive I got from James Corder and used that live for about 30 years. Still use it with a couple of my sets. Then I bought a Sonor pedal off CL and had been useing that live the last year and a half until I started reading this thread. I had picked up a WFL Speed king when I bought some cymbals and a couple drums from a estate sale. I had cleaned it up and adjusted it but never used it on a gig. I took it out this past weekend on a gig and It performed flawlessly. So I am going to stick with it and see how it goes. I also have a old Pearl P-101P on my studio set now that is very lively. All the pedals work well for me. But I have to say I am a little partial to this WFL Speed King. I play heel up so the pedal board doesn't bother me at all. I think I like 1 Speed King 2 Sonor 3 Fibes 4 Pearl The speed King won't fit my Sonor Bass drum riser so I will use the Speed king with my VIntage Ludwig,Slingerland, and Camco kits. It still feels smooth and fast. Peaches and Pears.

Yeah it's really a matter of what you cut your teeth on. For many of (my) generation, the SpeedKing was THE pedal. You had to have one. So, people got used to using the SK as the gold standard. But when playing started to get really hard-hitting at the end of the 60's, bass drum pedals required more durability. Different designs started popping up all over the place. When DW finally came along with their 5000 series, the game changed BIG time! I would say that the 5000 series from DW became the new gold standard.

WHY is the SK different? Well it has a really eccentric cam, a solid linkage and of course the enclosed compression springs.

CONS: They are known to develop squeaks -a la "Squeak King"

I agree about the DW 5000. I had one before I got the 7000's... still have it somewhere. (can't find a darn thing while we're in the midst of this re-model) anyway, the way they looked, and what I heard folks say was the original old aluminum DW 5000 was DW's answer to the original Camco pedal.

And the 'squeak king'. Yep that is indeed a fact. Most all the SK's I've ever owned or seen all came with a free squeak.

Holy smokes! All this talk of the Speed King motivated me to refurbish the one that I have had collecting dust for 10 years. Starting last night, I disassembled the pedal and began cleaning it. I soaked all parts in WD40 over night, cleaned all of the old grease (which had turned to a clay like material) out of the pedal.

This morning, I finished cleaning all the excess crap off of everything. I used Mag 1 Wheel Bearing Grease for the bearings. Used Hoppe's 9 lubricating oil for the spring assembly and screw threads and inside the spring towers (not too much though).

Verdict: This thing kicks a$$!!!! I just bought a new dw9000 single pedal.... but I think the 9000 may be in the corner collecting dust for a while! No problems kicking out doubles and triples on this pedal!!

Anyhow, thought I would share my experience with the pedal so far. I know this topic is subjective to the player's personal taste, but for me it's working great.

Now!! .... back to playing! Keep on Pl

I have been trying out a SK & like it enough so far. I've been curious if anyone's tried a TRICK Pro 1-V pedal -

Chris

Speed king user forever oh well since 1964 seems like forever now....

I have a really nice one that I recently pulled the springs out of and soaked them in kerosene to get the old waxy grease off then replaced them in Teflon grease

I'm willing to part with it if anyone is interested

let me know

I started out playing Pearl dual spring direct drive pedals and was never able to find the right combo of tension and "feel".

I picked up a SK a few years ago off of C.L. and havent looked back.

For me it is the smoothest most communicative pedal I have ever played. So fast, so smooth.

I've never had an issue with it not clamping well to my bass hoop either (69 Ludwigs)

I'm trying to master a Camco pedal on my other kit (Sonor), Im getting close but its still no SK.

Still need to commit time to learning and tweaking my Ghost I have.

I've been playing a Yamaha FP9310 and love everything about it, but recently became intrigued by the old Speed Kings and decided to pick one up. I contacted a guy in a classified ad who was selling a WFL and met up with him only to have him hand me a Ludwig. Not a big deal because really, they're the same, but still annoying because I was expecting a WFL... Anyway I was told it would take a bit of getting used to but I just gave it a whirl on my electronic kit and it feels great. I don't know what about it takes "getting used to".

I like the simplicity of the pedal and boy is it ever light! I gave it a complete internal cleaning and re-greasing (including the bearings) and a good scrub of the footboard. Also, it squeaked when I got it but I applied a bit of grease to the pivot point where the toe and connector link pivot and it's now whisper quiet.