nice

if that petroleum based grease has not already been stripped from those springs and rods....get those things in some kerosene and replace it with some teflon based grease

that thing will be flying

great find

Mike is correct, but it wasn't just the WFL's, they continued to use the "long index finger" casting well into the Ludwig era.

See my post here: http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=33319&page=2

Wow, Brings back memories, I had this pedal with my Ludwig Blue Visti Lite Kit in the 70's.. Nice Pedal

Im trying to finish my Business Law assignment so my brain is having trouble wrapping around what is appropriate for my early 70s DownBeat kit, but THANK YOU for pointing this out. I'll dig into this later. I would say my pedal may be "too far" from the head, so I might need to trade someone at some point for an early 70s example. I love the way it plays though, takes a bit of force to get the kick loud of enough, maybe because the arm has to swing past vertical pretty far to get to the head.... Hmm. I'll worry about that later when my brain isn't full of "Liability for Independent Contractor's Torts". :)

Raise the front of the bass some how. The beater should hit at more-or-less vertical. This is important (but certainly not critical) for the sound too.

Or, get another beater and bend the shaft a bit so it hits the head when the linkage hole for the beater is pointing straight up.

Raising the front usually helps open up the resonance of the bass too, so it is a double bonus if you can make that work somehow... I know it is difficult with the old hardware.

I would say my pedal may be "too far" from the head, so I might need to trade someone at some point for an early 70s example. I love the way it plays though, takes a bit of force to get the kick loud of enough, maybe because the arm has to swing past vertical pretty far to get to the head.... Hmm. I'll worry about that later when my brain isn't full of "Liability for Independent Contractor's Torts". :)[/QUOTE]

Also, playing heel up will bring some more sound. This allows more down force from your leg, as opposed to heel down where you are just pivoting from the ankle mostly. Just me, but I find playing heal up on a Speed King is the easiest way to go.

Hey guys,

I learned from another thread on here somewhere that you are supposed to hae the bass drum up off the ground on the legs, so I have it set up that way already. I really think it made a difference, but its hard to tell how much because I went from a super dead 25 year old batter head to a brand new EMAD. :)

You know, I have sort of intuitively started playing with my heel hovering as you guys are suggesting, and it really is the only way to go for me. I am really happy with the playability of the SK.

Oh, the squeak showed up! :) I can see how it might matter when recording, but it doesn't really bother me for messing around.

Maybe in February when I'm snowed in, I'll take the sucker apart and clean it out as has been suggested.

Thanks all.

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Jim,

Concerning the beater hitting vertically, I think instead of trying to bend it a new one etc, I will just enjoy this one for a few months and trade someone for the correct one for my kit then. Thanks for the idea though.

I kind of dig the squeaks! On a few of the Led Zeppelin recordings you can hear Bonzo's pedal squeaking away. Just adds character to the record, IMO! Lets you know that real musicians are playing on real equipment!!

Stage Band2

lol.............

I love, Love, LOVE Speed Kings.....congrats on scoring that one!

I'm with Brewkowski on this too....I say the squeak is all part of it.

Though, if you do want to defeat the squeak, a squirt of "3 in 1" oil where the top of the pedal hooks in to the metal pull always did it for me.