Originally Posted by
drummer
First off... WELCOME TO DRUMCHAT!
Secondly... and pardon if I'm very direct... I believe your being a little too scientific in your approach. Most drummers guage the set up and angles of their pedal by "feel" more than measurement. Although you will end up at desired angles, it will be very subjective relative to other factors like the style of your individual pedal, spring tension, size of bass drum, height of beater, how it's clamped to the drum, the size of your leg, how hard you play, how far you sit from the drum, whether you use heel up or heel down (or both), and so much more. If you are to ever play on other drummer's bass drum pedals, you will see that individual preferences vary quite a bit. Experimentation is the best method to determining what suits you personally.
All that said, and to address your first question, you should clean the "gook" off of the pedal springs and clean the pedal up first and foremost. You may want to even consider replacing the springs with new ones as they might be stretched out if the pedal is very old and/or had a lot of use. I would replace anything that appears worn or disfunctional. Maybe take it to a local drum shop and get them to look at it, clean it up for you, and make suggestions since they'll be able to see it up close. After all that, refer to what I said before: Experiment, experiment, experiment!
Good luck!
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