3 Questions: Bass Pedals, Heads, & Dampeners

[Jski90]

1. My current bass pedal works well. However, I have not found a way to perform the heel-toe technique with my pedal, due to its relatively small size. I watched a video of a kid performing heel-toe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poLmCOZ17WQ

I realized that the size of his pedals helped him to perform heel-toe so smoothly. I found the pedals he uses in the video; I do not desire to play on a double-bass set, so I found the Single version:


I am interested in purchasing this pedal, but I wanted to run it by y'all first. Is Axis a good brand? Is this pedal worth buying? Does anybody have any personal experience with Axis pedals?

2. I'm also interested in getting new heads on my snare, tom, and floor tom. My dad told me that the old standard was to have a coated head on the batter side and a clear head on the resonant side; he said this was because coated heads were made to be tougher and would take more "abuse", so to speak, than clear heads. Is this still true today? Are coated heads still made thicker and tougher than clear heads? I'm buying Remo heads, if that matters.

3. Finally, my 16" floor tom is resonating too much. My dad suggested that we use the same mechanism that we have inside the snare and tom. It's the device that screws into the wall of the drum and rests on the bottom side of the batter head, and you can adjust how much it presses against the bottom of the head to change the dampening effect. Would it be wise to use this mechanism, or is there a better method for dampening a drum that resonates?

I'd appreciate any help!

[Beetbox]

I too have looked into heel toe and i have givn up on it because i can play just as fast as i want/need to on a standard sized pedal but before when i researched heel toe I found two brands that me and my drum teacher call "custom peadals" by custom we mean longer to allow heel toe technique.
Axis pedals for the double set up is about $600 so im guessing it will be about 300 for the single pedal Ive heard many great things about the axis pedal mainly on how fast and light it is but ive also heard many bad things about axis mainly about how the pedal is only good for heel toe which i believe is over exageration and ive seen a person use heel up on them and he played them extremly well. The other bad thing is that ive heard they aren't sturdy and after a little bit of playing they come loose and you have to retighten everything and that im sorry to say has been said by many people on many sites such as you tube on reviews/comment replys and on guitarcenters site for the double set up there is a review that tells readers that the beaters come loose after 10-15 min of play.

The next custom pedals ive seen for heel toe is the Tricks big foot pedals and they are $770 on guitar centers site for the double bass set up and these pedals are rare but ive heard they are godly and nothing bad and that is all i know of these pedals.

I know its a lot to read but its to help decide on what your going to buy and now heres my opinion...If you are going to be using heel toe A LOT then get the pedal but i dont see why you need that much speed on a single pedal and for a BIG price too also dont buy them if your in experienced since it will be a waste of cash personally if i were you i would buy a good set of double pedals instead of a single pedal for the same price and get faster speeds and better heel up technique this is just my opinion.

[Jski90]

Good point. I'm not playing heavy metal or anything. Plus, I guess I've got a lot more to learn before double-kicks.

[Beetbox]

Good point. I'm not playing heavy metal or anything. Plus, I guess I've got a lot more to learn before double-kicks.

Great! i heard its bad to start on double pedals and you should start with single and double kicks arent just for speed which leads into me saying speed isnt everything and youll find the coolest beat and most complex rythims come from moderate speed grooves. Again though my opinion is dont buy for speed when you not going to use it buy for quality that suites your preference also dont substitute something for your preference Ex. buying a single axis pedal for double bass speed isnt a good idea too me.

[Norske]

Hey Jski90!

For your first question, I only play heel up, so I will defer to someone that knows more about heel toe technique.

For your second question, Yes, coated heads are generally thicker and longer wearing. I myself prefer coated Ambassadors for my batter heads, and use them on my Yamahas. However, I also have coated Ambassadors on my resos on that kit. That is just a matter of personal preference, and I like the way my toms sound that way. Remember that sound is very much a personal thing, and what sounds good to me may not be what you're after. Sometimes you have to experiment with heads to find the combination that pleases you.

For question three, I would not personally recommend screwing anything into a drum shell. I think using moon gel or a damping ring that sits on top of the head on your floor tom would be a better solution. Both are very inexpensive and will probably solve the issue of resonance for you without having to mess with the shells.

[Larrysperf]

Of all the pedals I have come to only like the Pearl Eliminator. But there are some good pedals out there. You have to find what you like. And use Moon gels they work great And are cheap to buy

[Jski90]

I've always played with my heel down. Is the heel-up technique better?

Okay, I'll experiment with some different head combinations.

For dampening, I've found Remo O's and Moongel pads. Both are inexpensive and seem to effectively eliminate resonance. Which is better?

[pastor_bob]

Jski, the thing about the heel up technique is that it allows you to use the larger muscles of the thigh for your movement, and gives you better endurance. Now, that's not to say that with many hours of practice your calf muscles can't become conditioned to give you great endurance too. If you feel comfortable with heel up, it's OK. I tend to mix it up a bit. I like heel down on the hats quite a bit, and heel up on the bass pedal, but sometimes I go heel down on the bass pedal and heel up on the hats. usually only for a moment or two though.

[Jski90]

Ok, I'll work on my heel-up technique. Right now I don't have much control with it.

Thanks for all the help guys!

[Jackstraw]

Hey there...
1. Heel - toe... definitley something worthwhile learning...pending on music styles you play. I very rarely use it....but on occasion I have...so it was worth learning.

2. Heads... Personally, I wouldn't look at it from the point of tougher skins v.s easy wearing skins. look at it from a sound point of view. As Bish pointed out in another thread...he went through a few types of skins to find the right "fit " for his new kit. Every kit I've bought took a couple months of trial and error with all types of skins to find the right sounding skin for each kit. Every kit seems to be different in my experience. Some sound great with single ply coated, while other require 2 ply or sound controlled heads.

3. Resonance... Is there such a thing as too much resonance???? LOL
To each their own on that one. Some like the deader sound of hydrolic skins, or moon gels/ sound rings, while others prefer the natural resonance of the drum itself with no muffling.
Have someone play your kit while you stand back about 15 - 20 ft to find out how each way (muffled or un-muffled) sounds and decide what you want. What you hear sitting behind the drums is not neccessarily what people sitting out front of your kit will be hearing....
Just my opinion.

Good luck.
Cheers