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Thread: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

  1. #1

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    Default double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    o so i have a pdp double bass pedal(not the best but alright). no matter how i position my drums my left foot is a lil too far away for me to get double bass right. its hard to describe its not necesarily too far away its that im more over my right foot than i am my left foot. like if i were to put all my weight on the floor i would have like 2wice the weight on my right pedal as my left. this screws up my double bass really bad. basically i have to push my pedal more on the left than i do on the right. and i know that the resistance and springs are perfectly equal on each pedal. and adding a snare in between my legs and everything else doesnt help make thos any easier.

    anybody have any suggestions? does your bass drum need to be parrallel to my body for this to work properly? cuz my bass dum is kindof at an angle.

    any help would be greatly appreciated!

  2. #2

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    How about re-positioning your throne and snare?

  3. #3

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    MM, can you get us a picture of your set up? I am still pretty new to double pedals, and when I first set it up, I felt like my left foot was waaaaay over there, and my hi-hat was further away than I wanted it to be. I finally found a good position for me by bringing the hi-hat and the left pedal toward me a little. If I think about it, I think I've got a pic of when I first set up the pedals, and I can take a current pic so you can see what I'm talking about. I feel really comfortable now.
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  4. #4

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    I was thinking about getting a double pedal but now...... i am starting to re-consider becuase i have really short legs. So would 2 bass drums be easier for me considering my lack of leg length? Also does this seem to happen a lot where they are really spread out?

  5. #5

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    pastor bob, ill try and get youa pic of my setup tommorow. id love to see yours tho. i made this thred so i could get ideas and see how other people have theirs setup. im thinking about repositioning my throne snare and hi hat and moving my left pedal in some. im gonna try that tomorow and see how it works out.

    kiss fan, actually that really wouldnt matter that your legs are short. if you get a pdp pedal like mine(probably one of the best for how cheap it is), you can adjust how far they are away from each other(which is probably my problem) i need to pull mine in some and move my snare towards the left so ill be more on top of it. so you could adjust how far you want them apart and if your throne is at the right height youll prob be able to get a sweet double bass setup goin.

  6. #6

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    It's all a matter of adjusting your setup to make it work. Mapexmetal, a pic would help, but I suspect you have your stool set up so that you're closer to the bass drum.....moving it to the left a little might give you better weight distribution. You need to have both pedals at pretty much an equal distance. This would help for playing your hats as well.
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  7. #7

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    I have a PDP 402. It works fine for me. It is not as smooth as a DW7000, but hopefully when I upgrade, my feet will be in good shape.

  8. #8
    Larrysperf Guest

    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    If you can reach your Hi Hat you should be able to reach your double pedal. Move some stuff around sounds like to me

  9. #9

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    ok guys here are some pics guys. sry it took so long. see if yall can help me out. check out the angle of the throne compared to the bass and pedals.





  10. #10

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    i think you're to far from your bass drum. try to sit closer to the bass. that should solve your problem.

  11. #11

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    I agree with Atlfire MM. The set up looks good, so I think you just need to work with your position.

    BTW, if you are working to get even strikes from both pedals, you might have to adjust the left beater angle slightly, unless there was something touching the linkage causing it to be slightly off. I can't quite tell from the pic.
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  12. #12

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    yea, actually man, i had this same prob. when i started playing with a db pedal.

    the rule of thumb is sitting, back straight, and legs at a 90 degree angle from thighs to calf's. it looks like your right leg is prob. fine, but your left leg seems a little obtuse. i fixed the same problem by pushing everything back until my left leg was at 90 degrees, that fixed my prob.

    like the pastor said though. comfort is key in drumming, what ever fits, wear it and don't let anyone change it. who knows, in ten years you might have a set-up named after you.

    i also suggest asking for a hi hat stand for christmas that allows you to swivel the base, so you can move your pedal insde the hi hat stand rather than through it.
    Last edited by atlfire; 12-11-2008 at 09:48 AM.

  13. #13

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    Quote Originally Posted by techristian View Post
    My setup is similar to mapexmetal351 except I added a cowbell to the right of the right bass pedal. My setup allows me to play left hihat with my left toes, left bass pedal with my left heel, right bass with my right toes and right cowbell with my right heel. Everything is close together.

    Dan
    Welcome Dan! Can you show a pic? Would like to see that.

  14. #14

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    Man, I wouldn't mind seeing that technique in action! Welcome to Drum Chat Techristian!
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  15. #15

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    Hiya.

    Try sitting on the stool with with the height adjusted so that your thighs are parallel to the floor and your feet comfortably placed, Now remember that position. Put the right pedal under your right foot, and your left pedal under your left foot. This will be a comfortable position for you. Comfort is important, If you're not in a comfortable position it will cause stress, and stress is the enemy of groove.
    This position will have you pointing a little left of parallel to your drumset.

    You may have to compromise a little from this position to accommodate Snare and Hi-hat, but try not to move too much from here.

    Of course, there are no rules! If someone is doing something radically different to this and it works, Great! So this isn't a rule, but it's a pretty good guideline.

    Cheers

    Andy
    Last edited by AndyC; 12-16-2008 at 05:15 AM.

  16. #16

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    I don't have the time to read through all those other posts...

    I used to have the same problem and noticed I never had it when I played with 2 bass drums. When I went back to a single bass with a double pedal I maintained my set-up structure of centering the bass pedals around the snare, so the bass drum was more offset to the right than when I had played on a single bass kit before. Center the kit around your snare, not around your bass drum. Hope that makes sense...
    "Life is backwards. Happiness isn't something you seek, it's something that finds you when you are doing the right thing." - Zone47

  17. #17

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    A friend of mine (jazz guy) had a similar issue - short legs and all. His cure was to use a smaller snare drum. No kidding. A 12" or 13" snare allows him to have a much more comfy leg position. Just a thought.

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  18. #18

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    Quote Originally Posted by Scooter View Post
    A friend of mine (jazz guy) had a similar issue - short legs and all. His cure was to use a smaller snare drum. No kidding. A 12" or 13" snare allows him to have a much more comfy leg position. Just a thought.
    Interesting idea, and a good one!

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by quikstang2 View Post
    I don't have the time to read through all those other posts...

    I used to have the same problem and noticed I never had it when I played with 2 bass drums. When I went back to a single bass with a double pedal I maintained my set-up structure of centering the bass pedals around the snare, so the bass drum was more offset to the right than when I had played on a single bass kit before. Center the kit around your snare, not around your bass drum. Hope that makes sense...
    Good point quik. Why did you go back to a double bass pedal? And how did you reposition the hihat stand?

    The thing I like about having two bass drums is you can easily put the hihat in between them. If I go to one drum with a double bass pedal and still want the hihat inside I assume I'll need a remote hihat -- i.e. with the hihat pedal to the left of the slave bass pedal, but with the cymbals themselves mounted on a stand or rack right beside or behind the snare. Or when you played double bass drums did you have the hihat to the far left of your left bass drum?

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by slingerland59 View Post
    Good point quik. Why did you go back to a double bass pedal? And how did you reposition the hihat stand?

    The thing I like about having two bass drums is you can easily put the hihat in between them. If I go to one drum with a double bass pedal and still want the hihat inside I assume I'll need a remote hihat -- i.e. with the hihat pedal to the left of the slave bass pedal, but with the cymbals themselves mounted on a stand or rack right beside or behind the snare. Or when you played double bass drums did you have the hihat to the far left of your left bass drum?
    I went back to a double pedal three times actually...
    1) Up at school I played a kit that wasn't mine, so I didn't have a choice.
    2) When I first came back home the band I was trying to save from dying out wouldn't let me play two bass drums... so I eventually quit and they died out. Hmmmm, wonder why...
    3) I was in another band where I practiced on a kit the bassist had.

    I use one of those hi-hat to bass drum attachments so that the hi hat is right next to the left bass pedal. Due to my old set's tom arrangement I had to leave it to the outside. I supposed I could put it to the inside now, but with the smaller drums I use everything is in a lot closer so the hats would be too close for me.

    As for positioning a double pedal, it really depends on the hi-hat stand you're working with. If the legs swivel then I keep it to the outside. If the legs don't swivel and the stand accommodates, sometimes I put the slave pedal drive shaft through the legs and actually have the second pedal to the outside of the hi-hat pedal. That was mostly to get the hi-hats closer for certain styles of music.
    "Life is backwards. Happiness isn't something you seek, it's something that finds you when you are doing the right thing." - Zone47

  21. #21

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    [QUOTE=quikstang2;143695]...I use one of those hi-hat to bass drum attachments so that the hi hat is right next to the left bass pedal. ..QUOTE]

    Thanks a lot for the response. I've never heard of the hihat-to-bass drum attachment. I should check it out. I broke the legs of my old tama stand to fit it where I wanted it (the legs swivel now!) so I'm in the market for a new stand when I can save the cash.

  22. #22

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    Default Re: double bass pedal positioning? (crucial)

    I used to have the Tama one. I didn't like it very much, but I could get it to fit after playing with it for a while. I just bought the Mapex AC906 but haven't had a chance to use it at all. It's ugly, so I'm guessing it'll work well.
    "Life is backwards. Happiness isn't something you seek, it's something that finds you when you are doing the right thing." - Zone47

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