# Bass drum pedal tension... light? heavy? somewhere in between?



## sevenstringj (Nov 9, 2010)

How do you set it? For what styles? And why?

Do you ever increase the tension for building strength or warming up?


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## SYLrules88 (Nov 9, 2010)

there's no wrong way to set it. its whatever feels comfy to you and allows you to achieve your desired balance of speed and power (volume). you might even like heavy tension on one pedal and really light tension on a different one.

i wouldnt recommend cranking up the tension for strength building. in my experience doing that just makes you get used to playing at a heavier tension and doesnt necessarily build up endurance. what i would recommend instead is if your pedals beaters have counter weights on them, just raise them higher towards the beater head for your workout. i used to do that quite a bit and it worked pretty well for me. you dont even have to raise the weights all that much before you start feeling that wonderful burn!

just curious, what pedal do you have? or have you not bought one yet and are doing research?


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## sevenstringj (Nov 9, 2010)

I have a cheap Pacific Drums single chain double pedal. I do have an older model Tama Iron Cobra Rolling Glide double pedal that I got off someone from Craigslist, but it's rusty and one of the screws for the connecting rod is stripped and/or the threading in the bolt stopper is stripped. You think it's worth fixing up?

I'm semi-seriously messing around, so I'm curious.


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## bostjan (Nov 9, 2010)

Should be worth fixing it up if you have a few bucks set aside. Tama pedals are pretty good workhorses.

I would also agree that tightening the pedal tension isn't the best idea for practice or for warmups. You should warm up by practicing your usual techniques, and increasing the tension for a warm up and then decreasing it for a show might end up throwing you off.


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## gunshow86de (Nov 9, 2010)

I play with tension very loose, but I _only_ play heel down (don't have to worry about rebound control as much).

I don't think setting the tension higher will necessarily help endurance. Your body will just adapt to playing at the higher tension, making it seem foreign when you go back to your normal tension.

I've tried this theory with guitar with undesirable results. I thought if I spent a few months playing on extra heavy strings, I would be able to fly once I switched to my normal gauge. All that happened is I felt very clumsy on the lighter strings (ie. fretting to hard, bending to far, out of control vibrato).

I would just find the tension comfortable for you, and build your endurance with warm-up exercises that focus on the kick drum.


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## MrMcSick (Nov 9, 2010)

I play heel up with high tension.


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## iron blast (Nov 10, 2010)

Heel up with heel/toe technique maxed spring tension on expansion spring pedals, medium light tesion on compression spring (Trick) pedals this allows for quicker response


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## iron blast (Nov 10, 2010)

sevenstringj said:


> I have a cheap Pacific Drums single chain double pedal. I do have an older model Tama Iron Cobra Rolling Glide double pedal that I got off someone from Craigslist, but it's rusty and one of the screws for the connecting rod is stripped and/or the threading in the bolt stopper is stripped. You think it's worth fixing up?
> 
> I'm semi-seriously messing around, so I'm curious.



yes iron cobras are great pedals it shouldnt cost too much to fix it up.


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## dxhjkg (Nov 22, 2010)

For a while I had the cheap pdps (single chain w/ huge plastic beaters.) after raising the chain drive up one link on the slave pedal, and buying tama beaters it works pretty damn good for a hundred bucks or so... iv had them for 3 years playing gigs. Ive hit 200-220bpm with them... I just upgraded to the DW2000's tho and holy fuck! im not used to such slick pedals hahaha


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