News:

2box forum: accident-free since the last one.

Main Menu

Adjusting kick pedal to work with Bass Drum pad

Started by paulf707, August 27, 2018, 02:19:18 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

paulf707

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a 2Box kick pedal for my kit, so I'm trying to assemble it using a Mapex pedal I bought 2nd hand....
Due to the length of the horizontal bracket coming out from the 2Box kick pad, and the shallow depth of the mounting clamp on the Mapex pedal, it seems my pedal is further away from the pad than ideal.
The beater is not hitting the skin flat (but I can probably resolve that with a different beater head).
The bigger problem is the pedal footplate is so low when the beater reaches the skin, it is hitting on the wing bolt underneath (used to tighten the clamp).
Looking online at various 'adjusting your kick pedal' articles, some suggest that better pedals have an adjustment on the chain cam where you can rotate this around the axle to vary the pedal height in relation to the beater.
I tried this, the cam does have an allen bolt in it, but it seems it is only intended for making lateral changes (moving it side to side) - the main axle is hexagonal, so the cam cannot be rotated. (I suppose in theory, if I could completely dismantle the pedal, it could be moved to the next face of the hexagonal shaft - but I don't know if I can dismantle it that far and still get it back together again!)

The only other option I can see is to shorten the chain somehow. If I temporarily move the chain one or two links up on the cog teeth, then this seems to be a good solution - but after a few hits the chain jumps back to it's normal position.

I suppose I could take an angle grinder to the 2Box Kick pedal mounting bracket to shorten it, but I'm not keen to do that (and I'm not sure how much closer the pedal can get without risking the cam/chain rubbing on the skin).

Anyone have any experience / ideas on how to shorten a kick pedal chain, or can suggest any other alternatives? (Other than keep looking for a 2Box pedal - which I am doing anyway!!)


welshsteve

You could put a 10mil (at a guess) spacer on the mounting plate. The part I mean, is the L piece that bolts to the kick pad and what the pedal connects to on the floor. So, take that off (I think it's 4 tension bolts) cut some wood that's about the size of the the mounting L piece that the pad section (so that when it's connected it doesn't stand out) drill holes where the tension rods connect and put it between the pad and the L piece. Thus moving the bottom part (where the pedal connects) 10 mil (or however deep it will be) further back.

I hope I have explained myself enough, I'd need pictures to show it properly.

You will probably need longer tension rods though, assuming the thread sizes are standard, shouldn't be hard to obtain from a drum shop.

I had this problem but I got around it by adjusting the beater cam further toward the head.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

edtc

you should try to simply angle the bass drum pad  , and lift the transversal bar on which it is attached if needed  ...

paulf707

Thanks! - both great ideas - I'll have a look at it again and see what I come up with....

welshsteve

You could always take a hacksaw to the L shaped mounting piece where the bass drum pedal attaches, saw off just enough to get the pedal perfectly close to the head. Perhaps file the rough edges and then paint with hammorite for atheistics, but that'll also work, will probably be better idea than my first one.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

paulf707

Thanks Steve - I wasn't keen to start attacking the kit with a hacksaw, but I did try your first suggestion and it has worked really well. 3 small-ish washers (probably about 2-3mm in total) between the mounting plate and the pad has made a big difference. The beater is not completely parallel to the skin, but it's much better, and the footplate should be well clear of the wing nut now.
I'm thinking about getting one of the round triggerball type heads for it anyway, so that will solve the last of the angle issues. Thomann do a nice orange one, but I'm waiting to see if I need anything else (as the postage makes the beater quite expensive if that's all I order.....)