Speed King

LOL

I like Ghost's... Still have one I bought in '71 (pre Ludwig)

I'll second that. Ghost and speed king in top condition are about equal.

But again, for the money and light feel you can't beat the speedmaster and junior pedals either....

Come to think of it, I can't think of a vintage Ludwig pedal that felt terrible, aside from the Modular series pedals from the 80's which were nothing but rebadged Pearl pedals. Those were horrible!

1) 50's Speedking.....it's the only Speedking (WFL footplate) I've tried.

2) ASBA Caroline (French pedal) - I used this 72-76 and it was good from what I remember. Good for large feet = worked for me

+1 for the ASBA Caroline

Jacques Cappelle......French made also.

The Camco single chain drive spanks the Speedkings, as far as speed and feel goes.

Don't get me wrong, I like Speedkings.

But a chaindrive Camco, to me, is more articulate.

I have a collection of vintage pedals, and my highest point score goes to the Caroline pedal. Just the most friggin' amazing pedal ever made, for me anyway. Everyone is different. This pedal was WAY ahead of it's time. The closest I've come to duplicating it is a DW9000 with the cam set all the way out and duplicating the beater angle. VERY close, but the Caroline has "something else".

One of the finest-built pedals I own is a Sonor Phonic. It's so well-balanced that I can't even play it. Neither can the guy who sold it to me, nor another friend who owned one. It's our running joke. However, it's truly built like a Mercedes.

Two Words "SPEED KING"...Mikey

The Speed King WAS a great pedal, in the old days. Now, I started on the Speed King, and I love them. Two problems though:

1) The new ones have a different spring cam profile and feel "dead" to me. Not that typical lively SK feel. Just kinda..... flat!

2) The SK is horribly in need of an update. Well, it's ALWAYS been that way, right? Wrong! The Speed King was introduced in 1936, and has existed in it's current form since 1953. Though the basic offset rocker/compression spring mechanism should remain the same (replete with the old cam profile), the pedal really needs to be brought up to modern standards, with a better/easier hoop clamp design, external spring adjustability, spurs, baseplate and larger, reinforced footboard (heavier players have been known to break the cast footboards). That's my opinion anyway. Slingerland came pretty close to this with their Super Speed pedal (one which I would like to add to my collection).