Greetings,
I fixed up an MIJ kit that I now have all the hardware for. I'm still waiting on a front bass drum hoop and head, but I was anxious to get these set up and play them, as well as mark all the spaces for my stands on my rug (like I do with every kit). I figured not having a front hoop or head would not affect any of that. BTW, that's the original hoop, but the inlay was missing. This drum has some pretty major fading, almost to a midnight blue, which I actually like better. The closest I could get was Blue Glitter inlay from Precision Drum Company. I know it doesn't quite match, but I actually like the contrast between the two shades of blue, it's cool looking and unique, at least to me. Back to the task at hand:
I went to set up the kit, and as always I start with the bass drum. When I went to clamp the pedal on and get started, I had something odd happen that I have never seen before. Hopefully the pictures will help tell the story.
I set up my bass drum (no pedal) so that it's pretty level front to back. After I clamp on the pedal, I adjust the spur length as needed. I usually like the front of the bass drum off the ground a few inches, but nothing extreme. Photo 1 below shows how I started off the bass drum positioning. Pretty standard stuff. Photo 2 below shows the front of the bass drum with that same positioning. Again, very standard, no extreme or weird angles going on.
Photo 3 shows the pedal attached loose, not tightened down yet. As expected, the batter side of the bass drum is now a bit higher because of the pedal being underneath it. When I go to tighten down the pedal is where the problem starts. The pedal won't stay flat on the ground, and as the toe clamp tension increases, it lifts the back of the bass drum higher and higher off the ground, while the pedal itself raises off the ground.
Photo 4 below shows the same as photo 3, but in Photo 4 the pedal is tightened down firmly. You can already see the difference in the pedal between the two pictures. In photo 4, the pedal is tilted back at further angle, away from the head. Photo 5 shows a close up of what's happening when the pedal gets tightened down. You can clearly see that the base of the pedal directly under the hoop is off the ground and slanting backwards.
I'll continue this thread with more photos down below...................
