I have the older style dw 5000 chain drive and the dw 9000. The 9000 has the nylon strap, which I have heard is closer to a vintage pedal in feel. I use the 9000 all the time and love it. As far as simplicity well I think most new pedals have their share of adjustments.

I have a number of different brands currently and over 35 years of playing have tried ALOT of kinds (like most of us here I`m sure). After all is said and done- I like the [COLOR="Red"]Tama Iron Cobra single pedal[/COLOR] the best of all I`ve played. It`s strong and adjustable, responsive, I even like it`s look/design.

I use it with a Vintage Bomber for playing bop, a hard wood beater for rock n roll (classic) and a hard felt beater as well. The floor plate is so solid that it all feels smooth and secure. I really do like it. I have to play others all the time, I have a Pearl pedal reversed for cocktail drums, even a Giant Step. I would recommend the Sonor Giant Step but the price is so high that I can`t really recommend it. I love it and it`s smooth like a Mercedes Benz, but much too pricey for what you get.

I've found that different size bass drums work best with different pedals.

My favorite pedal is the Ghost, but it doesn't fit the 26" kick I use now - the hoop doesn't protrude much. So I use a 90's Ludwig which is nothing special but it's ok.

I've used Speed Kings too and prefer them on my 20" kick because they aren't as high as my Ghost. The Ghost worked great on my 22" kick. With the same amount of effort the Ghost pedal seems to give a more powerful, louder stroke than the other pedals I've tried. That makes it nice for kick heavy music.

I really like the Ghost in that the springs face in different directions, so one spring pushes the beater away from the head in a unique way that I've only felt on that pedal.

The smallest, lightest pedal I know of is the Ludwig Universal Speedmaster we talked about on the cocktail drum thread.

Are you sure its not the bearings themselves that are worn out and not the pedal posts? I've been able to get replacement bearings online before from a bearing suppy house for the old DW, Camco (not the Tama version), and Gretsch Floating Action pedals without much difficulty. New bearings, a new footboard hinge from DW and a new strap and spring brings new life into these older pedals. Nothing on the market today is really close to them in my opinion. Maybe post some pics of the problem areas of the pedal so we can see how bad it is, maybe a refurbish is in order. Also, I've heard of DW "tuning up" their older pedals for endorsers after long punishing tours. Maybe you can contact them and see if they can refurbish your current pedals?

ah.... hmm... i went to a local place that deals in bearings and the guy told me the bearings are some special models... which he can not get.

but maybe this is because i live in europe?

where did you get the stuff?

It was a couple of years ago, but it was a local bearing supply house in Massachusetts. The name escapes me, but what I did to find the bearing was disassemble the pedal and remove one from the pedal and found a number on the old bearing. Then I did a google search using the part number stamped into the bearing with the word bearing after the part number. I got all kinds of results and just picked the closest one. Then I bought a few to keep as spares as well as the one I needed to fix the pedal I was rebuilding. I have used them all since then, but they should be easy to locate once again.

ah, i see, on my bearings is no number...

There should be a number on it somewhere....every bearing I've ever come across has some kind of manufacturers mark on it.

hi there,

well i had finally time to take it apart again ... no numbers, see photos.

i guess i just give up and get a new dw 5000ax.