Yeah, they're the real deal.

Soak them overnight in a jar with mineral spirits and get all the dried gunk out of them, until they spin fast. Rub down the push rods with 0000 steel wool until they are clean. Take a pistol cleaning rod or something similar and rub-a-dub the inside shafts of the "goalposts" until they shine.

I put a little bit of grease on the top of the pushrods, where they interact with the "cam shaft." Most guys like to fill the inside of the "goal post" shafts with grease, but I disagree. That's unnecessary in my opinion. A light coating of grease or an aerosol lubricant with teflon works just as well, and isn't so messy, IMO.

Speed Kings get sluggish because the grease is packed in too tightly, and gets hardened with age and then the drummer has to crank on those two bottom screws to get more spring action. Take a look at the two screws on your pedal and see how far they've been cranked in by the former owner.

My Speed Kings fly and I wouldn't have any other brand or type. Out of curiousity, I tried DW and Tama a few years ago. They're over-engineered. I went right back to the Speed King.

Enjoy, MB

And....I forgot to mention, that pedal is from the mid-70s or later. The "spacer/support tab" at the bottom front of the "goal posts" - that abut the wooden bass drum hoop is the shorter version.

The earlier Speed Kings had a longer tab. In about 1973 (an approximation on my part) Ludwig slightly increased the width of the bass drum hoops, which put the pedal a bit too far to the rear. The solution was to shorten the tab, to bring the pedal back to the "normal" distance from the batter head. TMI ?!

Regards, MB

There sure are diffrent strokes for diffrent folks when it comes to bass drum pedals. I absolutely hate Speed King pedals. My favorite bass drum pedals are (in order of preference) Rogers Swivomatic from the mid to late 1960s, Gretsch Floating Action, Slingerland or Leedy version of 1960's Tempo King, and just about anything else but a squeak king.

A plug for Vincent Leef, who bought the Speed King tune-up business from that Jesse fellow (I forget his last name).

Vincent makes minor changes in the Speed King to remove the squeaks. All 4 of my Speed Kings were tuned-up by Jesse or Vincent, and none of them squeak.

Vincent Leef is

Vitalizerdrums.com

443-880-5789

But then again, Leedybdp, I'm a member of the "Retro Resistance," one who shuns the latest and greatest gadgets. I wear the same type clothes I did as a teenager (I'm still the same size), same haircut, wear an analog watch (when I wear one), I got my first i-phone only about 2 years ago...it's an i-phone 2, I drive an old car with a stick shift, and you will never find me on Facebook or Instagram or any of that stuff. K.I.S.S. is my motto and anything vintage is more interesting to me than anything new. To each is own. Enjoy!

Regards, MB

I'm very much of a retro fan for many aspects of life. However, I don'r reject some of the modern conveniences. But, when it comes to drums, I am a retro all the way guy. I have not liked any drums made after 1969 except for some very early 70s Slingerlands that are built pretty much like the mid-sixties stuff. My cymbals are all A Zildjians no newer than 1972. I have enough old drum hardware from the 50s and 60s to outfit several drum sets. My dislike of almost everything by Ludwig dates back to the 1950s---especially the Speed King.

I bought a Speed King back in the seventies when I was learning to play because I thought that's what all great drummers had. I could never get on with it because at rest, the beater lays too far away from the head. It requires so much travel each time you depress the pedal. I tried to overcome this by bending the shaft on the beater to bring it closer to the head and this worked to a point. 40 years later, I decided to buy another Speed King which I recently acquired. I completely dismantled it, lubricated it replaced the bearings and put it back together. Much as I love it, it's still has the same problem insofar that the beater lays way back away from the head which in my view, makes it ergonomically problematic. No I know that many great and accomplished drummers use them and obviously overcame that issue, but I just find it difficult. It's a real shame, because I want to love it but I just struggle with that aspect of its design. My favourite go-to pedals are my Premier 252 and Ludwig Ghost which in my view are unsurpassed for speed and fluidity. Takes all sorts!

Hi Morgatto!

While I've never been a fan of the Ludwig SK pedal, I have had two that were really good. The best was refurbished by a company called "Drummechanix", unfortunately no longer in business. That being said, there are two good videos on YouTube (part 1 and part 2) that do an excellent job of going through the complete process. Check them out when you have time. Here's the link... [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIE-33XHD04"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIE-33XHD04[/ame] The link is for Part 1 and here is Part 2... [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSPL25JAKdo"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSPL25JAKdo[/ame]

-Mark

I love this! Fascinating stuff.

Thanks Mark!!

-Kurt

Kurt!

You're very welcome!

-Mark