I love the SpeedKing pedal, too. None of the ones I have owned ever squeezed...Go figure.
I always wanted a Ghost pedal....like my friend had back when we were kids,,,,until he tried to take it apart one day....ssssssppprrrrrrrriiiiinnnng! Still a very fascinating design, imo.
I started to think that I must apologize for almost side-tracking this discussion about the bearings in a Speed King pedal by posting my intense dislike for the Speed King. Then, another thought came to mind. Maybe the bearings in that pedal play a big part in turning me away from the Speed King? There is no arguing that the Speed King and Ludwig drums from the mid-twentieth century to the end of that century were the most popular sellers of American-made drums. There is also no wonder that so many vintage drum fanciers are still Ludwig lovers. I have tried to like them. But, I still don't.
Hey, that's OK Leedybdp! If everyone played Ludwig drums with Speedkings, it would be an extremely boring Drum World indeed. Being the Retro that I am, I do long for the good ol' days when all we had were Ludwig, Rogers, Slingerland, and Gretsch......and Camco!
Now there are way too many different manufacturers of drums, cymbals, hardware, etc. - myriad choices - but that's progress and that's competition, so it's good for us. But I linger in the past and love Ludwig, despite all the questionable things they sold. It's a nostalgia thing for me, progress be damned. Ha!
Enjoy whatever brand drums/hardware/cymbals you admire!
Regards, MB
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... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIE-33XHD04 The link is for Part 1 and here is Part 2... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSPL25JAKdo-Mark
Mark, thanks for the video links. I had already seen them. They are really useful. Greetings.
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!
The method that I have to avoid that the beater is too far from the head is the following:
First loosen the springs so that the SK has a smooth action (3 or 4 turns of the scews from flush position with the pedal base).
The next thing is to adjust the height of the seat so that my knees are bent at about 90 degrees or even a little higher. This allows me to load the weight of my body on the tip of the seat and not on my feet, so that my feet are "in the air" but lightly depressing the pedals (and therefore the travel of the beater is halfway at home position).
I hope this helps.
I own both Ghost and Premier (250, not the 252) and love them too. Even my Swivo Rogers. But I must say my workhorse is the early 2000's Speed King since I bought it 14 years ago. Greetings.
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
Hi MB
Thank you so much for the tips to get my wonderful SK running smooth as new. I completely agree with you on the grease in excess. I also prefer lubricating oil with teflon. Regards.
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!
Know what's kinda funny, when I turn the bottom adjustment screws, the beater head goes closer or further away from the head at rest. No click either. The pedal floats or bounces when you take your foot off. I don't have my kit set up but I believe I could go from touching the head to back to the click sound before foot off..... that's what I hate, too loose and it goes back to clicking. I solved it by learning the screw positions. I love that it's solid drive but hate the hook part to the knuckle.
Yeah Oddball, to each his own, on those SKs - love 'em or hate 'em! I'm not familiar with your SK's "click" sound. I've never heard that before. The bottom adjustment screws decrease or increase the pressure on the two internal springs, so they will move the beater fore and aft.
I'm 6'2" and so I sit a bit higher than most drummers - my thighs are a little above horizontal, and my foot never leaves the pedal. Some of my leg weight is always on the pedal, so the beater is always somewhat forward... I play both heel down and heel up - mostly heel up, and my foot is always resting on the pedal, and so I've never noticed that the beater (at rest) sits too far back for some drummers.
I actually like the hook part of the knuckle (once you solve the squeak problem there.) After the gig is over, I simply "break down" the pedal into its two main assemblies and toss them in my hardware case.
What I didn't like with the modern DW and Tama designs, is: they are overall way too complicated and way too heavy; the big "floor board" (for lack of a better word) is unnecessary, and the entire thing is so big that it comes in its own hard plastic case. Too much for me, and all the adjustments are unnecessary in my opinion. Way over-engineered. But I know a lot of professional drummers think that all those "bells and whistles" are great. So, to each his own. Enjoy your pedal, whatever it is!
Different (pedal) strokes for different folks.
Regards, MB
I'm on the short side and sit on a canister throne that would probably be too short for you tall guys. My thighs are parallel to the floor and my whole foot is on the pedal. I have always said that this profoundly lefty guy playing a righty drum set has the world's slowest right foot. I have used a Rogers Swivomatic pedal since 1961. I have a few of them. My favorite one is a transitional model from just before Rogers changed over to the Supreme bass drum pedal. You can see that the business end of the pedal is a Swivomatic hinged board model that mates with the terrific Supreme clamping system for the bass drum hoop. Notice how far back I keep the beater with the spring tension very high. In my most active playing years, the top of my instep was constantly bruised from the snap back of the pedal. One other thing to notice is my favorite beater that is a cube shape. The beater head is hard plastic that pivots so that the first hit to the batter head positions the beater to hit full-face on the moleskin patch on the head.
Yeah Oddball, to each his own, on those SKs - love 'em or hate 'em! I'm not familiar with your SK's "click" sound. I've never heard that before. The bottom adjustment screws decrease or increase the pressure on the two internal springs, so they will move the beater fore and aft.I'm 6'2" and so I sit a bit higher than most drummers - my thighs are a little above horizontal, and my foot never leaves the pedal. Some of my leg weight is always on the pedal, so the beater is always somewhat forward... I play both heel down and heel up - mostly heel up, and my foot is always resting on the pedal, and so I've never noticed that the beater (at rest) sits too far back for some drummers.I actually like the hook part of the knuckle (once you solve the squeak problem there.) After the gig is over, I simply "break down" the pedal into its two main assemblies and toss them in my hardware case.What I didn't like with the modern DW and Tama designs, is: they are overall way too complicated and way too heavy; the big "floor board" (for lack of a better word) is unnecessary, and the entire thing is so big that it comes in its own hard plastic case. Too much for me, and all the adjustments are unnecessary in my opinion. Way over-engineered. But I know a lot of professional drummers think that all those "bells and whistles" are great. So, to each his own. Enjoy your pedal, whatever it is! Different (pedal) strokes for different folks. Regards, MB
If it is adjusted too far back and does not float or bounce when you take your foot off, it goes click and I think it's that hook. I simply turned them both in the same slowly until it stopped. That's when it starts to float. Keep turning and it goes forward.
I play heel on, toes up, for light and speed, heel on toes down, for hard or sharp. Always heel on.
