I have an original Slingerlandpedal that is both a normal and cocktail pedal. It is the one with the red base. Are you familiar with it? I am willing to sell it, if we can agree on a reasonable price.

I reversed a simple Pearl P-120 pedal and there is no loss of power at all- I use it to perform live all the time. Striking at an angle may mean that your pedal adjustments and the height of the upright bass drums need to be adjusted.

photo:

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010014-3.jpg[/IMG]

One cocktail kit I love to play is an early 60s stencil (Celebrity? brand) in a blue onyx wrap

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010010-4.jpg[/IMG]

As I mentioned, I could not find a listing for a cocktail pedal by itself, so I have no idea what the cost should be. Could you give me some idea of cost and post some photos of the pedal? Thanks for answering.

Don Thorpe

I hope I am replying to the right post, I'm new at this and may be confused. Thanks for posting the photo of the Pearl pedal. I'm not sure how you arranged it. Could you post several different views? I tried an old Rogers Swivomatic pedal which is wonderful for changing configurations, but it didn't work too well, because when the floor tom at the right height to play on top, the bottom head is too far away for a good clean beat with the pedal. Your kit looks great -- how high from the floor is the top head? One last question, how do you tune the floor tom/bass drum to use as a floor tom and bass drum? Thanks much for your help, I really appreciate it. If this gets too involved for the forum, you could send to my personal email -- [email]dt@donthorpe.com[/email]

Not a problem. The height is exactly 10" from the floor to the drum head. For me this is a constant - I put memory locks on the 3 floor tom legs to make set up quicker and it`s always the same distance. For muffling I throw a thin plastic dry cleaners bag into the upright cocktail drum. This lightly rests on the bottom head providing just enough muffling for me. For the top head I use muffle rings- Remo O-rings pictured here but I also cut my own from old drum heads as well- it`s a really easy way to recycle used heads. I often place three concentric O-rings - pictured here is a 16" 13" and 12" fitting right inside each other. I can take them on and off as I need during the performance. I also have a small black towel I will sometimes throw onto the top head for added muffling for a given song or a really small venue. You can really adjust the bass drum sound on the fly with an upright. Also during playing you can push the bass drum beater up into the head to change the batter sound for an added effect. Doubling effects are also achievable if you tune the bottom and top heads the same.

In general for tuning, the bottom head is tuned as low as possible and then tighten up just a hair above wrinkle. The top head is one step above that- low as possible, then just above wrinkle and then 1/2 turn of the key all around. I think of that as "low as you can go" on the bottom and then "1-Step Up" on the top

I change it up. I use both this Blue Onyx 16x16" and a White pearl Vision 14x14 as upright bass drums- believe it or not, if mic'd properly the 14x14 can sound big and fat. Easy to carry!

For the pedal- as I said 10" from the floor. The Pearl p-120 was not hard to flip around. I put some felt to cushion the moving chain section. I adjusted the pedal board height to get enough play and finally adjust spring tension. No problems.

Here is a link to a drum solo I wrote and performed all on the 14x14 Pearl Visions Birch cocktail kit. The top of the drum has an internally adjustable snare rake- in the tune the snare is the top head and the bass is the bottom head. The extra effects are just me having fun with the mix down.

http://www.supload.com/listen?s=ktH7Nn

photos:

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/BlueOnyxkit.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010009-7.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010010-6.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010011-3.jpg[/IMG]

Pearl Vison 14x14

[IMG]http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/Osakabop/P1010004-7.jpg[/IMG]

Eric,

Hey, great solo. You put me to shame. I'm from the old Jazz school, and I love to play, but I don't get much chance these days, only about once a month or so. Oh Well, c'est la vie. Sometimes it's just nice to play some stuff just for the fun of it. My drums are set-up in a back room where I can get away from it all. I like your set-up -- very clean and efficient, even the cowbell mounted on the tom leg (cool). The Bomber beater is something I haven't tried. Does it make a big difference? Thanks for all the tips, I'm going to use many of them. I have a little added tip for you or anyone else playing the cocktail drums sitting down. After looking at your photos, I added an extension post to my Rogers Swivomatic pedal, and now I can raise the height of the beater so the floor tom isn't so low. I'll send a photo of it when I get the pedal attached and working. Thanks again, you've been a great help. I'll keep in touch.

Don O. Thorpe www.donthorpe.com

I imagine there's a bunch of pedals that can be reversed. The most common one I know of is the Ludwig Universal Speedmaster. There's usually a couple every week on eBay. I'm surprised there's none this week... but this is what they are:http://cgi.ebay.com/Ludwig-Vintage-Universal-Speed-Master-Bass-Drum-Pedal_W0QQitemZ260492785940QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintgae_Drums_Percussion?hash=item3ca6947914#ht_500wt_924 That price of $30 is a bit high.

My guess is that the reason they are continually on eBay is because people want them for cocktail kits.

I have one and it's a nice pedal although it is very narrow.

Thanks Donothorpe, I look forward to seeing the riser.

The Ludwig Speed Master looks really interesting, thanks for the tip! I `ll have to pick one up.

OsakaBop (Eric), I'm still working on the reverse pedal. It looks like it will work, however right now I have a wood piece for a bracket to attach to the tom legs which isn't very solid or sturdy. Where did you get the metal bracket that clamps to your tom legs? Again, I want to thank you, and the others, for taking the time to get the info I need. This forum truly is a blessing. Perhaps I can pass on another little trick I use. I attach a small brass link chain to the heel end of my pedal and to one of the legs of my throne. This keeps the bass drum from sliding away no matter what kind of floor I am set up on -- it even works on concrete. I saw a pedal the other day that had velcro on the bottom (a flat plate) of the pedal, and this seems to work great on carpets. Just another idea to pass on. Maybe you guys alread know all this stuff -- but it's good to share it, because I've never heard of the dry cleaner plastic muffler idea. As my French wife says A bientot (see you later). --- donothorpe