Double Bass Pedal OR 2 Bass Drums?

shoebag

does either one have any advantages? ignoring cost?

bytor · Admin Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 5248 Location: Kansas

Yeah, if you do any gigging, you'll appreciate having only one bass drum.

SketcHyRollin564 · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:31 pm Post subject:

with a double bass drum, for me its stupid

it makes it harder to set up to my preference, its a PAIN in the *Horse's Patoot* hauling not one, but TWO of the most annoying drums to haul.

Thats also extra money on a second bass drum. Also i then need heads to match the other one, which if they arent stock, thats four bass drum heads as opposed to two, and bass drum heads arent cheap.

Not only i have to buy an extra two heads, but i have to take the time to tune them both the exact same

To me it looks retarded, but some people like the look of two bass drums facing the crowd

I do not know of any benifits of having 2 bass drums. The only one i can think of is, if you like the look of it.. then you have the look
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PAZUZU · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:15 pm Post subject:

i use 2 bass drums exclusively. i never liked the sound of the left beater when using a double pedal. it was never as strong as the right, due to it striking further away from the center of the head than the right one does, and was much harder to make sound even than 2 bass drums is. sure it's more to haul and set up, but the extra boost in sound i get when i'm playing is worth that extra effort. as far as replacing heads, unless you're really slamming your kicks, you shouldn't need to replace them that often.
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Bish · King of the Jungle Joined: 19 Oct 2005 Posts: 1855

When I played double bass I had it with two kits. The first kit I had two 24" bass drums. The second kit I had a 24" and 22" bass drum. This really added another dimension to the equation.

I've always been a fast right footer so never needed double bass for what I played but the band mates all thought is was cool so I did it for the band. Rolling Eyes

Now that I'm old and hate moving gear, plus most places we play are rather cramped for a 5 pc band, single bass has won out.
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Bish

"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds."

XiRoCCo · Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 10:10 am Post subject:

i've always preferred a single bass drum w/a double-kick pedal. it allows you to tighten up the kit and bring the HH stand closer to the snare. with the proper kick pedal(s), you can set the beaters to be on either side of center (on the bass drum head) so they relatively produce the same tone. in larger/louder venues i'll often attach a double-kick plate to the head for extra umph.
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VanEbony · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject:

kuniggety · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 5:08 pm Post subject:

I don't think the cool factor of double bass outweights the practicallity of cost. Normally, for the price of a second bass drum (the by far most expensive of the drums in the kit) you could've just bought a step up in quality for the whole kit. I would much rather invest my money in just plain having more of a quality setup than worrying about having that second bass drum for looks.

If one of your beaters on a double bass pedal isn't hitting the bass drum right, you don't have it setup right. It's as simple as that.

I do agree having that double bass looks cool and if I was some famous drummer with a drum tech doing all of the hauling for me and all that, why not? But until then, no way.

VanEbony · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject:

I think the best factor of using double bass drum instead of double pedal it's the speed you can acquire with the two drums, and that's real. You can see it by yourself: just go to a music store and sit in two different kits (of course, if you can): one with double pedal and the other with double drums, and see it with your own eyes (or legs).

kuniggety · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:55 pm Post subject:

Err, then you're trying out a crappy double pedal. Hell, I only have a $100 PDP pedal and I don't have any issues hitting 32nd notes. Maybe for those extreme hardcore bands you need to go faster but uh, I think my limitation is more of me being a n00b rather than the pedal.

VanEbony · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:30 pm Post subject:

You feel tired after playing 32note patterns for some time???

XiRoCCo · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:37 pm Post subject:

i think the most obvious answer to the original question here is - whatever "you" prefer. as i use a double pedal, i loosen the springs a bit on the remote pedal while tightening the springs a bit on the primary pedal to even out the load. but my preference is for the kit to be tight together. i don't like my high-hat way over to the left of me as is required with two kick drums - but some don't mind this so much... by turning the base of my high-hat stand i'm able to bring the remote kick pedal to within just an inch or two of the HH pedal. makes for faster changeovers between the two as well. i guess just play around to see what "you" like.
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SketcHyRollin564 · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:48 pm Post subject:

call me stupid, and i know a ton of you will dissagree

but to me, having double bass DRUMS is like saying you need two snares to do a roll. Both the same wood, same kind, same sizes, same heads. Like saying you need two of each tom to properly do a fill

2 10 inches, 2 12s, 2 14's, etc, both tuned the same

Now this isnt being Literal, and i agree that for SOME cases, it is helpful to have two bass drums, but unless you can double bass incredibly fast, to the point where you actualy do need two bass drums, having two of them are pointless
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kuniggety · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 6:39 pm Post subject:

VanEbony · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:05 pm Post subject:

That's not you.. it's the pedal. It feels a lot better when playing double bass, you don't get tired that fast.