I started out with a pair of Speed Kings, then switched to a pair of Ghosts and finally settled on a pair of Caroline's (by ASBA). Now that pedal was the shizzle to me (yea I know it's French...don't be hatin'). I also liked that the beater rod was a bit beefier than other pedals which let the 26's speak with extra authority.

I could never get the Speed King to dance the way I wanted?

In regards to your comments about needing more clearance to the head, here's the deal. You must be using the second design of speedking pedal designed for wide bass drum hoops. The first speed kings were made for narrow hoops. I believe Ludwig built the wide hoop models around 1975. The pedals before that have a base built for narrow hoops. I learned this because my first speed king pedal worked perfectly on my vintage Rogers kit with the narrow 1.5 inch hoops. I bought a second speed king and tried it out. I discovered the link was rubbing on the head. Couldn't figure out why until I compared the two pedals side by side. The first series pedals, from the 60's, have a base which allows one inch of hoop to sit on the base of the pedal. The second series from the mid 70's onward has a base that allows 1.5 inches of hoop to sit on the base.

To remedy this, I built a wood spacer out of 3\8 inch plywood and installed it onto my late 70's pedal base. That pushed the pedal back enough to work great on my narrow hooped kit. Bottom line, when shopping for a speed king be aware that the base where the hoop sits is different from early to later pedals. I'll try and post pics in the next day or so.

Also, when buying an old S/K, you may need to clean out the towers and re-grease them as the old grease tends to dry out over the years and can slow the response considerably...I have one I traded for that has that issue and I will be cleaning and re-greasing it soon. Nice, sweet action, but a little slower that it should be. I have used a good, clean one and mine is a tad bit slower. I watched the S/K guy doing the deal and no kiddin', the old ones are slower, until they are cleaned out.

As for the old Ghosty, I think they suffer the same fate. The Ghost I traded off for the S/K, now that I think about it, may have been suffering the same reduced response. After I hit it with a few drops of mineral oil and worked it in, the action seemed to free up a bit.

Here are 3 of my Wfl speed kings, I have more just didn't have them handy while these three posed for the camera!

The issue I have with the sk is the same one I've had from the beginning. The beater travels beyond 90 degrees to strike the head. It doesn't strike it parallel. Every one of them has done this. I've worked on adjustments and it just doesn't help. I've focused mostly on dw pedals, though I play a bunch of different ones.

Isn't it funny how sensitive we can be about the sllllliiiiiiigggghhhhhtest differences in pedals?

I use an older DW5000 Turbo (means it has a footplate) for most of my gigs. That's what DW has always been to me - a pedal company. Actually, DW's a pedal company that remade the old Camco design and upgraded it a bit. In any case, the one I have is a great working man's pedal. It is built like a tank and probably wouldn't break if you threw it off a 1000 foot cliff! As far as feel goes, it's not my favorite. It has the round gear and I prefer the offset style cog better -like the way the SpeedKing's is.

I also was taught to play "heel down" when I was first learning to play and every pedal I ever put my foot on at that time was a SpeedKing. So I guess I bonded with them. My foot never forgets. I play my DW pedal for the week and then I go to the practice room on the weekend and sit down at one of my vintage kits with the SpeedKings and it feels like home!

The pedal I like the least is the DW 9000 pedal. I can't say that I hate it, but the design of it is just plain poor. Placing the spring on the inside of the armature was goofy! Oh, well.....I have one. It's like new....sitting in it's carry bag.....waiting for the day to come when I can get someone to fight over it on EBay (yeah....rrrrrrrright). :)

I haven't ever really done a complete overhaul on any of my SKs, but I have taken out the piston things cleaned them with.....WD-40 (it fixes everything!)!

I also like that the SK can be taken apart and packed in with the rest of the hardware.

as far as the link hitting the head..just make sure the clamp is tightened firmly on the bass drum hoop..

i had the same problem until my uncle was like "did you tighten it?"

DOH

The "turbo" name doesn't refer to the plate. The 5000CX "turbo" has a round sprocket. The 5000AX "accelerator" has an offset sprocket. I use a 5000 turbo without a floor plate.

I picked up a Camco pedal as a backup to my DW and it is EXTREMELY similar. Looking at them side-by-side, it's no surprise to learn that DW bought out Camco's tooling when they went belly-up.

My Camco has a DW "accelerator" offset sprocket on it and I think I like it better than the DW 5000 turbo I bought it to back up.

Ah! Thanks for the correction! I remember it was 1985 when I bought mine and I had no idea about the shapes of the gears at that time. I should probably look for an "Accelerator" version if I decide to get another one. Thanks again! :)

Hmmm.... maybe I should clean and lubricate the ol' dogs and see what happens????