Ok, so who here has 2 bass drums versus a double pedal? Two bass drums means lugging around 1 more big heavy drum.. so why do that when you can just get a double pedal? Does tuning make that much of a difference for you? I would just like some opinions on this. Thanks.

[full metal]

I have the big 80's double bass kit and I guess it's somthing that Ive always wanted since I started playing.
I love having as many toms as I do with out it looking unperpotional to the reest of the kit but of course you can do that with a rack.
theres really no reason I guess to have it other than I just want it.

I do have them tuned diffrently, but I have found that it is harder to play on 2 indvidgual pedals than it is on a slave unit double pedal.
I dont really no why but you can even hear it an my recording where it sounds like Im just hitting the bass drum but the thing is there is supposed to be 16th notes on the bass and for whatever reason my left foot dosnt want to play right some times using the double but when I use the double pedal Ive never had any problems with it.

Originally Posted by full metal

I have the big 80's double bass kit and I guess it's somthing that Ive always wanted since I started playing.
I love having as many toms as I do with out it looking unperpotional to the reest of the kit but of course you can do that with a rack.
theres really no reason I guess to have it other than I just want it.

I do have them tuned diffrently, but I have found that it is harder to play on 2 indvidgual pedals than it is on a slave unit double pedal.
I dont really no why but you can even hear it an my recording where it sounds like Im just hitting the bass drum but the thing is there is supposed to be 16th notes on the bass and for whatever reason my left foot dosnt want to play right some times using the double but when I use the double pedal Ive never had any problems with it.

hm, thats interesting because I would think that it would be the other way around. On a double pedal the bounce of one beater would take away from the bounce of the other one because of the vibrations of the bass head.. are you sure you don't have them mixed up?

Originally Posted by shakenbake

hm, thats interesting because I would think that it would be the other way around. On a double pedal the bounce of one beater would take away from the bounce of the other one because of the vibrations of the bass head.. are you sure you don't have them mixed up?

I would agree with that theory as well... although it could be that the double pedal mechanism gives more momentum for faster kicks

[Raatikainen22]

first off the overall look is cooler and the feel is much more natural than a double pedal... the double pedal is not that smooth vs. playing on a 2bass kit

[UPSTROKE]

NOTHING beats the sound of two bass drums cooking along in 1/8th notes underneath a tight rock tune. NOTHING beats the hassle of packing them around either. All that effort for 10 minutes of use. Double pedals don't have the sound, but how important is that anyway. Most drummers worry WAY too much about this kind of thing when their job is to lay the band down & rock them in a cradle of solid rhythm. This from a guy who played double bass for over 45 years. Now I use a double pedal, but I focus on laying down that fat, steady cradle for the band to lay in & just cook all night long. Y-E-E-A-H-H!!

[lastditch]

I have never played on 2 kix.I have had 3 different brands of slave pedals.I can say that the you get what you pay for.If you run out and try to get a groove percussion slave pedal because its only 125 bucks then it will have the feel and response of a cheap pedal.I am playing $300 Iron Cobras and noticed a big difference in those from when I was using Pearl Eliminators.I'm sure if I stepped up and drooped 500 bucks on DW 9000's or some Axis longboards they would be even more responsive and smooth.Why tune two kick drums differently.I don't get it.So instead of like duh duh duh duh you would get like duh doo duh doo?Strange but I hear it every time I see a dbl kick setup.

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[skinslapper]

Well, what I've done is attempted to tune the 2 exactly the same, but found that the subtle differences are what makes the sound so huge. I don't gig very much, so I'm more than happy to lug another 22 incher around.

You know, Danny Carey actually plays one "22 and one "24 these days and you've gotta admit, it sounds awsome.

[UPSTROKE]

I guess you could compare 2 bass drums to 2 16" floor toms tuned differently. If you played a simple but driving pattern across both of them the sound that came out would be more interesting & more complex sounding than if you played the same thing on 1 floor tom. When some guy named Neil Peart went back to a single bass, I started asking myself some questions.
1. As much as I love these things, how much do they really contribute??
2. How much more space do they take up on a stage that in most cases is pretty small anyway??
3. Are these 2 bass drums more about--can you see me now--or are they really about the music we're playing??
4. In the real world of playing a gig. How much am I really using the 2nd bass??
5. Am I focusing more on my job of laying down a good groove for the band or am I thinking about when I can dazzle them with my double bass licks??
We each play different kinds of music. We each play different styles. We all want to be good drummers. Many of us want to make a living at it.. Some of us want to go beyond that. Just don't forget what your job as a drummer is. Lay down the beat first. The music stores love to sell us these big expensive drum kits.