I don’t mean to boast, but I have an 18”er! Actually that’s small. We’re talking bass drums.
I also have a pretty fab’ Jojo Mayer bass drum pedal. And I have a Mapex brand bass drum riser. To help lift the dinky little kick drum up a wee bit, so that the beater hits closer to the middle of the drum head.
Alas, this riser design doesn’t mate or marry that well with many (any?) of my bass drum pedals. As can be seen in the pic at the top of this post, the clamps on my Jojo pedal can’t get much purchase on the riser plate. They’re obstructed by flanges that are part of the riser’s design.
My solution? File these flanges back a bit. See if that helps. Well, it does. To a degree. But I’m not all the way there yet, to a satisfactory solution.
Why not? ‘Cause the black rubber cushion (on the pedal), which usually protects the drum hoop, now clamps onto the riser, and the equivalent rubbery parts of the riser don’t fully overlap.
I’ve also realised that there are, for me, some issues, even with this ‘super-pedal’, designed by the awesome ‘super-drummer’ that is Jojo Meyer.
Let’s look at what they are:
First – and for me this might also be the most annoying – the single square-headed drum key adjusted attaching mechanism.
For one thing, it’s positioned on the collapsible pillar. When the pedal is collapsed, you can’t fix it to the hoop or riser. Once erected – well, at all times (but only once up will it secure the pedal to the bass drum hoop) – the pillar gets in the way of tightening the square headed bolt!
[Having said this, I can see the point – and a very good point at that – in locating it where it is. In theory, if/when it mounts satisfactorily to your bass drum, you can, thereafter, take it on and off without the need to adjust the bolt. Simply by collapsing the pillar.]
Second, it tightens on just one side, as opposed to both sides or centrally. So inevitably there’s ‘racking’, meaning the side with the screw is tighter than the opposite side.
I’d also have preferred the footboard to have been a single piece longboard, rather than the sort it is, with a hinged heel plate. Longboards allow for both playing the pedal with the foot lower down the footplate (more travel for less work), and an increased efficiency if/when using heel-toe techniques.
But, strangely enough, they sell it on exactly this issue, as being better than your everyday kick pedals (see screenshot).
I wonder if they’ll address these things in future models? Maybe they already have?