Members rim Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 So I went to see a band last night (actually, my former band), and the drummer broke his kick pedal. I didn't look too closely but it was one of those chain driven ones and it looks like it wasn't the chain that broke but maybe what attached it to the pedal itself. I've never heard of that before so I'm wondering if that's not such a rare occurrence. The drummer didn't have a spare so had to go home and get one. Fortunately, he wasn't that far away but the round trip still took probably a half hour. Needless to say, the bar manager was not pleased (the band was playing bkgd music from an iPod at least). I've actually switched to drums in the band I'm in and that just scared me cuz I would never have thought to bring a spare pedal. I do have a spare pedal but it's the beginner pedal. So my real question I guess is, should I buy a backup pedal that's comparable to my current pedal or is this such a rare thing that the beginner pedal is enough for a backup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 There's ALWAYS a risk of equipment failure. Some stuff goes bad often enough and is cheap enough that bringing spares is the only sensible thing to do (think cables, strings, and stuff like that). Other stuff is more expensive and fails less often. For that stuff - you balance the cost of purchasing spares, the headache of schlepping it - and the risk of your primary going bad. I'm a keys player - I keep my rig in good working order (meaning I fix anything that starts getting finicky the moment I realize it's starting to go). I carry plenty of spare cables. While I don't carry spare keys or amplication - I do have a plan for how I would work around the failure of any one piece of gear in my rig. I.e., I carry two boards - if one dies, I have patches on the other that will get me through thte night. If my keyboard amp fails - I've got headphones that I can plug into my submixer and get my keys AND the rest of the band via my monitor send from the FOH board. If my board fails - I can run direct to the FOH board. No matter what fails - I've got a plan to get me through the night. You need the same thing for whatever you play. If you can't limp through the rest of the night without it, can't fix it, can't quickly implement a workaround - you should probably think about carrying a spare for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 So I went to see a band last night (actually, my former band), and the drummer broke his kick pedal. I didn't look too closely but it was one of those chain driven ones and it looks like it wasn't the chain that broke but maybe what attached it to the pedal itself. I've never heard of that before so I'm wondering if that's not such a rare occurrence. The drummer didn't have a spare so had to go home and get one. Fortunately, he wasn't that far away but the round trip still took probably a half hour. Needless to say, the bar manager was not pleased (the band was playing bkgd music from an iPod at least).I've actually switched to drums in the band I'm in and that just scared me cuz I would never have thought to bring a spare pedal. I do have a spare pedal but it's the beginner pedal. So my real question I guess is, should I buy a backup pedal that's comparable to my current pedal or is this such a rare thing that the beginner pedal is enough for a backup? I've seen several kick pedals break over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoeDirt Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 They break often enough that the drummer should have a spare with him. Can get a used one pretty cheap on CL that there really is no reason not to bring one along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Tie Wraps are your friend. You would be amazed at what you can fix in pinch with them. I carry a ton of them on my motorcycle. They have gotten me home several times ,,, They are not a bad idea in your bands fix it kit too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Tie wraps, Duct Tape and a spare most everything! I have a double pedal I use so in case my kick pedal would crap out on me I would just unhook the double, place the beater on the left one and use that. Otherwise I would have a 2nd kick pedal with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 I play a double so that I've got a spare if either one of them breaks or if I just get sick of playing with my right leg because I'm lazy (or drunk). Equipment failure is a BIG worry for me. I switched over to electronic drums, and while a pad or two failing wouldn't be a problem, the actual drum module would be a show-ending event. I carry an SPD-S (sampler with nine pads) that I could use to limp through the show, but it'd be pretty miserable. Aside from that, I've got a backup for anything that could possibly go wrong. But dropping $2k on a duplicate drum module definitely isn't within budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members drumz4hire Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Tie wraps, Duct Tape and a spare most everything! I have a double pedal I use so in case my kick pedal would crap out on me I would just unhook the double, place the beater on the left one and use that. Otherwise I would have a 2nd kick pedal with me. +1 At a recent gig, the piece that connects the chain on my primary pedal broke on the last song of the set, i was able finish the song on the slave pedal, then swapped chains. Kind of shook my confidence in the Eliminator Back to my DW5000 single for now...think I'll try belts on the Eliminator..cheaper than the chain anyhow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Equipment failure is a BIG worry for me. I switched over to electronic drums, and while a pad or two failing wouldn't be a problem, the actual drum module would be a show-ending event. I carry an SPD-S (sampler with nine pads) that I could use to limp through the show, but it'd be pretty miserable.Aside from that, I've got a backup for anything that could possibly go wrong. But dropping $2k on a duplicate drum module definitely isn't within budget. I gig with a Roland TD-8 but I bring my TD-6 module to the gig just in case it would crap out on me. It wouldn't be the same but it would work. the td 6 has some great sounds on it and my td8 I have used gigging for the last 7 years, tweeking the hell out of my settings. I got it to sound pretty sweet. I am not sure if you are gigging with a roland V drum like me but you can pick up an older used module for way under 2K like the td-10, td-8 or td-6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted March 13, 2010 Members Share Posted March 13, 2010 Zeromus-X just look at some pics on your band's page... what kind of E-drums are you playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 If you maintain your gear and it is quality to begin with, it should be a rare occurence for you. Where the breakage is going to occur is on a moving part, most likely: I've seen broken hinges on DW pedals (which is why that's a readily available replacement/upgrade part), I've seen broken links on chains, I've seen the entire hoop clamp assembly bust... You could carry around a backup for everything in your kit if you really wanted to and still not be covered, but rather than a full backup pedal, I carry backups of all the usual suspect parts for my pedal in a large shoulder bag that contains backups for those kind of parts on all my hardware, basic handtools, spare snares, etc.For my pedal, I carry a full extra spring assembly (from the top hook, to spring, to the threaded washers to tighten the whole assembly to the pedal frame), plus an extra hook and spring or two, plus 5-6 extra straps (Yep, I still play a strap-drive pedal. Have 4 of the same model, actually). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 Zeromus-X just look at some pics on your band's page... what kind of E-drums are you playing? Yamaha DTXTREME III Special. I'm most likely going to grab an Alesis D4 unit and throw it in our rack as a "just in case" measure. It'll take me two minutes to re-patch everything but I'll be good to go. Ultimately my plan is to build a "mini-rack" for the drum brain, so I'll just use a rack space and build a 1/4" splitter so that both units are continually hooked up. In the event of a failure, it's as simple as muting one channel on the mixer and un-muting the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mr3lions Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 I've seen two break but fortunately they were both at practices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rim Posted March 14, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 I really like the tie wraps idea and will definitely keep some on hand. I've been meaning to give double pedals a try and having a built-in backup is yet another reason to get one. I'll try my beginner pedal at the next band practice and see if I can still play how I want to play with it. That should tell me whether I'd need a better backup pedal (or go ahead with a double pedal). Thanks for the responses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 If you maintain your gear and it is quality to begin with, it should be a rare occurence for you.Where the breakage is going to occur is on a moving part, most likely: I've seen broken hinges on DW pedals (which is why that's a readily available replacement/upgrade part), I've seen broken links on chains, I've seen the entire hoop clamp assembly bust...You could carry around a backup for everything in your kit if you really wanted to and still not be covered, but rather than a full backup pedal, I carry backups of all the usual suspect parts for my pedal in a large shoulder bag that contains backups for those kind of parts on all my hardware, basic handtools, spare snares, etc.For my pedal, I carry a full extra spring assembly (from the top hook, to spring, to the threaded washers to tighten the whole assembly to the pedal frame), plus an extra hook and spring or two, plus 5-6 extra straps (Yep, I still play a strap-drive pedal. Have 4 of the same model, actually). This! My drummer was a full time road player for many years, and learned to carry a tool kit, spare chain, springs, washers, wing nuts, drum keys, tape, wire, hose clamps, as well as spare kick and hi hat pedals, heads, a couple of cymbals, tuning nuts, and a few stand parts. I do the same thing for my guitar rig- carry extra cords, strings, tubes, a small backup amp, soldering gun, microtools, power cord ends, etc. Years on the road will teach you that things can go wrong no matter how well you maintain gear (which you should do) and usually at the worst time. Playing a week in some little town in Montana or Saskatchewan with no real music stores for 100 miles teaches you to be prepared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dogtownmax Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 This!My drummer was a full time road player for many years, and learned to carry a tool kit, spare chain, springs, washers, wing nuts, drum keys, tape, wire, hose clamps, as well as spare kick and hi hat pedals, heads, a couple of cymbals, tuning nuts, and a few stand parts. I do the same thing for my guitar rig- carry extra cords, strings, tubes, a small backup amp, soldering gun, microtools, power cord ends, etc. Years on the road will teach you that things can go wrong no matter how well you maintain gear (which you should do) and usually at the worst time. Playing a week in some little town in Montana or Saskatchewan with no real music stores for 100 miles teaches you to be prepared. im with you on this, though i have stopped carrying a soldering kit with me. but extra cables, strings, power strips and extension cords, screw and allen tools, ear plugs, circuit tester, and flask, as well as other stuff. it fits in one medium sized bag with lots of pockets. lots of guitar players are not terribly technical wrt maintaining their gear. many guitarists dont know how their instruments are wired, or how to solder stuff. heck, many players out there dont know how to do a basic setup or set intonation. ive played with guitar players who dont know what the scale length of their guitar is, or even that there are various scale lengths at all. some are pretty good players though, just not particularly road worthy, gearwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 It's not too uncommon anymore for the beater to break, no. I didn't used to see that as often as I do now, so maybe there's a quality control issue. Our drummer has broken beaters several times at gigs, and he doesn't play like a caveman although he does hit hard. He carries a spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kmart Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 This!My drummer was a full time road player for many years, and learned to carry a tool kit, spare chain, springs, washers, wing nuts, drum keys, tape, wire, hose clamps, as well as spare kick and hi hat pedals, heads, a couple of cymbals, tuning nuts, and a few stand parts. I do the same thing for my guitar rig- carry extra cords, strings, tubes, a small backup amp, soldering gun, microtools, power cord ends, etc. Years on the road will teach you that things can go wrong no matter how well you maintain gear (which you should do) and usually at the worst time. Playing a week in some little town in Montana or Saskatchewan with no real music stores for 100 miles teaches you to be prepared. I don't carry spare hardware due to the added weight, but I also only buy hardware that will resist a total catastrophic failure, and any breakdown at a given gig would be of the order of 'stripped threads' or the like, and able to be temporarily worked around using copious amounts of gaff tape... Plus, I'm not on the road more than a handful of times a year any more; 95% of my gigging is within 10 miles of my house. I should also mention that in this same bag, in addition to any little part a drum or piece of hardware could possibly need, a half dozen Sharpies and 2-3 mini-Mag litres and about 20 drum keys, I also carry a spare 15' instrument cable, numerous sets & singles of guitar strings, a couple fresh 9 volt batteries, and a tuner... ...because no guitarist I've ever played with has ever been as prepared as I, and it's just easier on me to have that stuff than to have to deal with them realizing they don't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lsits Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 I play a 60's era Speed King and have never had a problem, aside from the beater shaft coming loose. That was my fault. I now make sure everything is good and tight every time I set up. I've never liked the chain drives. Too many things that could go wrong. A little bit of grease every six months or so and it's good to go. It'll probably outlast me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steadfastly Posted March 14, 2010 Members Share Posted March 14, 2010 Tie wraps, Duct Tape and a spare most everything! I have a double pedal I use so in case my kick pedal would crap out on me I would just unhook the double, place the beater on the left one and use that. Otherwise I would have a 2nd kick pedal with me. Duct tape is the handy man's secret weapon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted March 15, 2010 Members Share Posted March 15, 2010 I should also mention that in this same bag, in addition to any little part a drum or piece of hardware could possibly need, a half dozen Sharpies and 2-3 mini-Mag litres and about 20 drum keys, I also carry a spare 15' instrument cable, numerous sets & singles of guitar strings, a couple fresh 9 volt batteries, and a tuner......because no guitarist I've ever played with has ever been as prepared as I, and it's just easier on me to have that stuff than to have to deal with them realizing they don't... Yep. In my last band I always had a pack of guitar picks, a full set of guitar strings, and a full set of bass strings. They came in handy more than once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members summit111 Posted March 15, 2010 Members Share Posted March 15, 2010 My Brothers, I always being a spare kick pedal and a spare snare drum. Too hard to repair mid set, and too easy to just replace in mere seconds. I've had Iron Cobras crap out. Try to repair one on stage in limited lighting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members piersonm Posted March 15, 2010 Members Share Posted March 15, 2010 Two pedals and two snares with a shelf in my road case containing spare bolts, nuts, screws and various tapes. 20 extra pounds doesn't mean much when something breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rim Posted March 28, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2010 Great points about a spare snare drum, too! I was thinking of at least bringing a spare snare top but if you broke it in the middle of a set then a spare snare drum will definitely get you back up quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Toto99 Posted March 28, 2010 Members Share Posted March 28, 2010 Duct tape is the handy man's secret weapon. Gaffa tape > Duct Tape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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