DW 9000 Pedal

The DW 9000 pedal has all the features one can ask from a pedal. It's easy to set up, and once you find the right adjustments, you never need to worry about them again. I like how the beater is a bit heavier than most beaters. It helps me to play very hard and heavy when I need to, but it still doesn't make the pedal feel like it's working against you, even when you play softly. It's also nice that switching between plastic and felt is quick and effortless. You can tell just by looking at the pedal, that it's a high quality product that has been engineered by professionals and made from the best materials.

In a nutshell, this is a very good pedal. It allows me to play easily in any kind of a situation: slow, fast, hard, softly. It feels like a natural extension of my leg, and it always does exactly what I want it to. You know that you have a great pedal when you forget that its even there - you just play "with your ears" and enjoy the music!

I was using the old model for years. When the cam is in standard "off" position, the hit is powerful and even through the whole stroke, which sound engineers love. Maybe it's the mass of the pedal (it's built like a tank) or is the design of the cam plus the rotor, I don't know, but the pedal makes you play harder, even if your playing technique is not to bury the beater. The other thing to mention is the fluidity of the pedal - it's like non other. Sometimes that specific soft feel is too much. For such moments I have another pedal (custom 6000 strap drive upgraded with 5000 pedal parts), but I always go back to the 9000 pedal. I need to mention that I use strap only on all my pedals. I use the Sonor Perfect Balance Pedal kevlar strap instead of the original DW strap. I've seen some broken DW and Yamaha straps trough the years, so upgrade with kevlar strap is a must. Using the 9000 pedal for so many years I found the best setting to my foot, so that the whole system is very light, fast, and responsive - kevlar strap plus lighter felt beater 75 gr. (the DW standart beater is 99 gr) which I make from old felt beaters and the "ball" of the beater almost touch the foot (Danny Carey style) plus absolutely loose spring. This way the power and the control are immense. The other thing is that when the beater touch the batter head, the shaft of the beater should be in a 90 degrees angle to the ground, not more than that. The front of the bass drum should be rased from the ground to achieve that position. The new modifications on the 9000 pedal make it even better - the new design of the cam, the clamping mechanism for the bass drum hoop and the rubber layer on the base plate.
Yet there's something negative! DW tighten all nuts and bolts so much that is almost impossible to loosen the surtain part. To change the chain with a strap is a pain in the a**!!! On some parts they put white Loctite threadlocker, others are just really well tighten with a pneumatic screwdriver. In this case the problem is the nut below the footboard. Don't go for the phillips bolt head - trying to unloose it you will only stripped the bolt head. You need to untighten the nut bellow. There's no Loctite but stop washer between the footboard (which is made from soft "aluminium" metal) and the steel part of the chain. DW, this has to be a simple procedure!

I have long been a huge fan of the dw 9000 series and own pretty much the whole range. This pedal feels great and is impeccably smooth. However, I have experienced no ends of issues with it. It has a problem that I know myself and a fair few other drummers have experienced. After a few months of use the baseplate will begin to bend. When you clamp it to the hoop of the drum the bottom end (Heel) of the pedal will lift off of the ground meaning that when you try and play; the pedal, and the drum will end up bouncing around and become a real problem for you when you play. THIS PEDAL IS ABSOLUTELY NOT WORTH IT! It really pains me to say but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Very disappointing