Ludwig Speed King Bass Drum Pedal Demo

In the early 20th century, William F. Ludwig set about designing a functional and reliable bass pedal for real working drummers like himself, a pedal you could carry in your coat pocket that was responsive enough to keep up with the vibrant ragtime rhythms of the day. Thankfully for all drummers everywhere, William succeeded, and their feet finally had something useful to do. Fast-forward over a century later, and the modern Speed King keeps everything that was great about the original while adding contemporary features to make it even better, such as improved cam bearings, a smoother and more durable direct-drive linkage, and heel plate bearings to quash the infamous Speed King “squeak.“

0:00 – Intro
0:20 – Did You Know?
2:08 – Reimagined Ludwig Speed King Pedal
2:51 – Heel Plate Bearings
3:18 – Compression Springs
3:43 – A Few More Upgrades
4:39 – Thanks for Watching!

#Sweetwater #Ludwig

[sweetwater]

The modern Speed King offers everything you need and nothing you don’t 🔥 Which upgraded feature are you most excited about?

[danielskoffa]

This pedal is so famous that Deep Purple even wrote a song about it.

[robote]

Haven't played drums for years now but the only pedal that ever felt perfect while I did play was the classic Speedking (late 60's to mid 80's), just loved the feel of that pedal.

[dedexyz]

Wow....a blast from the past; this was my first pedal in the late 1960's. My kit was a Ludwig 5 piece, white marine pearl. The only weakness w/ the pedal is the beater not placed correctly/the tail, it will impact the "clip" connecting beater to the pedal. As I learned a few times.

[PurpleWatchtower]

Definitely the best pedal ever made...

[WyattLite-n-inn]

That’s some good toe up bass drum pedal form ..

[RC-gfcs]

I still have one from 1968 ..got it with my brand new marine pearl ludwigs .which i also still have

[swervature]

I don't play drums, but thanks for the info!

[musshwins]

Wonder why they break so easy. I broke two in the early 80's and decided that socket and chain are far superior.

[ppernett]

If you don’t like the squeak, the Ludwig Speed King is not for you. Yeah it squeaks, it’s the most musical squeak in music history. It is as much a part of the speed king sound as the long throw of the beater. My speed king is a 1964 version that I refurbished myself. It’s as good as new, and still the single best bass pedal ever made, bar none. For Those of us who love them there is no other pedal. And if you don’t love them, you hate them. Now, if they only made a double bass pedal out of the speed king…. Hmmm, I might be able to engineer that, but I need more speed kings.

[rdeleon]

Dude looks like jimmy Moore from the wedding singer(Jon lovitz)

[gregburrows]

Sold my speed king with my first set... that was a mistake.