My second lockdown project was a tambourine pedal. This was purchased new and started life as the DWCP2010T, so part of the 2000 series of pedals. The design works fine but straight out of the box I was fairly sure I could improve it!
Firstly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the tambourine that they provide with the pedal - it was a bit too clattery and extremely high pitched.
This was a relatively easy fix, I just used one of my favourite Gon Bops steel tambourines.
By removing the mount on the DW/LP tambourine, drilling two small holes and enlarging them with my trusty step bit I was able to add the pedal mount to the Gon Bops Tambourine without affecting its normal usage.
Second problem was the feel; the 2000 series pedal has only a single chain drive and a very basic heel hinge. This, combined with a very narrow base plate, made the pedal feel very wobbly and unstable.
Luckily (thanks to Bob Pearce) I had a spare DW 9000 baseplate and pedalboard with the upgraded hinge in the workshop, meaning I could not only add a lot wider board with a solid hinge/double chain, but also the finished pedal would match the rest of my pedal rig (which is not only good visually but also helps when you are moving your foot between pedals).
Two of the mounting holes lined up with the 2000 pedal and adding two more countersunk holes mounted the tambourine pedal's frame to the 9000 base plate. The base plate did need some slight modification to grind flat the edges of some of the strengthening splines, but this only took a few minutes with my Dremmel and a grinding disk.
I then needed to get the DW double chain to connect to the main hexagonal drive. A quick search through spares unearthed a Pearl Eliminator cam unit wide enough for a double chain and a little bit of work with a chain tool allowed me to add the Pearl chain end plate to the DW double chain. As an added bonus I can also use the Eliminator interchangeable cams to change the feel of the tambourine pedal if I’d like - possibly an experiment for another day!
Two more angle cut holes allowed the pedal spikes clearance through the base plate and I was ready to test the pedal.
First test was great, but also highlighted another problem - the impact of the tambourine over time causes the rubber pad on the tambourine pedal to start to twist (the unit is held on with tension from the hoop clamp on a flat chromed metal section). To counteract this, but still allow the pedal to collapse for storage, I added an old style DW memory lock and a couple of rubber spacers. The central opening was almost a perfect width to take the tambourine pad arm fitting. By screwing one side of the memory lock through the base plate with a long screw on one side and a short screw on the other the memory lock stays fixed with a single short tension bolt from above. This has completely solved the twisting problem without adding too much hassle or weight.
The last thing I did was figure out a way of relocating the hoop clamp to cope with the new position of the pedal, by reusing two of the existing hoop clamp holes and adding two new holes I was able to mount the original 9000 Series side adjust hoop clamp more centrally to cope with the smaller fitting on the 2000 series pedal. An added bonus of using the memory lock on the pedal is I’m having to use only minimal torque to secure the pad arm which will add to the lifespan of the pedal.
Another successfully completed project!
