Axis, Trick, Pearl Demon Drive... I need input!

Hendrix91

Junior Member
I am looking for input, preferably on people who have played on at least 2 of these pedals for a fair comparison. I take drum lessons at a store and I play on Axis X Longboards. At first I couldn't stand them, but as I got used to them, I started loving them. I have saved up a bunch of money, so price doesn't matter, and am looking to buy the best double bass pedal for me. I want a direct drive longboard pedal, so that narrows it down to Trick Bigfoots, Pearl Demon Drives, or Axis A / X pedals.

I want a very loud, hard hit from my bass pedal, so that my bass drum is easily heard over my other drums. The Axis X I play on gives me this more than anything I've played on, and I'm not sure if it's because of the beater or something, but it's loud and sounds great. I'm wondering if the sonic hammer beaters sound as good, and will the Axis X beaters work fine on an Axis A? I heard that if I wanted to use the X beaters to just get an X, because of some design flaw in the A.

Anyway, to sum it up, I want a very loud, hard hitting, direct drive long board double bass pedal.
 
I've only played the Axis and Trick pedals.

To summarize, I think the Trick Pro 1-V is a superior pedal, but it does lack some power. The Axis pedal has a top-heavy beater, which packs a large punch.

I think you'll find the Trick to be superior as well, but if a powerful stroke is a priority, the Trick seems out of the question. (I haven't had time to play with the Trick settings, but I doubt it can achieve the power of the monster Sonic Hammer beater.)
 
Yeah, a powerful stroke is a priority for me. Maybe if I bought different beaters for the Trick pedals? The only downside I really see with Axis is I hear it's a major pain to set up and adjust, and I'm a novice to that kind of stuff so I don't know how I'll manage.
 
Go for a Axis, you can adjust the amount of Power the pedal gives you with a adjustable bar near the beater, they are very powerful. I have axis x's with stock DW beaters, and they are hell loud :). for beater, i would get something that has a large strike surface area, that'll give you that bit more volume :)
 
I've only played the Axis and Trick pedals.

To summarize, I think the Trick Pro 1-V is a superior pedal, but it does lack some power. The Axis pedal has a top-heavy beater, which packs a large punch.

I think you'll find the Trick to be superior as well, but if a powerful stroke is a priority, the Trick seems out of the question. (I haven't had time to play with the Trick settings, but I doubt it can achieve the power of the monster Sonic Hammer beater.)

Surely an easy ay to get the power from the Trick would be to bring the beater almost as high as it can go, bring it back about 6 inchs from the head and replace the beater with something heavier and if it aint heavy enough, add a beater weight? I've heard sonic hammers are far too heavy and that most people replace them with IC beater heads.
 
Seems to me that if I"m looking to spend that kind of cash the pedal would be everything I want and need right out of the box and I wouldn't have to buy any beaters or anything for it to make it work.

I've played on Axis a few times at the store as well as the demon drives. Between those two I'd say Axis, just didn't like the feel of the pearl. Haven't had the opportunity to put my foot on any trick pedals. I'd also like to try out Yamaha's direct drive pedals but no one around me carries them.

As far as adjustments and setup, the only way you'll get experience is to jump in and start tweaking. making one adjustment at a time and noting where the adjustment was set before you changed it so you can change it back.

Have you thought about just putting a mic in front of your bass to get it to cut through, also do you have any muffling inside your bass. What heads are you using?
 
I've played all three and after more than two months making comparisons between the Pearl Demon Drive and the Trick Pro 1 v, I decided on the Trick. It has great power, super smooth, very fast, faultless design and is absolutely noiseless, which is great for recording. It has many very easy to adjust features, no more crawling on my hands and feet to make a simple tension adjustment. The beater and foot board adjustments are calibrated, so if you want to try a different setting and you find that you liked the previous setting better, you can just go back according to the calibration and set it back to where it was. I have a bunch of different pedals I play and the Trick Pro 1 v is the best in my opinion.

Here's a few pictures I took of mine.

DSC_0186-1.jpg


DSC_0152-1.jpg


DSC_0194-3.jpg


Dennis
 
Out of these 3 only the Axis has been time tested. Its too early to tell what's going to wear on the other two pedals affecting their/your performance.

Trick is well made, simpler in design than even Axis, but its still relatively new. What concerns me about the Trick is its rear hinge. Everybody's happy now, but if you're in it for the long haul, there may be surprises in the future. Any pedal you buy will automatically go into 'wear-out' mode as soon as you start playing it, its the nature of the beast. Pedals are played in a constant, sequential state of degradation. Since this is usually a slow process, players adapt to the differences.

Axis pedals bought 20 years ago will play like new requiring only simple user maintenance. Even the rear hinge on an Axis can be user tightened to like new spec's should it wear.

Tricks rear hinge is a metal pin pressed into the foot board. Forever grinding steel against aluminum, with no way of stopping it. It may take years, but it will happen.

Trick is well made, easy to adjust, but IMO limited by the compression spring. As comp-spring tension is increased, feel suffers. The feel is not linear like that of an extension spring. Not a problem if you play a light tension. I would like to see Trick release a pedal based on the same Pro IV platform that uses an extension spring.

Demon Drive is still just a 'spring chicken' that Pearl hopes will still be laying golden egg's for years to come.
 
I've only played the Axis and Trick pedals.

To summarize, I think the Trick Pro 1-V is a superior pedal, but it does lack some power. The Axis pedal has a top-heavy beater, which packs a large punch.

I think you'll find the Trick to be superior as well, but if a powerful stroke is a priority, the Trick seems out of the question. (I haven't had time to play with the Trick settings, but I doubt it can achieve the power of the monster Sonic Hammer beater.)

Funny you should mention Axis packing a large punch because I could never get such a thing out mine. In particular, I felt that the sonic beaters lacked the power. In fact, I hated those beaters with a passion, I swapped mine out for some old DW beaters of mine and it worked better. The heavy shaft of the sonic hammer beaters made it feel sledgy to me, probably because of the different moment of inertia. I'm not a fan of direct drive in general, as playing fast is not everything...the feel is the most important. The feel of a chain or strap pedal gives me more of a catapulting motion whereas the translation of foot movement to the stroke of a direct drive is too.....direct.

I have nothing against Axis pedals, in fact I think they are VERY well built and very tough. If you haven't gotten some experience with a direct drive pedal, however, I would recommend trying them before jumping on the bandwagon because they just aren't made for everyone.
 
Okay, I just checked up on this post now.


Have you thought about just putting a mic in front of your bass to get it to cut through, also do you have any muffling inside your bass. What heads are you using?

I'm using a Powerstoke 3 batter head, and the stock resonant head. I've thought about using a mic, but I wasn't sure if it would be too loud. I have a small dampening pad inside of the drum.

If you haven't gotten some experience with a direct drive pedal, however, I would recommend trying them before jumping on the bandwagon because they just aren't made for everyone.

I play on Axis X's where I take drum lessons and I love them. I just wasn't sure if I'd like the Trick or Pearls more. I'm probably going with the axis. They do take some getting used to at first, and I had to adjust a lot to playing them, but now I hate playing at home without them. :p
 
Also, is it true that a full allen key set is needed to assemble and adjust the Axis pedals? I'm don't want to get them and not be able to set them up.. I'm not good with that stuff.. lol
 
Also, is it true that a full allen key set is needed to assemble and adjust the Axis pedals? I'm don't want to get them and not be able to set them up.. I'm not good with that stuff.. lol
Yea, you need allen keys to assemble and adjust axis pedals, but once its setup its basically 1 or 2 keys that you'll use, the smallest one is used to adjust the drive shaft position and the 3rd smallest one is used for adjusting the connection bar if you use a double. so if you're using a single pedal, after you assemble it (which is easy as pie, its semi-assembled anyway) you just gotta keep 1 allen key with your drum key :). I hate people who go on and on that axis pedals suck coz you have to adjust them with allen keys, IMO its good, 1) it prevents enemies from sabotaging your settings :p, 2) it is much easier to undo a screw with an allen key than a screwdriver.
 
Hello,

I have played the Axis A & I own the Pearl DD's - I have found the demon drive beaters do not cut it when it comes to power, However, They do pack quite a punch mechanically (in the pedals), So I'm using the DD's with iron cobra beaters and I've found I get decent power from them.

As for the Axis, The power was pretty similar as far as I can remember. I didn't notice anything spectacular regarding power. They are great pedals, but I didn't quite like them.. perhaps because I played them on someones kit so it was 'tuned' for their playing style. As I mentioned before I've gone for the DD's, The Axis didn't quite cut it for me. But It is ALL PREFERENCE! you cannot take my word for it, Nor anyone elses, Go try them both out and compare for yourself.

Hope this Helped! :)
 
After some serious debate and testing, I ordered the Axis A longboard doubles on musician's friend. Next day shipping! And an Aquarian double kick pad.
 
After some serious debate and testing, I ordered the Axis A longboard doubles on musician's friend. Next day shipping! And an Aquarian double kick pad.

Any trouble with set-up, adjustments, just holla back, we can help.

Got great Sonic Hammer tips, also trouble shooting, care and feeding etc.
 
I just set them up. For some reason the beater seems to bounce back and forth or vibrate on the head a little bit on some harder strokes and it's really annoying and it throws me off. How do I fix this?
 
I just set them up. For some reason the beater seems to bounce back and forth or vibrate on the head a little bit on some harder strokes and it's really annoying and it throws me off. How do I fix this?

Make sure you have the Sonic Hammer's face tight. If you mean beater 'dribble', you'll need to mess with head tension/dampening, set up the kick like the store's kit you take lessons on.
 
So it's the drum, or the pedal? I have the pedal tension on stock right now, which I'm assuming is the lowest it can go. Also, I heard someone say once that if you pull back both the beaters and let them go, they should stop at the same time. One of mine stops way, way earlier than the other. Is this normal, or how do I fix this?
 
Hendrix91
Re: Axis, Trick, Pearl Demon Drive... I need input!
So it's the drum, or the pedal?


You need to experiment with different settings, tension, beater height, head tension, find out what you're missing. All the answers are in front of you, you just need to find them.

I heard someone say once that if you pull back both the beaters and let them go, they should stop at the same time. One of mine stops way, way earlier than the other.

Not a concern. If the slave is moving freely, than everything is alright. The main pedal will usually have more 'waggle'.

Copy the stores lesson kit's pedal settings if you like that feel, also notice how that bass drum is tensioned/damped. Mess with settings, make the Axis your byotch.
 
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