Pearl Demon Drive vs. Trick Pro 1-V

Swol335i

Member
Well I took a trip to my local drum shop and they have the Demon Drive in stock. Didn't think it was coming out for a few more weeks but I got to play with it and it is very smooth and sturdy. It has nice heavy duty springs too. It is quite apparent that you can convert a double into 2 singles. It even feels very similar to my old Iron Cobra in such a way that I didn't feel alienated (not that it had the exact same feel).

However, there is NO WHERE near me that has the Trick Pro 1-V to try out. Please, if anyone has experience with the Trick as well as the Demon Drive can you shed some light on the situation? I don't know whether or not to take the plunge and just buy the DD or to try the Trick first. I've heard great things about the Trick. If I could only find one to test out
 
In the Pearl Demon Drive thread that is still active as of today, I think someone compared the demon drive to trick and axis. Go check it out.
 
I have the Trick, and have played the Demon. It's a nice pedal to be sure, but doesn't make me want to stop using my Trick.

With comparable pricing, it will be interesting to see which pedal wins out. People want the Trick, but don't want to pay $325. If they think the Pearl is going to be less expensive, they're in for a shock! Well, $319 technically is less expensive, but not enough to sway anyone who really wanted the Trick in the first place.

Imagine you wanted a Craviotto kit, but they're too expensive so you got DW. All of a sudden, DW raises its prices to the level of Craviotto. Does the drummer stick with DW... or get the Craviotto? :)

The real advantage of the Demon is that Pearl probably has a 100% presence in stores across the world, and Trick doesn't. So it's going to be easier to check-out the Pearl.

Again, I'm not tempted to switch.

Bermuda
 
I've not tried either pedal.The main difference between them are the springs.Trick has compression springs,Pearl has tension springs.They operate in the opposite way.The most famous & very first compression spring pedal is the Ludwig SpeedKing.
 
The Demon drive is getting great reviews on the Pearl forum that I am a member of also- This pedal looks the bizz and I would love to have the time and spare cash to get one if it felt right!

Well of course the Demon Drive is getting good reviews on the PEARL forum lol.

I'm just teasin. But in all seriousness, I have the chance to buy the Trick for practically the same price as the Demon Drive. In that case, I have a feeling the Trick wins out.
 
With comparable pricing, it will be interesting to see which pedal wins out. People want the Trick, but don't want to pay $325. If they think the Pearl is going to be less expensive, they're in for a shock! Well, $319 technically is less expensive, but not enough to sway anyone who really wanted the Trick in the first place.

The real advantage of the Demon is that Pearl probably has a 100% presence in stores across the world, and Trick doesn't. So it's going to be easier to check-out the Pearl.

I stopped at GC just to pick up a couple heads and they had a big display for the DD smack dab in the middle of the drum section. They had a double and a single up on the table but none set up to try out on a kit. I started looking at them and the kid working there practically fell over himself pitching the DD as the best pedal ever. It was worse than a sales pitch from a used car dealership. I looked at it and it seems it can be converted from a single to a double, but a lot of stuff would have to be added on to the single to convert. Not as quick a switch as with the Trick. I mentioned this to the saleskid and he basically went off on the Trick saying it's a super custom order or something and way more expensive and not as good as the Pearl. (GC price is $650 for the DD double and $740 for the Trick double. DD and Trick singles are within $10 of each other though.) I hate high pressure sales tactics so I just thanked him and walked away.

What's funny to me is GC sells Trick pedals too, but only on their website. They never have any in the store to try out. And the only time I've seen an Axis there was a beat up used one. They had lots of stock of DD though. Seems to me there may be a big push from Pearl and GC to move this pedal. What's weird is why wouldn't GC want to sell DDs and Tricks in store too? A sale is a sale right?
 
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Seems to me there may be a big push from Pearl and GC to move this pedal. What's weird is why wouldn't GC want to sell DDs and Tricks in store too? A sale is a sale right?

Pearl is a huge account for GC, and vice versa. The Demon is the hot new thing from them, so it's no surprise both sides want to hype it.

But the absence of the Trick pedals (and other high-end gear) in GC is that the customer-base doesn't really support gear at that level. There aren't many pros who shop there, parents looking at PDP and other imports for their kids certainly aren't going to buy expensive gear, and most working drummers aren't buying high-end gear there either. Yet the Demon is almost as much as the Trick, so I'm wondering why they wouldn't now consider bringing some Pro 1-v's into the stores?

Well, the probable answer is that Bain Capital (GC's owner) has been watching every penny, and the downturn in the economy has been scaring everyone. With 200+ stores, bringing just one pedal to each store represents around $50,000. That may not seem like a lot for a big company... but it is. Unlike Pearl and other huge companies who offer terms, I'm guessing Trick expects payment quickly, and in-full.

Bermuda
 
I got my foot on a DD demo at GC in west palm beach and it was great. The one thing i did notice, albeit it was as smooth as the trick and a DW9000 and axis, it didn't have the "glued to your foot" feel that my Trick pedal has (although it could probably be set up to come close). Excellent pedal though, i might end up buying one just to see if adjustments make it better for me. I talked to the sales guy though about the Trick and he said "everybody is calling that pedal the best on the market now, many people are jumping the axis ship and going to trick". He also said that GC attempted to order 2000 Trick detonator units for system-wide distribution but the company is still much too small to fill that order, that's why it has to be a custom order.
 
He also said that GC attempted to order 2000 Trick detonator units for system-wide distribution but the company is still much too small to fill that order, that's why it has to be a custom order.

Wow, that's really ambitious, and great that GC's drum buyers (Glenn & Mark) have faith in the product now that the $300 barrier on single pedals has also been exceeded by Pearl. Hopefully Trick can start small and get a few pedals in key GC stores, and make up the difference as they're able.

Bermuda
 
With respect to the Trick Pro 1-V, can somebody tell me why you would go with the long footboard as opposed to the standard length? Does it have to do with heel-down vs. heel-up playing?
 
A longer footboard has a bit more power from its different leverage. As a result, it's also not as speedy as a standard footboard. It's just a matter of preference.

Bermuda
 
Wow, that's really ambitious, and great that GC's drum buyers (Glenn & Mark) have faith in the product now that the $300 barrier on single pedals has also been exceeded by Pearl. Hopefully Trick can start small and get a few pedals in key GC stores, and make up the difference as they're able.

Bermuda


Yeah, with the economy going into the drain and manufacturing companies dying out, here's a company that just can't keep up with demand! I saw like 7 or 8 demon drives, new in a box on the showroom floor at GC in west palm, which is by far the smallest GC i've ever been in, so i know there's a GIANT factory in Japan somewhere cranking them out by the thousands. If Pearl would just price them at $500, they'd sell way more demons than axis and trick combined.
 
If Pearl would just price them at $500, they'd sell way more demons than axis and trick combined.

That is very true. Maybe the price will come down in a bit later on. I took a late lunch today and went to GC to get a head (which is all I usually buy there. Don't think I've ever bought anything else.) Middle of the afternoon seems a good time to go. There was absolutely no one in the drum room except a sales guy. And they had a Pearl DD single set up on a kit. I grabbed some sticks and proceeded to try it out for about 10-15 minutes. Wow, this pedal is a great pedal. At least compared to my Sonor Giant Step. I just wish I could compare it to the Trick. (Never played that one.)

The only negative I can see with the Pearl is it is much harder to add a double to the single later (but apparently can be done.) Not sure how much the add on will be. $650 for the double is almost $100 cheaper than the Trick. This is making me start to consider the Pearl more and more. Or just get the Trick Pro1V and try it and return it if I don't think it's my cup of tea. They also had a used Axis longboard there that was good too but felt a bit light to me.

Aaaargh! Choices are good right?
 
Well here is something interesting. The Pearl DD conversion pedal is listed from Memphis Drum shop on Ebay with a buy it now of $400! Add that to the current price of a single and you're talking well over $700, right into Trick Pro1V territory. This makes buying the double at $650 (or maybe less with discounts) more attractive vs the Trick double which is about $740.

It looks like if you got the single and then bought this double conversion, the single you had would end up being the slave pedal. I think.

Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pearl-Demon-Dri...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
 

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