PEARL DEMON DRIVE OWNERS REVIEW

[@brianloftus4919]

I just made the switch to these from using chain drive pedals since they were invented. What a difference. Ive got some work to do to get used to them on the gig....but looking forward to it! After two days in the shed......they feel great to me. Badass pedals.

[@brianloftus4919]

1st gig last night. I was giggling half way through. So very smooth and fast. Great purchase no doubt.

[@kshtimi]

They are awesome but I used a kinda garbage direct drive pedal by pdp and that made my left leg work 2x as hard to get the same speed, it's taking a while to adjust but the more I adjust the better I feel. Mike mangini also said they good so....

[@TheWitchOvAgnesi]

Ever since they were introduced in the mid-90's, I've been playing on the original Iron Cobras. But in the past year, I really feel I can no longer push them any further in terms of intricacy and precision on some song parts. Simply put, I need a direct drive pedal. So for all the reasons you mention in this video, and based on all the reviews I've read, this seems like the next pedal for me. I've tried the Axis and hated them. Same with Trick. Both have an approach that is radically different from the Cobras, whereas I get the impression the Demon Drives will be closer to what I've spent much of my drumming life on - a high tension spring pedal. The other selling point to these is that they do indeed use the very same linkage design that Trick does. Whether it's actually made by Trick, I'm not sure, but I believe it is. Trick's slave pedals offer zero latency as well. I HATE slave pedals with lag, and cannot execute the music I play with them. And as drummers today, we shouldn't HAVE to compromise. And lastly, your point about the ability to switch this double pedal setup into two separate singles... I am a fully devoted two bass drum player and really loathe playing the fast black metal that I play on a single kick. That being said, on shows where backline is provided, I don't always have that luxury. So I've been looking for a pedal that I can mainly use as two separate pedals, but can easily be switched to a double pedal should the need arise. Trick pedals offer the feature now as well, but when you compare playing approach, and prices... well, there is no comparison. Thanks for putting the icing on the cake. Hoping I like them when they arrive! I'd love to demo a set, but no one seems to carry these in store. But I think I'm making the right choice.

[@innercry]

Really interesting review. I've been playing Pearl P201Ps on two separate bass drums since the late 90's. I use an equivalent double pedal on my electric kit and a DW9002 pedal for gigs. I've always preferred the Pearls for whatever reason even though the DW's are a good pedal. I've been looking for a replacement for the P201Ps for years and was fairly sold on the red-line's and had discounted direct drive pedals on 'feel' grounds. However, based on your review I will have another look at the Demon drives.

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

I had a dw 9000 for a few months about a year ago. Was very nice, although it felt more floaty than I expected and the demons definitely high harder. Which was surprising.

[@innercry]

Heavy Drums Inc I’ve had to go to dammar beaters to get some extra ‘feel’ in them. I bought these about a year ago, it would be ironic if the ones I picked up are your old ones!

[@innercry]

7th Oct 2018 I picked mine up via ebay.

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Danmar beaters?

[@innercry]

@@heavydrumsinc4816 Typo - Danmar wood beaters. Heavier than the standard beaters. Has helped reduce the 'floaty' feeling with the DW pedal. First song of the set is double bass heavy and I was struggling to tell where the pedal was at. Quite a different sensation to the Pearls. Much improved since adding the Danmars.

[@mikerom7991]

Might get my hands on these and just wondering what might be the best beaters to install on these???

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

The pearl redline beaters work really well on it. And obviously you have four face options on it. I have tried recently trick dead blow beaters, and I can highly recommend those if you want alot of speed with good power. Also the cheap pearl beaters that are plastic one side and felt the other fly incredibly well on them. Consider them if money is tight.

[@theredrooms2079]

other than the crappy beaters the fact they don't have spikes on the left pedal to keep it in place is a let down. those silly little velcro square patches are stupid. its continually sliding forward on the carpet in the studio. anyone else have this problem? other than that I absolutely love it!

[@JFrancoDrums]

Hey! Are these pedals good for someone starting out? It's mostly for fast double bass Power Metal and Thrash Metal playing. I hear good things about them and from what i understand direct drive is ideal for fast Metal double bass, am i correct? It is for use with an electronic drum kit if that makes any difference. Thank you for the video!

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Hmmmm, if you're just learning you'll not have to adjust to the direct drive feel rather than chain. The demon drives thrive in those styles of music. Cheers for watching

[@JFrancoDrums]

@@heavydrumsinc4816 Thank you so much! The drummer i know she uses "Pearl P-1032 Eliminator Solo Black" but it is chain drive and she also plays fast power metal 90% of the time. Im still unsure mostly because is big price difference! Decisions, decisions!

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Well you don't need direct drives to play fast. They just help some people, sometimes. Depends what you're used to and what feels comfy. I'd recommend a good second hand pair of Pearl eliminators for you. They come with 4 interchangable cams, you can adjust the placement of the heel plate and can swap the chains for belts if you want. This gives you alot of customisable options for lots of feels. Belt drive is a nice Inbetween chain and direct drive feel.

[@JFrancoDrums]

@@heavydrumsinc4816 Yes i think im going to go with double chain drive eliminators and later on when i feel i need the better response of direct drive to be faster then i will go for it. Again, thanks a lot for helping!

[@dannyrowe8456]

Ive had dw 5000 didnt like yamaha fp9500d direct drives fell to bits in 2 months tama iron cobra snaped foot plate had demon drives for 11 years all i have changed is crap felt beaters and springs still working has they should

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

They're certainly very sturdy. Have you tried a speed cobra?

[@dannyrowe8456]

@@heavydrumsinc4816 no never tried them mate

[@dannyrowe8456]

Mate just bought speed cobras they feel so much better then the demon drives feel more part of ya foot and the extra lenght footboarf mekes a lot of difference so muchveasier to play fast demons in the bin lol cheers

[@publicprofilename4273]

You and I are very similar in regards to age, and years on the kit. I'm 44 now, and started around age 13 I think. I've had my demon drive for about 5 years now. I played a speed king in the beginning 5 years or so, and graduated to the DW5000 double pedals. I had the original, that had the 2nd frame with the curved beater thing on the master pedal, all the way til about 2016 when I retired my DW5002 Accelerator double, and gifted myself the demon. My guitarist hounded me for like 2 years to get that thing, as my dw pretty much had to be overhauled before every gig, and occasionally on stage between songs.... or verses lmao. I had 30 days to try out the demon and return it if it wasn't for me. That 30 days was awful! I could not stand this pedal. I couldn't get my feet to work correctly, and felt like I'd been demoted all the way back to noob status lol. I bought a floor model, so it was all out of whack when I got it, and it had a couple missing parts. I wasn't concerned about that during my trial phase, but again my guitarist talked me into keeping it. At that point I reached out to Pearl to order the missing pieces. Well, they called me in response to my email, and a technician walked me through setting it up exactly as it would've been in the box, and got a list of the parts I needed, 2 nuts, a lug, and the multitool drumkey. I was also missing the little maintenance package with the lubricant in it, and didn't even realize it. This guy and I talked for like 2 hours, emailed pics of our gear to one another, got my pedal dialed in, as I'd used substitutes for the missing pieces. At the end, when I was ready to settle up, and pay for my parts, guy said to me "oh please, I don't work for tips, and Pearl isn't charging you since you haven't given up on the Demon Drive. An email in a month telling me and Pearl that you've been won over, will do fine." Wow right? That is hands down the best customer service encounter I've ever had, in any situation, not just music gear. These guys floored me with how helpful and genuine they were in wanting to help me. So, FOUR DAYS LATER, with a weekend in there to boot. Ordered Friday, received Monday, my massive box arrived. What the hell? My items could've literally fit in an envelope, so.... I opened the box, got my missing pieces, some extra velcro prices "I complained about the lack of floor spikes, and still do" some extra nuts and bolts. Also, there was a distributor's catalog, which was absolutely beautiful. It had every product they have in it, and was all high quality print, and huge pictures of the gear, just a gorgeous book in a 3 ring Pearl labeled binder. They also included a drum key, which had a key chain ring on it, which it separates from when needed, and had several colored insterts on the ends to personalize it. There was also a 36 inch by maybe 16 inch logo Poster, and a Pearl labelled cloth. For real? That was totally unexpected, and is absolutely what I'd call "going over and above" for a customer. My regret is the Decade Maple line coming out almost a year after I purchased my current PDP Concept Maple kit. The Decade's in that flat white color? Anyway, the pedal. So, needless to say I felt obligated to really get down and dirty with this pedal. Considering the $500 I had in my floor demo model, and the royal family style treatment I received from Pearl, I hoped to get comfortable with it, and I definitely did get comfortable with it. My bass drum technique has advanced substantially more since 2016, than my entire 25ish prior years. I can now seemlessly sprinkle triplets into my straight 16th patterns. My consistency and accuracy is off the charts in comparison to my dw5000 days. My quick little triplet accents, have morphed into lightening quick quad bursts instead, but only when I want them to. My dynamics are more consistent, so that when tracking, the wav peaks are the same height all the way across the track, until there's a change in the songs dynamics. I just can't believe it, I have to thanks my guitarist friend for his persistence, and I know if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be the drummer I am now, because I couldn't stand that damn pedal for a good 3 months, and would've sold it. I play it in the long board configuration, with the beater in the "power" position, and the cam in the "finesse" position. I use DW5000 beaters on it, because yeah..... those beaters it comes with are pure garbage. The amazingly simple spring nut locks are something that should make every pedal designer EVER palm slap themselves in the forehead for not doing that sooner. The shaft is absolutely ZERO latency, to the point that, blind folded, you'd never be able to figure out which one is the slave pedal. The ability to change footboards from short to long is priceless. Pedals are expensive, and usually the down on Earth drummer will only be able to justify that cost maybe like, every 4 or 5 years or longer, making the plunge to a long board "or short board" is a much easier risk, when you can simply go back if it doesn't work out, and still have an awesome pedal. Still with me? This novel will he available on audible in coming months. So the bad.... Yes, it's not perfect. As mentioned above, and in the video, the stock beaters need some.... Dynamite, to make them better. Seriously I don't know what they were thinking with those things. Mine parted approximately 6 months, but really needed changing after 3 months. I was just being a cheapskate. The lack of floor spikes though, that's the biggest pain in my.... Class, pain in my class. Why? Why no spikes? Velcro? Really? You'd not believe the contraptions and hacks I've invented along the way to keep my slave pedal in place. At this moment, during covidtene, I'm playing electronic drums, and the erector set I've fabricated and mounted is, if nothing else, a conversation starter with other drummers lol. It's actually mounted on the pedal, the hi hat pedal, and the closest rack foot, and finally doesn't move lol. I had a problem with the stock beaters, where they'd loosen gradually until flying off. I overcame this by using the counter weight, memory lock things on the bottom of the beater rod sticking out of the mount. The dw ones haven't given me an issue, so they're in the bareback lol. Also, the nut that connects the direct drive linkage to the pedal board will work itself out, and the pedal board will detach from the chassis. This only occurs like once every 6 months or so, and has spurred me to occasionally give the whole pedal a once over, and practice better maintenance habits with it, so is that really a con? That's it, no spikes, bad stock beaters, occasional loses loosed nuts. For what this pedal brings to your drumming, these miniscule inconveniences are totally worth it! I give this pedal a 6 out of 5 stars, and couldn't recommend it more! It's a GREAT piece of gear, and you'll improve by using it, if you're patient with the learning curve like I wasn't lol.

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Yeah I suffered for exactly 3 months when I got the demons. And I did struggle to play easy double bass patterns all of a sudden. But after those three months once I was used to the pedals behaviour it was alot better. Excellent pedals. However I do now prefer the speed cobra. And yes its absolutely baffling why they didn't put spikes on the slave pedal side. And those beaters......Jesus, what a fail. Thanks for watching

[@TheStudioDrummer]

Great video. I know you are evaluating the Tama pedal vs the PDD currently. It will be interesting to see. I found this video because I have have an older PDD and am experiencing lag (drag is a better descriptor) on the left side. I think I am going to replace the drive shaft with the Trick (same as ZLink) and see if that fixes it. The pedal over all works really well for me coming from DW 5000 and 9000. Fingers crossed this will solve my drag issue... BTW, since you are a heel/toe player: do you experience a significant difference in the left side on the PDD when using this technique? Ha! I think I just heard the answer at 8:30.

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Thanks man. Funnily enough a drummer friend of mine has the older model demons. He reportd the same issue you mentioned. I think the first models had a slightly different drive shaft design. As it changed on later models. I'm guessing this is why. No lag on my ones. Rock solid for 4 years. I actually sold my demon drives a week ago as the speed cobras have impressed so much. I'm surprised at how good I find them. If you haven't already, try the s.c. But demon drives are still extremely good.

[@TheStudioDrummer]

@@heavydrumsinc4816 Wow! That is saying something that you sold your DD. I'll try to get my hands on a Speed Cobra and check it out.

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

@@TheStudioDrummer yeah definitely give them a go. I was really really glad I did.

[@lucasgolden2115]

Getting ready to buy a pair of these to replace my aging original Speed Cobras. Great vid!

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Much appreciated! I think you find the demons a wise choice.

[@TheWitchOvAgnesi]

Same here (see my post on this video). Did you get them yet?

[@TheWitchOvAgnesi]

@@lucasgolden2115 Would you mind giving me a bit of a comparison (like pros vs. cons compared to the Speed Cobras). I use the first generation Iron Cobras, but I suspect there's a a lot of overlap. No problem if you can't.

[@lucasgolden2115]

SpikeFlea no problem, the biggest con about the Demon drives is getting used to direct drive if you’ve never played it before. You will almost “over play” the pedals due to the power it takes to play the chain drives. I played axis for years before my speed cobras though so it wasn’t too bad for me. Other than that it’s no comparison. Especially the z link on the double pedal. No lag, rock solid. The link on my speed cobra was falling apart and there was so much lag it was unplayable. I’ve been extremely happy with the demon drives

[@TheWitchOvAgnesi]

​@@lucasgolden2115 Awesome man! You're the final "yea" vote. I just bought a set. Found a great deal on a mint return/demo at Alto Music. I hear you about the change to a direct drive, so I'll plan on some adjustment for sure, but based on everything I've read, having that increased responsiveness is exactly what I need at this point in my playing. The Cobras are just not articulate enough anymore as I progress into faster and more technical forms of playing. Granted, they're the old, original model, but still, they're served me very well and speeds over 240 were never a problem (I've had a lot of guys look disappointed when I show them what I'm using after they say "wow! that's some fast double bass!" LOL). Part of me will miss them, but the future is now... As I mentioned in my post, I swear that the shaft is the same one that Trick uses. It looks exactly like it and I seem to recall the owner of Trick telling me at an expo that they license it out (I could be wrong). That was the main reason I was looking at Trick... there is zero lag on the slave (plus they now have the same ability to convert double pedals into single pedals). But Trick is more like Axis in its approach and I hate that soft feel. I want the spring action and resistance that the Cobras provide, but with better articulation. Too bad Tama is 10 years behind on direct drives. But even then, I doubt they would still have gotten my business over this pedal because of the benefits mentioned above. Anyway, thanks so much for taking the time to reply and give your opinion. Good luck and keep slamming!

[@TheWitchOvAgnesi]

Thanks again for this review!

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

No problem buddy. Its what the vids are for. Glad it helped abit

[@melonxo]

Super good video Dude!

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Many , many thanks man! Consider liking and subscribing!!

[@melonxo]

@@heavydrumsinc4816 Absolutely

[@davidsears5176]

I feel like Pearl took their top engineers, got them drunk, blazed or whatever... and told them just go nuts with the design.

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

It is somewhat wacky isnt it? Nice but maybe not beautiful. Have you tried the speed cobra?

[@davidsears5176]

​@@heavydrumsinc4816 used to be an iron cobra guy... but my Demon Drive just showed up about 3 hours ago actually. So if you were looking to talk me out of it, too late.... ;)

[@larrytate1657]

Did you prefer the demons or did you end up back on your iron cobra? Just wondering cause I’m on an ic and am curious of direct drive pearl. Thanks

[@nicolasfrossard4315]

Really good review

[@heavydrumsinc4816]

Thanks. I thought a different review rather than features and setting info was in order. Might do a feature type review too.