On drums...

Hey, Brian... or anyone who knows: What was the deal with the red cam on the early edition GS pedal? Why was it discontinued?

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Gregory

I would guess that it was the easiest way to quickly distinguish it from the 600 series at a glance.

Roland

I thought that was blue paint.

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Gregory

Hi Gregory,
The original Giant Step pedals came with 3 interchangeable plastic cams that created different chain/belt paths, kind of like DW's Accelerator eccentric sprocket versus the original Turbo concentric sprocket.
The story is that Pearl Drum Company already had dibs on the interchangeable cam design, and successfully (in court or out, I don't know) forced Sonor to remove them from the marketplace.
It would probably be cool to find one of those pedals in a sealed package, just so you'd get all the goodies. I would only buy a NOS double now. It really sucked when I got the pedal that was missing a cam, both chains, the other cams, and the belts that were installed on it were both split. Even if it had both cams, it wouldn't have had all the options as intended from the factory.
Between my GS Double, a pair of Sonor 5000s, an Axis A double, and a slew of Sonor Protech pedals, my pedal needs are now covered. I can't see myself spending any more money on bass drum pedals.

Brian

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Drums and No Money will get Me through Hard Times better than Money and No Drums!
-A Recovering Drum Addict

I knew that SONOR offered the drummers a choice.
I knew that Pearl did that too (from the catalogs), but I didn't know they beat them to it...

Well, if one can patent the "how to make a snowman" procedure - everything can be licensed and patented I guess..

I won't go into debating who came out with the idea first. I don't like to speculate...

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Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

Doesn't matter who came out with it first. Pearl has also applied for a patent to make stave drums. A process that wine makes have been using for centuries. And drum makers for how long? Yep, Pearl has applied for the patent....

Hey, Dave. Stave barrels would not preclude a patent for stave drums, since the two are not in competition. I'd be interested to know if Pearl is applying for a design or utility patent.

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Gregory

Thanks for all that info, Brian. Good point about getting all the cams. I'm sure I only need one but want all three to know which one that is.

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Gregory

Don't remember. And while barrels do not apply, there are plenty of drum makers who have been making stave drums for quite a while. Brady for one....

Understood. But remember the purpose of a patent is to protect a new process, unless it's a design patent - which should not be possible for Pearl to get for the reason you mentioned.

Do you know how the Pearl patent is different from other construction methods? Tongue in groove as opposed to butt or spline joints, etc?

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Gregory