Drumstick Stuff

Drumstick Information

http://home.iae.nl/users/nuenen/drumsticks.htm

Interesting. My favorite stick is a 5B Ghost model, made by the defunct company Kittools, up in Maine. They're birch. I put nylon tips on them myself. I've got some unused pairs yet, but once they're chewed up, that's it. Don't know what I'll do then. Go back to VF maple, I guess.

Maple shreads and breaks to fast for me, even though I like them because they are light. I use VF sticks Zildjian also makes a decent stick.

vic firth 5As are probably as good as they come for me.
They also make a stick with little mallets on the butts.
White hickory is my first choice. I recently installed a hickory floor in my house!
harder than oak and more shock resistant. basically a pecan tree.

I have a Vater stick that I got from Will Calhone of Living Color, and that night he was using all maple sticks, he was going through them about every 15 minutes he had a tray next to him with plenty of them. He does a lot of rim shots and those maple sticks were toast in a matter of minutes. I guess at that time he was indorsing Vater.

The white hickory is plenty light enough. You want some weight. I used to use 7As as a kid and now 5As are my standard. The perfect fit for what i need.
I like the idea of practicing with heavy sticks. I should practice more.

Calhoun is just tough on his sticks. Watch him on the Larry London tribute video. Chips are flying everywhere and he's using hickory.

I've used maple since the early 90s. They've always lasted me. Same with these birch sticks. And birch is softer and lighter than maple. And I can play pretty hard, too, but I don't play straight rock anymore. The kind of music you play makes a big difference. The way you angle drums and cymbals makes a big difference for your playing approaches. I used to wonder how many sticks Billy went through with his cymbals at that height and angle.

The nature of wood being what it is I'll catch a stick that just breaks, but rarely. After using maple and birch for so long hickory feels like iron to me - heavy. I have cracked cymbals when using hickory, too, Jake Hannah, and 747 models, no less. Never cracked a cymbal using maple or birch. Of course, hickory tips last longer if you use wood tips. I switched to nylon and never looked back. Sticks just cost too much, and I like the sound better on cymbals. Maple tips sound really nice on drums, though.

Even better drumstick information.

http://www.drumsticks.org/

I'd never heard of Pete Lavinger and that collection. Pretty amazing.

I really like big maples but they don't last long enough.

rarebit wrote:I really like big maples but they don't last long enough.

They sure don't last long but I like the way they feel.

Likewise, guys.

I used to use 5B sticks made of maple.
I loved the light airy feeling when I held
them but they'd only last me two, three
gigs tops. Hickory is the wood of choice
for me these days.

Silverfox 5B XT's and Vic Firth General SD1's.

I can't use the Maple sticks at all...Way too light, and I can't seem to control the tones with them because there's not enough solid mass to the stick. Plus I play really hard and Maple's don't withstand the rimshots.

I use Silverfox Drumsticks, (Hickory) and I can honestly say they outlast everything I've tried. Maybe with the exception of Oak sticks, but those feel too rigid for me.

If I had to use another brand other than Silverfox, It would be Vic Firth.

I know Vater is very popular, but I've literally broken those on the first snare hit of a gig..I don't thnk the quality control is as good.

Dave I do rim shots constantly with my left hand the most out of the 2. So the stick in my left hand gets tore up the most.
I have had maple sticks fly all over the place. I use Vic Firths though, I have never tried Silver Fox sticks but I going to.

Yeah check em out Spanky--They're really good quality sticks

Mostly I use Vic Firth 5A & 5B american classic wood tip.
You're right about the longevity of them, Don.
They seem to shred after a few gigs of 4 sets a night.

Those who play Vic Firth sticks might like this video.

http://www.vicfirth.com/tour/

spanky wrote:Drumstick Information

http://home.iae.nl/users/nuenen/drumsticks.htm

For the last 10 years, my favorite stick is the Zildjian 6As with black grips. They balance well in my hands between the 5A's & 7As... regardless of the music being played.

Well I'm still using clubs ... Ludwig 2B Hickory wood tips.



peace, TED

Those are rolling pins, Ted.

I remember reading somewhere that Tony Williams used 2Bs. I wonder how often he cracked cymbals? He hit them pretty hard at times.

he did use 2B's Asaph. I have 4 of them from him in my collection.

Peace, TED