Tip size

[Gene Smasher]

Hi,

I'm a rock / metal drummer but my hands are small so I'm considering 7A or 8A. But I'm wondering... small tips are obviously way softer than big tips, right?

Advice?

[That Guy]

What do you mean by softer? I use everything from 7a to 5b. I can get the same sound from my kit using all of them. Lighter/thinnner sticks can be beneficial to a drummer.

[fourstringdrums]

I'd say that tip shape has more to do with the tone, than actual volume. Take a look at alot of Jazz drummers, they use small sticks generally but get a HUGE sound out of them. It's all about your touch.

If you're playing metal, I would go for what stick feels comfortable to you, but look for a rounder, ball or bead shaped tip. That will give you a fuller sound on the drums and the cymbals.

Oh and before I forget, Wuv from P.O.D. uses 7A's if that helps at all.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

If you mean softer that you can't play loud for fear of breaking, I would try some Vater 7A with nylon tips. The tips are a little bigger and definately harder than the wood.

[Gene Smasher]

Thanks so much! Now I am gonna purchase some 7As.

So basically a 7A is as loud as a 2B?

[fourstringdrums]

Thanks so much! Now I am gonna purchase some 7As.

So basically a 7A is as loud as a 2B?

Really it's all in your hands. Technically speaking, yes a 2B is louder because there is more mass, but with the right touch you can make a 7A sound as loud as a 2B. Again, I would just get what feels comfortable to you and sounds good on the drums and cymbals. Don't get hung up on numbers vs. volume. You can always adjust that with your own playing later.

[That Guy]

Ya, you can control the sound regardless of what size sticks you have. Unless your playing with pencils.

[Les Ismore]

Here's a little 'tip' to help extend the life of the tip's on your wood sticks. Coat with clear nail polish. Brush on one coat, let fully dry then apply no less than one more coat. 3 coats seem to be enough, you could do more. I wouldn't advise more than 4 only because I've never done it, it may work fine, may crack don't know.

The sticks below are Vater 3A Fatbacks. These normally see 40% of the time tip being played on the HH cymbal and 95% the tip is played on the ride cymbal when applied in thos two positions. The stick on the left is new. The tips mic out at .4620 new and .4560 on the used one. The used one is in great shape meaning, the tip is not broken or chipped, only compressed in size.

Notice the wear on the used sticks shoulder, normally with a tip not treated, that same tip would have failed (chipped/broke) long ago. I've had maple tips compress even farther. I can't explain why the tips only 'compress' and they do it uniformally.

Tried spray on clear coats and they work too, nail polish is easier (you can get fat coats easily) and less time consuming, you can have your lady fried do it etc. Have not tried epoxy type resin or any of the hard stuff. The down side to this is the coating gets wicked off on your heads and cymbals, its hardly noticeable tho, a lot like the marks some nylon tips leave.

[Gene Smasher]

I'd post some pictures of the shoulders and tips of my current Vater 5As here if I had the know-how. Lotsa grooves from crashes. For some reason I don't get rim shots very often but I often crash quite hard.

I think I'll stick with Vater 5As after all because the tip size is medium, not too big, not too small, ideal for just about anything. I can't really use very small sticks for some reason... Strange.

I haven't tried coating my tips though. I should go try.