Heavier 7As? Small round ball tip 5B sizes?

[Chaos_Inferno]

I've been itching to try some new sticks as my taste have been changing lately at least from the sound I want to get out of a stick... I love Portnoy's signature sticks in feel, although they're just a touch small in diameter but I've gained an affinity for the sound of wood tips on a ride, so the nylon tips have begun to bother me a little bit... especially when most of the cymbals I'm around are already far too bright or large and dark enough to have a horrible contrast between the tone of the cymbal and the plasticky "I'm trying to be brighter" stick click from the plastic tip.

I like Vater 5Bs at the moment but I'm looking for something a little bit more versatile... because I've also played with some Sound Percussion 7As someone just gave me and while I like the sound I get from them because of the small, round ball tip on it, they're very thin and very light and don't hold up too well in anything but light jazz... I feel like I have to lay into things that I shouldn't need to just to get a bit more volume.

So I'm curious if there's a heavier, probably slightly beefier stick out there with a wood, small round ball tip so I can get that nice, darker focused tone out of a ride without killing myself just to keep up with louder music. Any ideas? Stick brand doesn't really matter to me, I'm up for anything... since I've never had a horrible experience with a particular brand of stick before, knock on wood.

Apologies for the horrible pun at the end there.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

What I use and Like are Vater Fusion sticks. Diameter about like 5A and a ball tip. Great sticks.

[warrier1]

I also use the Vater sugar maple fusion stick, Ari Hoenig got me hooked on them

[Chaos_Inferno]

What I use and Like are Vater Fusion sticks. Diameter about like 5A and a ball tip. Great sticks.

That sounds pretty great actually...

I might buy the sugar maple ones too for lighter situations just in case. Both sound like great buys to me.

[cdawg]

check out steve jordan sigs. just a tad thicker than 7a's, and a bit longer, too. round tip. nice balance.

[masonni]

Regal Tip's Ride. It's a ball tip and a little thinner than a 5A.
They make a "Ping" model too. it's like a 7A with a little round tip. It's the same as the old "El Negro" model that Zildjian currently makes.

[Fiery]

You might like Vic Firth SD2 Bolero. It's a pretty beefy stick but made from maple so it's not too heavy, and it has a small round tip.

[Chaos_Inferno]

All of these sound good to me.... I guess I'm just gonna need to hope I can get my hands on all of em to try.

Christmas IS coming though...

[rjvsmb]

Vic Firth American Sound.

http://www.vicfirth.com/products/americansound.html


Check em' out.

rjvsmb