Vic Firth SD1 General sticks issue

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
I've recently switched sticks to a fairly heavy stick, the VF SD1 Generals. They are about 2B in diameter, maybe a tad thicker. I like their particular combination of the beefy stick and the ball tip on my cymbals, great woody rimclick tone too. I also thought that I would get more gigs from a thicker stick.

But Geez, I snapped like 3 sticks in 2 weeks, one last night during a solo. I don't hit any harder than necessary so it's not like it's my technique. Compare that with maybe one broken stick all of last year, when I was using a thinner 5B. I thought 2 was a little much but when I snapped one last night...well I have to check in with my team here.

Anybody experiencing the snapping of sticks with a thicker stick?
 
The SD1 is maple... Wonder if that has something to do with it. It's a pretty stiff, thick, not-very-tapered stick as well.

A shame that 3drumsticks is no more, because I did like their ball tip 2B.
 
They're maple? I didn't pick up on that. Hmm. Hickory lasts longer. Thanks for that.
 
Because maple is harder, denser, and less flexible, when it breaks, it breaks pretty definitively. Hickory shreds and splinters rather than shattering.
 
They're maple? I didn't pick up on that. Hmm. Hickory lasts longer. Thanks for that.

Yeah Larry, they're maple sticks. If you compare them to "regular" (hickory) 2B's, you'll notice that these are much lighter.

I have a pair. Used to love them for a while. Like you, I think they sound great on cymbals. I didn't break mine, but I don't know, something about them eventually turned me off and I went back to good ol' 5B's.

I'd give you mine for free but shipping them half across the world.. I don't think it's a very smart idea. Haha.

Cheers. :)
 
Hickory is harder and more dense than maple. Seems likely that hickory is stronger as well.

Yep, after Googling this out, you are in fact correct, which was counterintuitive to me with my experiences with maple as a durable wood compared to my easily shredded hickory sticks. Here's the chart:

Wood Species...Specific Gravity*.......Compressive Strength (psi)......Bending Strength (psi).......... Stiffness (Mpsi).....Hardness (lb)
Hickory ..............0.72......................................9,210..................................20,200...............................2.16.............(not tested)
Maple, Hard.........0.63......................................7,830..................................15,800...............................1.83.................1,450

(Source: http://workshopcompanion.com/KnowHow/Design/Nature_of_Wood/3_Wood_Strength/3_Wood_Strength.htm)

What I glean from this that now makes sense, and answers Larry's question: While maple in fact has less stiffness, it does not bend (flex) with the suppleness of hickory, which would mean that it breaks under stresses that hickory would survive.

Well spotted, sir.
 
So hickory is stringier and tends to hold together. Right. That rings true. I had Vater Piccolos (maple sticks) and didn't like them, kept dropping them. I can't believe I've been playing the SD1's so long and didn't realize they were maple. Duh! One common factor with the SD1's is the break. I mean these sticks weren't even chewed up, they were a few gigs old. The break was so clean, a 45 degree angle on every stick I broke, snapped clean in half, after a maybe 10 hours of play. Ripped off!
 
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