Drummers: Whats your preference; NYLON or WOOD tip, any why? (What's your favorite stick?)

lindsayannemusic

Senior Member
For jazz, I usually use ?uestlove sticks, there really light and long.

Rock and most other heavier styles, I use vic firth perfect pair - 7a, or 5a, depending on how heavy the music is. Vic Firth Dave Weckl Signature Drumsticks are a special favorite of mine. And of course there are too many to list random 5a's and 7a's I give a try
 
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Drummers: Whats your preference; NYLON or WOOD tip, any why? (What's your favorite stick?)
For jazz, I usually use ?uestlove sticks, there really light and long.

Rock and most other heavier styles, I use vic firth perfect pair - 7a, or 5a, depending on how heavy the music is. Vic Firth Dave Weckl Signature Drumsticks are a special favorite of mine. And of course there are too many to list random 5a's and 7a's I give a try if they're on sale.
 
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I play pop and prog...........I use 5B nylon because they make my ride cymbal sound gorgeous.

It's that simple.
 
I am a wood tip guy through and through. I hate the sound and feel of nylon tips. Right now I am a Zildjian Anti-Vibe guy. Not because it is necessarily 100% my choice, but because I suffer from massive carpal tunnel (which I am currently treating with ice and motrin). They are great sticks.

Before my carpal tunnel became a life issue, I used Pro Mark Oaks. 5a, 747, and 888s were my choice. It is more than likely what irritated my wrists so much as I would woodshed for 6 hours a day with these oak sticks. No mercy, lol.

Anyways yeah wood tip and Zildjian Ant-Vibe. Protect your hands and wrists, they are precious instruments.
 
I prefer the sound/feel of wood, but they don't last as long as the nylon sticks. So I've been using nylon for day-to-day practicing and saving the wood sticks for performances.

I've been using Vic Firth's Extreme 5A sticks and Questlove's signature sticks. I had been using regular 5A but the added length on the extreme sticks are closer to the length of Quests signature sticks. I use 7A on occasion as well.
 
Nylon, Vic Firth 5bn, I like the crispness of the nylon tip on the hats and rides and the big difference in sound when alternating between the shoulder and the tip on hats or while riding the bell on the ride plus the extra life of the tips is a bonus.
 
Nylon are nice in that they don't chip away like wood and provide a consistent sound but I gave them up decades ago because of my big bass player Jim.

When we jammed Jim stood in front of the drums and to my right of the kit. We were playing something particularly rocking when suddenly Jim stopped playing, grabbed the back of his neck with his hand and started swearing. It seems the nylon tip of my stick flew off and hit him in the neck with my last cymbal crash. Wow! Drum Stick Guns!

Jim, who was a big bruiser offered to not kill me if I promised to switch back to wooden sticks and never use those cursed nylon tipped things again.

That was 31 years ago and after that I've only used wood tips - out of respect for the bass player : )
 
Nylon are nice in that they don't chip away like wood and provide a consistent sound but I gave them up decades ago because of my big bass player Jim.

When we jammed Jim stood in front of the drums and to my right of the kit. We were playing something particularly rocking when suddenly Jim stopped playing, grabbed the back of his neck with his hand and started swearing. It seems the nylon tip of my stick flew off and hit him in the neck with my last cymbal crash. Wow! Drum Stick Guns!

Jim, who was a big bruiser offered to not kill me if I promised to switch back to wooden sticks and never use those cursed nylon tipped things again.

That was 31 years ago and after that I've only used wood tips - out of respect for the bass player : )

I have only ever lost one nylon tip off of a Vic Firth stick in the last 14 years and the set of sticks were just about worn out but true to their warranty the gave me a brand new pair of sticks. In the past I have had quite a few pieces of wooden tips split on the grain and the chips fly off and hit me in the face which is one of the reasons I went to nylon tips.
 
Vater Fusion maple w/ the round tip. Usually nylon for practice because they last longer. Wood when we play jazz and nylon or wood (which ever is closer to hand) for anything else.
I'm looking forward to trying the new Fusion Acorn tip - in maple.
 
5as 7as cheap by the dozen.. as long as their straight and balanced.. strictly wood tip,,, nylon gives me a false bounce and damage heads
 
Nylon all the way, the last wood tips i bought broke after an hour of playing. My nylon sticks (Vic Firth 5AN) last a lot longer, although i did have a few of those tips fly off from time to time!
 
Nylon. the only difference I really notice is on the ride cymbal, and it makes it much brighter and pingier.

I warm up with Vater 3As and then switch to the Vater "Punisher" which is a ball tip, sized in between 5Bs and 2Bs
 
Nylon all the way, the last wood tips i bought broke after an hour of playing. My nylon sticks (Vic Firth 5AN) last a lot longer, although i did have a few of those tips fly off from time to time!

If you loose a nylon tip on a Vic Firth stick they will give you a new set of sticks no questions asked.


http://www.vicfirth.com/products/americanclassicN.php

American Classic® Nylon Tip Hickory Drumsticks

For durability and the brightest cymbal sounds, nylon tips are the answer. The American Classic® nylon tip models mirror their wood tip counterparts, so drummers can switch from the richness of a wood tip to the brilliance of nylon without sacrificing feel and balance. And with Vic Firth's new "tip locking" manufacturing process, they won't chip or fly off - guaranteed!
 
vater stewart copeland signature stick is my favorite but if i usually use vater fusion nylon round tip live if there's no micing
 
If I'm honest, when I'm standing away from the kit hearing someone else play, nylon tips are neither here nor there to me. I can barely pick the difference even if I'm concentrating, if I'm not then I don't notice them at all.

But when I'm sitting on top of the kit using them myself, I've grown to detest the sharp slapping sound they produce on a snare batter and I equally hate the harsh, overt brightness I hear on a hat or ride cymbal.

Personally, give me a wooden tip any day of the week.
 
I use the Pro-Mark 5A Oak (with wood tip). Love the feel and the sound.

If you're dealing with tips that chip quickly, either your sticks are cheap or your playing is very intense. I would figure out if playing has anything to do with it, and then figure out if there are any changes you can make in your playing that could help. If playing and/or quality can't be changed, you might just have to deal with the expense of sticks in your playing (if you're satisfied with your playing, I'd say it's worth it).

All that said, the Pro-Mark Oak sticks are a denser, more solid wood, so that might help.
 
Wood tips. Better ride cymbal sound. Enough said.
 
I gotta go wood tip on this one. Even though nylons are more durable, I think woods sound a little less harsh.

My favourite stick is the Vic Firth 8D - it's a mix between a 7A and a 5A, having the length of a 5A and the diameter of a 7A.
 
Durability is not a factor to me when it comes to sticks and wooden tips sound so much better to me when playing cymbals. Depending on the type of wood and the shape of the tips, you can get a variety of different sounds from sticks with wooden tips. When I'm auditioning cymbals, I always use the same sticks that I use for most of my playing and it just so happens that I like the weight and feel of the Steve Gadd sticks with wooden tips, although I have many others in similar sizes that work just fine.

Dennis
 
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