My stick review - just my opinion

3rd Wheel

Junior Member
Pro-Mark - Very inconsistent stick. 5A's and 5B's in both Natural and Lacquered finishes were badly warped. I found warped sticks at a GC in Sacramento, from a GC in El Cerrito and Starving Musician in Berkeley. Most models I tried in Sig.Series were badly warped also. I do not foresee myself buying Pro-Mark again as the quality is horrible due to such bad and so many warped sticks, very untrustworthy.

Vic Firth - Great feeling stick in terms of finish. Major problem is with weight and tips. Very brittle stick, tips chip off within hours of playing leaving a well bodied stick useless and uneven. For a hickory stick, they are very lite due to Vic Firth's drying process. Shoulders of sticks are too thin for my taste. Would probably try the HD9's before finally moving on completely. However, the HD9 is .5 diameters bigger than the Vater 5B, which makes trying the HD9 a bit silly in my opinion when I can play the Vater 5B, which has a tip I prefer more over the Vic Firth HD9.

Vater - I love the 4-packs available! Great price and the sticks are very durable. I enjoy playing both the nylon and wood tip versions of the 5A and 5B stick. The Vater stick grip tape is very comfortable. I'm noticing after awhile the 5A's feel too light once they get worn a bit, but still a great feeling stick. The 5B's at times seem too heavy, but the attack is off the hook! I get a great, full bodied sound from the drums, nice tone from the ride and my crashes seem to sound better. I love the tip on the 5B's! I also feel like the weight of the 5B's helps big time with fatigue(especially after a 3 1.5 hour sets playing Rock). I think if I get tired the weight reduces fatigue enabling me to lay into the back beat and get a fat sound with out hitting too hard.

Overall it seems Vater is my stick of choice. No need to worry about warpage, they are highly durable well bodied sticks, and you can find what you're looking for at any GC or local drum shop. The 5A's and 5B's suit my playing incredibly well, whether it's Rock,Funk or World music, I can rely on my Vaters to help me get the job done!
 
I've been using the 5a Vaters for a while now and i find them more durable than the VF's. I'm a hard hitter and I would shred the VF's pretty quickly.

I like the Power 5A's Vaters also, I really wish they offered those in the 4 packs.
 
I would have to disagree on that, I used to always play Vater 5a sticks, but then I went through 2 pairs in about a month, as soon as i started playing they chipped and wore down incredibly fast, so I tried a Vic Firth 5a pair, and they felt sooooo much nicer, they had a nicer weight and just felt better.

I recently thought I'd try some 5b sticks so bought some Vic Firths and they seem to be holding up well, they are a little bit heavy though but thats probably because I'm used to 5a sticks. I dont think I'll be going back to Vater any time soon

Cheers
TM
 
Never owned a bad pair of Vater sticks. I've played all the major brands and I'm currently on a pair of Pro Marks (Elvin Jones model, I like these a lot) and have found Vic Firth to be very spotty since about 2005, so I haven't really bought a pair of those in a couple of years.

Regal Tips and I seem to get on quite well too, but I'll happily play with nearly anything.
 
I never liked vater... The sticks always felt heavy to me, even the 7A's.

For my rock sticks I use Regal Tip, for my funk/latin sticks I use Vic Firth, and for my jazz sticks I use pro mark.
 
Interesting. I guess with sticks, the YYMV caveat is alive and well. I've heard more than one person mention Pro-Mark's inconsistency and tendency to warp, but I've been using them for years without issue, except for one pair of hickory 747s years ago that were extremely light.

These days I order the Benny Greb model in bulk and have no probs. Obviously people have different experiences with different makers.

But, like MFB, I can pretty much deal with any stick if the need arises. I played on another fellows kit once and he had Zildjian sticks that had warped like bananas. To be honest, it didn't really affect my playing.
 
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Maybe in the UK we get the good Pro Marks and the bad Vic Firths?

On Pro Mark's heavier sticks, I usually find the balance to be a little further forward than I like - but I've never had a bad pair of sticks from them.
 
I love the Vater 5B's. Hated them at first, but once you get used to the weight/feel of them they're great. I currently have a pair of pro-marks as well, they're 747's or something(?). Supposed to be 5A's but longer. Can't stand the extra length, just seems to throw me off a lot with stick clicks and what not.
 
On Pro Mark's heavier sticks, I usually find the balance to be a little further forward than I like

This echos my sentiments too. I'm a VF guy, but will try Vaters if they aren't too forward weighted like the ProMarks.
 
This echos my sentiments too. I'm a VF guy, but will try Vaters if they aren't too forward weighted like the ProMarks.

Vaters have always been fairly neutrally balanced as far as I can tell.
 
My experience with the Big 3 stick makers is very similar to 3rd Wheel. I really like the Pro-Mark 5B hickory, but finding 2-3 pairs that aren't severely warped at any of the drum shops I frequent is about as easy these days as finding Bigfoot! The last Pro-Marks I bought were in a 4-pack at my local GC. I went home, opened the pack...and discovered that 5 out of the 8 sticks had some wobble when rolled, and 1 in particular was so badly warped that it probably would come back to me if I threw it, like a boomerang. I'm really hoping that Evans can clean this up when they take over the company. I like the Pro-Mark 5B as my gigging stick BECAUSE it is front heavy. Its not a huge stick, still pretty light and easy to play, but the balance point just seems to make it easier to play powerfully, which is what I need to do with my band. If I'm just practicing at home, I like something with a more neutral balance. I'm going to try the Vater 5B again as a replacement for the Pro-Marks. I've tried Vater in the past, and was always impressed with the quality of their sticks, but they often seemed a bit too heavy and clunky. Maybe I need to give it a little more time to get used to them. Sorry for the long winded post, but I find it frustrating, with all of the fantastic drums and cymbals being made these days, how hard it can be to find a consistent and reliable stick.
 
I like the ahead 7a sticks, very veristile. not need in real worry about breaking, as they are solid aluminum with a sleeve over it and you can change the tips to what ever you want. they are balanced extremely well and no warpage or bends on any pair i have picked up. very very consistent sticks.
 
I like the ahead 7a sticks, very veristile. not need in real worry about breaking, as they are solid aluminum with a sleeve over it and you can change the tips to what ever you want. they are balanced extremely well and no warpage or bends on any pair i have picked up. very very consistent sticks.

See, I actually own a pair of Ahead 5Bs. I got them for Christmas from my parents when I was 14. I actually quite like them, but I wouldn't say that they're versatile because of the inherent properties of the stick. Nylon tips, aluminium cores and handles. That cancels out a lot of the subtleties of playing already - cross sticking, rimshots (potentially) and that touch you get with wooden tips. The same is true of any ahead stick.

But that's not to say I think they're bad; I actually quite like them. I just don't think they're versatile. Although they are certainly consistent.
 
i've had good luck with different styles on them, maybe just the way i play. but i've run them from country to rock and had no issues with the tones or cross sticking and rimshots. the only thing i've found they aren't very useful for is jazz.
 
Well, my wife was nice enough to pick up a pair of Vater 5B's for me. Just like my past experiences with Vater, the sticks are straight, nice grain pattern, nice finish, obviously well made...and yet again, incredibly heavy for a pair of 5B's. My wife is also a drummer, by the way, but she plays 5A's, so 5B's always feel heavy to her. I understand Vater sticks have a higher moisture content for durability, but I'd rather play a stick that is somewhat less durable than play a stronger stick that feels like a club. In 25 years of drumming, I've never felt sticks so heavy for their size from any other manufacturer. Anyone else with a similar Vater stick experience?
 
Gish, I had exactly the same experience (although with 5A's). I found the Vater 5A to be heavier than the Zildjian 5A which I use. I could believe the Vaters last longer, but I just prefer the feel of the Zils.
 
http://richodrums.blogspot.com/

Got a new pair of Ahead's Speed Metal sticks today. Just created the review blog, and also where I put my opinions around them. They are very good, way better than the Lars Ulrich signature sticks from Ahead I used before.
 
Vater seems to be the stick that I've seen the most warping in over the years out of the sticks I've bought. They seem somewhat inconsistent. I've never found a Vic Firth or Zildjian stick that I've liked. That's why I keep buying Pro-Mark 707s. Great stick, durable, no issues at all. I've also started using the Pro-Mark 5A Pro Round with a slightly smaller shoulder and tip for a bit of lighter playing. It's great because it has pretty much the same length and size of the 707 so the feel is the same just with a slightly lighter touch.

And yes, I have noticed that Vater sticks seem to be a bit heavy for their sizing.
 
I've been playing Vater 5A's for about 4 months now and I really like them. Once you get used to them(the extra weight because of extra moisture) they are great. And they are also very durable.
 
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