My favorite sticks

Ive recently bought the Steve Gadd signature vic firth to try them cause all of the good reviews
but now i khnow that my favourits are defnetly the Zildjians 7A with round wood tip,
 
VF Dave Weckl Signature Evolution Nylons
There just *sniffle* beautiful!
 
for the last couple weeks i went back to my phishhead design i created a couple years ago... 17' long 1.42cm with a med taper and oval tips.... made from Purple Heart wood (naturally purple) its just a hair harder than hickory. the extra length gives you some room to sit back and relax while your playing and the hardness gives a nice sound off of any bell.
 
I use Promark hickory 747s with nylon tips. I keep a couple of pairs of 5Bs in the bag for later in the show if my hands get tired, letting the larger stick do some of the work for me.

For lighter gigs and church, I love the Vic Firth SD5 Echo. It's a very light, maneuverable stick that works well at soft to medium volumes. I also keep a couple pairs of Hot Rods in there for the same settings.
 
My favorite stick hasn't been made in years. Bunken 5A's. Not for playing really loud, but they had a magic balance to them.

The closest I've found are Vic Firth SD10's. I have a lot more control over dynamics, especially playing quieter, with these larger, light weight, sticks than with a hickory 7A. Those feel line pencils to me and transmit too much shock. And with the better balance, I can control low volumes easier than smaller maple sticks like SD4's.

I do keep a couple pairs of Vater 5A's in my stick bag in case things get crazy. But I can make a fair amount of noise with the Swingers. If it needs to be louder, that's what the PA is for.
 
I've always played Musician's Friend factory defect sticks due to lack of a job, which in turn led to lack of funds - so $10 for 10 pairs of sticks was my best bet.

I just received a Class B sponsorship from Don's Music City for their DMC signature Sticks-by-the-Pound. I play 5a Oak wood tips (Although they gave me a brick of maples for free as well) and they are pretty good sticks. The maples break 2-3 per gig, but the oaks hold up much better.
 
vic firth steve jordan signature

i also loved the signature harvey masons but no shops near me carry them anymore
 
This is a great thread for drummers deciding on sticks. What would really help is a bit more on the specifics of WHY you like particular sticks and particular brands. People mention "feel" and "balance" sometimes but can you please be as specific as possible?

New drummers won't know what that means.

That way drummers can relate to the way a specific stick solves your problem or meets your needs!

Thank you!
 
although I've been a big fan (and still am) of Vic Firth for quite a while. I now use the Benny Greb signature by Pro Mark.
 
my favorite stick is the Phishhead... I designed this stick to be able to sit there and play instead of having to moving my arms much... its cut at 17" to give that reach to not have to move your arms far, and they are 1.39cm which is a scratch thicker than a 7a. which gives just a slightly louder sound when useing accents. its made from purple heart wood for extra durablity while being extremely close in weight to hickory. it has an oval tip to aviod a crisp, bright pingie sound like a ball tip would give you and the medium taper that goes down to a .69cm neck gives a nice moderate rebound with out being super loud on the hithats and with out feeling like your stick just wants to fall forward out of your hands... there are some bands I play for where i've modifed that stick down to a 15 and 7/16" stick with a .65 neck to get a quicker rebound so I can do multi tom rolls as quickly as possible.
 
I really really like the Vic Firth Dave Weckl in brown. I play alot better with these sticks, just something about them.
 
Tattoo said:
This is a great thread for drummers deciding on sticks. What would really help is a bit more on the specifics of WHY you like particular sticks and particular brands. People mention "feel" and "balance" sometimes but can you please be as specific as possible?

I've been using Vic Firth 2B only for about a year now and I feel no need to experiment or change.

I've found out that I prefer sticks slightly longer than standard 16", but that anything over 16.5" is too long and causes tension in my hands, so the 16.25" of 2B feels just right.
Thicker sticks feel better in my hands and 2B are pretty thick. I wouldn't mind if they were even thicker, but the only thickers models available where I live are marchings sticks, and I think they are too big and heavy for drumset playing in terms of both sound and feel.
The weight would have been a problem a couple of years ago, but I've since learned to control heavier sticks without fighting them, so I feel more weight allows me to get more sound with less work.
My hands sweat a lot but the finish of Vic Firth sticks feels very good when warm and damp so there's no problems there.
I've found tip-heavy sticks don't really work for me, and VF 2B have a nice in-between balance so I can move the fulcrum point according to the playing situation. I wouldn't mind even less weight up front, but the sticks are still well inside my comfort zone.
The thin neck yields very good feel and touch for cymbal playing. I would prefer an acorn shaped tip, but the teardrop is also ok.

If the Vic Firth Tomas Haake signature stick was avaliable for purchase where I live, I'd consider changing, but 2B fits my needs without any major objections.
 
I play Vic 5BN for just about everything.
5A for Jazz

As far as nylon tips being a joke....sorry but it's purely a stick life issue for me. I'd be broke if I played regular 5B's...the tips just don't stand up. Everyone in a while I'll buy a couple of sets and it just reminds me why I use the nylons.
 
Vater or Vic Firth 5A's
Caught Danny Carey's Drumstick, liked how it felt, so now I also use those.

I like the 5A's because the weight it perfect, 7A too light, and 5Bs a tad too heavy.

The Danny Carey ones are heavier, but they feel great and have amazing balance.
 
I am loving the Todd Sucherman sticks from Pro-Mark. I bought them because his DVD was amazing...so are the sticks.

But you can't go wrong with a good set of 5A!!!!
 
Vater 1A's They're 17 inches long instead of the normal 16. The Extra length really helps me balance when I play single stroke rolls.
 
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