One or two favorite sticks?

BumSkillet

Junior Member
I just got an order of a Promark SD9 maple wood tip and a Vater Sugar Maple blazer. I also own a few other sticks including 5A and B. I bought these sticks mainly to try my first maples and to try to find my own personal favorite stick that I like the best. I like the feel of the Promark but the blazer feels heavier than I imagined. Although this is just one downside, the blazer feels good in all other aspects. I then thought to myself "Maybe I don't need just one pair of sticks that I like, maybe I can have several pairs to play with according to what music I'm playing." Now I want to ask you what you think of that. Should you have one main stick to resort to or should you have several varieties of sticks to play with? One brand, or a few?
 
You 'should' do whatever works or feels best for you.
I have about 4 preferred stick brands/sizes, depending on the kind of music I'm playing (light vs heavy) or simply how I feel that day.

I vary between Vater Stewart Copelands; Vater Manhattans; Vic Firth 5A or 8D, or Promark 5A.
 
I use the Blazer, and SD9's from Vater, Vic Firth, and Pro Mark. They're all essentially the same stick, but as you already noticed, they all feel (and weigh) different. For me some days (or certain songs) benefit from a heavier or lighter stick, but I get the consistency of the general size of the stick staying constant. For me, that works really well.
 
You should use however many sticks you think you need.

I use about 3 different sticks depending on the situation. I even have a 'heavy' and 'light' set of brushes.
 
I play mainly a concert snare, and for that I like VF SD1 and SD2 bolero sticks I also use VF 2Bs for practice and chop building, and have a couple of brushes for variety
 
I use 2 types of sticks. Of course excluding things like rods, brushes and mallets. I use a pink Vic Firth 5A for gigs and a 8DN for practices and quieter gigs. I prefer the nylon tip because it last longer hence the wood tip for live gigs.
 
For the past several years I mostly used the Vater 5A, Vater H220,and Vic Firth 55A. I also have a couple of pairs of 7A's for situations in which I must play softly. Peace and goodwill.
 
I've always use Vic Firth's 5B or 5A until recently when I tried Danny Carey's and Gavin Harrison's Signature Sticks. I reeeeally loved the long reach and was surprised by the great balance they have for such big sticks.
 
I started using Vater Chad Smith Signatures and that's where I'm staying lol. I just love the feel of them, they are the perfect stick for me :3
 
The Aaron Spears signature model is now my favorite. I've always played nylon tips, but I got these wood tip sticks (10 pairs) on a really good deal. The blended tip works really well for me. I'm old school, but I'll play anything between a 5A and a 5B. I have a pair of wood tip 55A's that I use a lot too.
 
I've been in love with the Vic Firth 5B's since I began playing and haven't found one that works for me in so many different styles. I prefer a fatter stick but the taper and tip combine to make a very fast stick, making it the best of both worlds. The tip shape can draw incredible sounds out of an Old K ride but still has the meat to pull big sounds out of toms. I can use this thing for soft, smokey-club jazz or my rock band. I'm not one of those guys who uses different sticks. It just doesn't work for me. I gotta have one stick that does it all. I use the nylon model for heavier rock applications where I need tip durability. I use the wood tip for everything else. The Vinnie Colaiuta Zildjian stick would be my second choice but apparently he's with Vic Firth now, so maybe I'll have a few pairs of those badboys in my bag. They're basically a VC 5B with a fatter neck and about an 1/8" shorter.
 
I like the way Vic Firths are weighted. I prefer round tips too. I like the way round tips sound on my ride cymbal. So I go for VF AS 5B, or 5A. (The AS stands for "American Sound") I wish they would make them in nylon tips. I don't understand why they don't. I may have to experiment with dipping the tips in molten plastic. The only VF round nylon tips I could find were an Omar Hakim stick. But those sticks were too forward weighted for me. It was hard doing fast 8th notes with them. I like a more rear weighted stick. Vaters and Pro Marks are too heavy in front for me as well. I like the VF SD line of sticks, but they are made from maple, which is not durable enough and I crack them in a few gigs. I can get 6 months at least, probably more, from a pair of hickory sticks.
 
I like the way Vic Firths are weighted. I prefer round tips too. I like the way round tips sound on my ride cymbal. So I go for VF AS 5B, or 5A. (The AS stands for "American Sound") I wish they would make them in nylon tips. I don't understand why they don't. I may have to experiment with dipping the tips in molten plastic. The only VF round nylon tips I could find were an Omar Hakim stick. But those sticks were too forward weighted for me. It was hard doing fast 8th notes with them. I like a more rear weighted stick. Vaters and Pro Marks are too heavy in front for me as well. I like the VF SD line of sticks, but they are made from maple, which is not durable enough and I crack them in a few gigs. I can get 6 months at least, probably more, from a pair of hickory sticks.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who seems to make sticks last for months. I switch between Vater 5A and VF 5A (the Vater feels just a bit lighter, which helps when I'm either feeling sluggish or maybe when I need a boost for a particularly quick song), and I find these sticks last me easily three or four months.... I play an hour or two almost every day, and I just don't understand how people snap sticks so quickly.... Am I doing something wrong? ;)

I was talking with a drummer Saturday night, and after watching him go through THREE pairs of sticks (Promarks, not sure what model) during the night, I was shocked so I had to ask him. He said that's pretty common for him, he goes through them like toothpicks, two or three pairs every week or so of practice, and more when they play live. They're a pretty heavy rock band, but I was looking at his kit, expecting to see tons of cracked cymbals and mashed rims. But it all looked pretty normal. Even watching him play seemed pretty normal. Odd....
 
I like the way Vic Firths are weighted. I prefer round tips too. I like the way round tips sound on my ride cymbal. So I go for VF AS 5B, or 5A. (The AS stands for "American Sound") I wish they would make them in nylon tips. I don't understand why they don't. I may have to experiment with dipping the tips in molten plastic. The only VF round nylon tips I could find were an Omar Hakim stick. But those sticks were too forward weighted for me. It was hard doing fast 8th notes with them. I like a more rear weighted stick. Vaters and Pro Marks are too heavy in front for me as well. I like the VF SD line of sticks, but they are made from maple, which is not durable enough and I crack them in a few gigs. I can get 6 months at least, probably more, from a pair of hickory sticks.

I've reached a point where I don't break sticks at all anymore and I usually toss them because the tip chips off and renders the stick a rebound-less mess. I avoided nylon tips for years because of the jazz snob in me but I realized that that superficial stubbornness is wasteful and costly, so I have half nylon and half wood since half my gigs are loud and the other half are not so much. Somehow the nylon tips almost make the stick faster and improve rebound... maybe it's just in my head. I agree with you on the balance thing. Vic Firth sticks are just masterpieces of stick design. I just can't find another brand that makes a stick that feels "right" in my hands.
 
Right now I have 3 models that I use for particular gigs.

All my drum kit playing is with Regal Tip 5BX wood tip.

When I gig with Street Drum Corps I use two models, depending on the part I play.
If I play the "Pit" parts I use Ahead M1's. It's SDC signature model. Big Fat Marching stick.
If I play the lead parts I use Ahead 5B. The reason being the lead parts are more 16th note stuff, and some of it is real fast. The "Pit" sections are more Kick & Snare sounding stuff.
The M1 provides a nice thump for that.
 
I used to play with Vic Firth METAL with nylon.
Then I switched to Vic Firth Rock both Nylon and wood tip depending on my mood.

LOL, Metal to Rock... I feel like Metallica or something. I am getting soft in my old age. The bell of my Ping ride is the stick breaker.
 
I like the way Vic Firths are weighted. I prefer round tips too. I like the way round tips sound on my ride cymbal. So I go for VF AS 5B, or 5A. (The AS stands for "American Sound") I wish they would make them in nylon tips. I don't understand why they don't. I may have to experiment with dipping the tips in molten plastic. The only VF round nylon tips I could find were an Omar Hakim stick. But those sticks were too forward weighted for me. It was hard doing fast 8th notes with them. I like a more rear weighted stick. Vaters and Pro Marks are too heavy in front for me as well. I like the VF SD line of sticks, but they are made from maple, which is not durable enough and I crack them in a few gigs. I can get 6 months at least, probably more, from a pair of hickory sticks.

Hey, me too! I use the AS7A or AS5A most of the time these days. I love the way they sound for me, they sound the best on my drums.

Sometimes I go back to the old standard Promark 7a's but I'm quickly letting the AS series stick become the default. The way they are weighted feels like it might be "slower" but that's only until you hit real drums/cymbals with them. I can choke up a bit, which I never do on the promarks.

Lastly, I have a set of "ride sticks" because they sound really cool sometimes on the cymbals. Don't really like the weighting of them, but I'm sure that weight balance is part of the sound.
 
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