Breaking sticks

Re: anybody hit this hard?

I think I hit harder than anybody I know. I never did rimshots until I took my first lesson w/Bissonette. Have done them ever since. I would say I hit harder than Gregg. I have also worked out for ten years and am stronger than I used to be. Dont know if thats a factor but I did break an Easton plastic stick. I could bend it in the middle. Now what I do is use clear moving or packing tape and and use about an eight inch piece and wrap about a two inch area in the middle. They last about 3-4 times longer.
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

I tend to drift toward Hickory (Vic Firth 5A American Hickory, 2B for practice, 7A for lighter stuff) for it's shock absorbency. My hands and fingers (and arms haha) stay perfectly comfortable, I play bonham stuff, heaps of rimshots and metal, and need new sticks maybe 3-4 times a year.
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

when i first started playing 5 months ago i would go through sticks every week but i've worked on my technique and i've found that the better i get the longer my sticks last. BTW i use Zildjian hickory 5A.

PS how much do you guys spend on a pair of sticks?
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

try changing the angle of your cymbols, i used to play with cymbols flat this shreded my sticks (like once a week) but now their at an angle (30 ish degrees) both sticks and cymbols last much loger
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

dosent the chad smith siganture stick (vater i think) have a smaller stick grip area, and a thicker end and tip? i could be mistaken... if so the thin grip area could give you the feel of a smaller stick, and the rest could stand up better to cymbals...
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

You gotta be hitting at the most akward angles, and way to hard to be breaking them after 10 minutes. I'm a hard-hitter as well and I can wail on my hi-hats and cymbals and my sticks last a good 2 weeks, vic firth american rock. If their breaking after 10 minutes something is wrong
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

If you're breaking heads, you're hitting too hard. I know because used to bash too. I broke sticks, a few heads and a few too many cymbals. I destroyed the no-name brand cymbals that came with my kit and broke two AA crashes too.

Learn the Moeller stuff. Get that shocking force out of the equation so you're not hurting your kit and your body.

Since learning the Moeller grip / philosophy, my wrists don't hurt nearly as much. I play better and have way more fun. I also almost never break sticks any more, even with hard rimshots on die-cast rims. And my heads lose their tone before they have any of the divots in them.
 
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Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

Stiffler said:
whats up guys,
to explain my problem, i play a wide range of music. mostly now i have been playin a lot of metal/punk kinda thing. I have a problem of breakin sticks within like 10 minutes of playing. Some people say i play to hard, but thats rediculous, i beleive playing hard is the best way to go. But do any of you have any suggestions on which sticks would be best.
(also, id rather go with skinnier sticks than bulky ones, they feel better and i play better single rolls with them)

Sean


Hey Sean.

I weigh about 190lbs. and I hit hard enough that I can be heard from over two blocks away when I'm practicing, but I haven't broken any sticks, yet. I think, like some of the others have written, that you need to examine your technique.

-Michael
NP: Led Zeppelin - Physical Grafitti
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

Amen. And you know what it is? I have made a habit to watch various drummers I stumble across who mention that they break sticks and cymbals alot, be it on the road or in various studios. In almost every case, the drummers had no technique at all as far as glancing the heads and cymbals in a circular motion, every hit on every surface is a direct, straight down bash----and then the wrist comes flying back, because by going up and down in a linear fashion, they can't get their wrists "out of the way" of the rebound. This technique, or lack thereof, is in my opinion why some drummers can't make a pair of sticks last more than a day or two.

Brad
 
Rim shot-broken sticks

i almost never break my sticks. But recently i got into doing alot of rim shots (or whatever its called when you smack the stick against the head and the rim at the same time) and i went through 3 pairs in one day all of the sudden. Im now done with rim shots. Has anyone else had this problem? am i doing somthing wrong thats making that happen? i dont have to much money to buy sticks, and i dont want this to keep happening.
 
Re: Rim shot-broken sticks

That happens to me all the time too, but mostly I get rid of the sticks before they break.
Unfortunately when wood hits metal something has to give, and in that case it will be the wood.
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

Stiffler said:
whats up guys,
to explain my problem, i play a wide range of music. mostly now i have been playin a lot of metal/punk kinda thing. I have a problem of breakin sticks within like 10 minutes of playing. Some people say i play to hard, but thats rediculous, i beleive playing hard is the best way to go. But do any of you have any suggestions on which sticks would be best.
(also, id rather go with skinnier sticks than bulky ones, they feel better and i play better single rolls with them)

Sean

I also hit pretty hard. If i hit to hard on my ride (bell) I will break it at the shoulder.
For rim shots they fall apart in the middle. What I have done is take clear packing or moving tape and wrap a thin layer, about 6 inches long, around the middle (2 inch wrapped tight in rim shot area) and right under the head of the stick . About 1 inch. They last about three times longer.
 
Re: Rim shot-broken sticks

I hit hard, do lots of rimshots, and almost never break sticks. I wear them out because they chip away at the shoulder (mostly from the hi-hat), but only break one or two pairs a year.

I think it's an issue of holding the stick too tightly, maybe. I don't know without watching you play. Try to let the stick "breathe" and rebound naturally, and don't try to play through the head. You get more volume and a better quality sound playing more loosely - volume comes from the velocity of the stick, not from pushing it into the head.

Also, you need decent sticks to start with. If you buy them out of the bargain bin, they'll almost surely break more quickly than a good quality oak or hickory stick.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
 
Re: Rim shot-broken sticks

Stick durability will be reduced from rim shots. Metal vs. Wood is not really a competition as it is a massacre.

Oh wait, anything useful I say, he can't read.
 
Re: Why do i keep breaking sticks

Stiffler said:
whats up guys,
to explain my problem, i play a wide range of music. mostly now i have been playin a lot of metal/punk kinda thing. I have a problem of breakin sticks within like 10 minutes of playing. Some people say i play to hard, but thats rediculous, i beleive playing hard is the best way to go. But do any of you have any suggestions on which sticks would be best.
(also, id rather go with skinnier sticks than bulky ones, they feel better and i play better single rolls with them)

Sean


oh the people who tell you you're playing too hard are right. you know dude, no offense, but all the drummers i encounter who proclaim that playing hard is the way to go are 1. noobs or 2. long-time drummers that never learned or 3. very stubborn dudes who dont listen to their drum teachers. and friends and other drumemrs.

you know dude i bet i can whip up a louder sound than you do :p. i play metal and hard rock too and 75% alternative..

i know of this guy, a drummer in a highschool band [from my school of course] who opened for pro bands in a concert... dude he's got louder sound than the other pro rock bands there, and he hits more softly than the pro bands' drummers... point: playing hard isnt the way to go.

im ok with people who hit hard with good technique [imean sometimes you cant avoid it if you like have compulsively insane big muscles] . im not ok with people who use hard hitting as their technique..

oh about the sticks.... for my whole life i only owned two sticks. the first one broke only because it was chewed by the dog and it gave while i was playing jazz. the 2nd one is a 7A hickory noname... i still have it, around a year already. oh and did i mention i loooove rimshots and i play metal and hard rock?

oh yeah, there's also my friend who had owns a pearl forum. he still uses the vic firths that came with it. around more than a year now.. his drum teacher never looked at his hi hat hits so basically all the time he owned that pair of sticks he's been hitting the hats with the shoulder of the sticks right on the edge. the stick wont give, i tell you i think its possessed. im more concerned now about his brass hi hats. i think theyre gonna break sooner than the sticks hahaha :p
 
okay heres my story,

i started with 5as broke them in an hour, moved to expensive 5bs, they broke in two days,
went up to 2bs, still broke in a week,

then i found myself getting a pair of m4s from a bargin bin for 10 bucks, lasted me for three months, just becasue thats how long it took to chew through them, i then was told that it was my technique and my kit set up. i flattened out my toms(witch were almost vertical) and stopped hitting so hard.

i continued using m4s untill i started to do fast fills and stuff, they were just too heavey to be able to go fast with. i now use rotate between maple 5as and maple bs. and they are great and very light too. and i get them for 5 bucks a pair.

heres my advice, dont tape ur sticks,(or at least not with gaffer tape) mit made me become very heavy handed. and try and find out if it is your technique, or your kit set up.
 
I break sticks like it's my job. I bought a pair of Vater 5A's and broke a stick within a week of playing them. This is not good. I do play hard and hit rimshots hard as well, which seems to make them break the most. The type of music I play however requires me to hit hard.

Any suggestions?
 
i play rimshots and crossticks all of the time and in 3 years ive broken 2 sticks! When i first started i had only one pair (vic Virth 5A's) i had them for 1 year and a half. I didnt go out and buy n ew sticks because i didnt feel the need to, i liked 5A's. Then after a year and a half one broke so i got another pair 4 months later one of the new sticks broke so for 1 week i was using one 5A from my old pair and one stick from the new pair then the tip broke in half one the old stick. Thats when i went out and tryed sticks. I ended up getting sum rock sticks which i dont use at all, (i only got them cause i was experimenting) the Steve Gadd Vic Virth sticks and a pair of Vater 7A's. I use the 7A's and the Gadd sticks all the time now. I've had them for a while now and they haven't broken chipped splintered or shown any sign they are weakening. A bit of the black laquar finish on the Gadd's is starting to wear off but thats it. Otherwise they're new.
 
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