Disappointed in ProMark.

ISeekTheForest

Junior Member
Recently I bought 2 value packs of Pro Mark Millenium 2 5B's. The buy 3 get one free deal. When I purchase a value pack I expect the sticks to be made with the same quality as normal. The last 2 times I've had sticks that are not dense and break very fast. You can also hear they don't pull tone out of the drums as well either.

Has this happened to anyone else? Are my expectations crazy?
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

I have long been a fan and user of ProMark, but sadly, yes I have experienced this. I got a couple of hickory sticks that felt as light as balsa wood, and have not bought any ProMarks in quite a while.

Not a big deal if you can try before you buy, but if you order, that's not a good situation.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

Hello Gentlemen,
Let me first introduce myself, My name is Robert Caniglia and I am on the ProMark product management team. I am terribly sorry for your negative experiences with ProMark. Truth be told there was a lot of quality control issues with ProMark historically. But I can say since D'Addario purchased ProMark 3 years ago we have made some real strides in improving the sticks. We have gone all the way back to our sawmill in TN to change how we cut the wood. This is insure the straightest grain possible for our dowels. We have spent over a million dollars to convert from back knife lathe cutting to centerless grinding technology. We have gone leaps and bounds beyond what ProMark was and we aren't finished yet. If either of you can Email me your information and the sticks you have had trouble with, I would like to rectify this situation as best i can. Email [email protected].



I have long been a fan and user of ProMark, but sadly, yes I have experienced this. I got a couple of hickory sticks that felt as light as balsa wood, and have not bought any ProMarks in quite a while.

Not a big deal if you can try before you buy, but if you order, that's not a good situation.

Recently I bought 2 value packs of Pro Mark Millenium 2 5B's. The buy 3 get one free deal. When I purchase a value pack I expect the sticks to be made with the same quality as normal. The last 2 times I've had sticks that are not dense and break very fast. You can also hear they don't pull tone out of the drums as well either.

Has this happened to anyone else? Are my expectations crazy?
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

Thanks for your attention to this thread, Robert. I will email you.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

Hello Gentlemen,
Let me first introduce myself, My name is Robert Caniglia and I am on the ProMark product management team. I am terribly sorry for your negative experiences with ProMark. Truth be told there was a lot of quality control issues with ProMark historically. But I can say since D'Addario purchased ProMark 3 years ago we have made some real strides in improving the sticks. We have gone all the way back to our sawmill in TN to change how we cut the wood. This is insure the straightest grain possible for our dowels. We have spent over a million dollars to convert from back knife lathe cutting to centerless grinding technology. We have gone leaps and bounds beyond what ProMark was and we aren't finished yet. If either of you can Email me your information and the sticks you have had trouble with, I would like to rectify this situation as best i can. Email [email protected].

I can attest to the customer service at Promark. A couple of months ago I had some issues with some oak 5A's that were snapping quickly without warning. I had used these sticks for years and had no issues. I emailed Robert just to alert them to the situation (I didn't even ask for replacements), and he rectified the situation without any fuss or fight. He just took care of the customer and apologized for any convenience. That is why I've played Promark since I saw the little sumo wrestlers on the sticks when I was a kid. I applaud them for standing behind their products and fixing situations that may arise every now and again!

By the way, the replacement sticks have held up without any issues. Thanks Robert.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

Hello Gentlemen,
Let me first introduce myself, My name is Robert Caniglia and I am on the ProMark product management team. I am terribly sorry for your negative experiences with ProMark. Truth be told there was a lot of quality control issues with ProMark historically. But I can say since D'Addario purchased ProMark 3 years ago we have made some real strides in improving the sticks. We have gone all the way back to our sawmill in TN to change how we cut the wood. This is insure the straightest grain possible for our dowels. We have spent over a million dollars to convert from back knife lathe cutting to centerless grinding technology. We have gone leaps and bounds beyond what ProMark was and we aren't finished yet. If either of you can Email me your information and the sticks you have had trouble with, I would like to rectify this situation as best i can. Email [email protected].
great to see some OEM input. I can't speak for Promark sticks, but I can say that we've had nothing but superb service & real involvement from D'Addario. Stand up people :)
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

Another vote for Pro-Mark's excellent customer service from me, I also experienced some stick problems and these were quickly resolved with replacements.

Sometimes things will go wrong, especially with a product that due to nature may have some variables, but it is the way that the problem is resolved that makes the difference.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

I must concur regarding Pro-Mark's customer support. I too bought the buy -three-get-one-free" pack and what I found was that the sticks lacked a consistent finish...almost as if they had been mislabeled "natural's." Without any prompting from me, they were replaced with high quality sticks. I can't say enough good things about Pro-Mark.
 
Sooner or later disappointments happen with the best of manufacturers. What sets these apart is how frequently these disappointments occur and how quickly customer service steps in to remedy the situation.

Dennis
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

Hello Gentlemen,
Let me first introduce myself, My name is Robert Caniglia and I am on the ProMark product management team. I am terribly sorry for your negative experiences with ProMark. Truth be told there was a lot of quality control issues with ProMark historically. But I can say since D'Addario purchased ProMark 3 years ago we have made some real strides in improving the sticks. We have gone all the way back to our sawmill in TN to change how we cut the wood. This is insure the straightest grain possible for our dowels. We have spent over a million dollars to convert from back knife lathe cutting to centerless grinding technology. We have gone leaps and bounds beyond what ProMark was and we aren't finished yet. If either of you can Email me your information and the sticks you have had trouble with, I would like to rectify this situation as best i can. Email [email protected].

Wow, thank you for the response I will email right away.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

I had given up on ProMark a long time ago and switched to Vic Firth after going through a short and disappointing Ahead phase. My biggest issue with them was the nylon tips falling off and then damaging heads before i realized what had happened. Hearing that they have addressed quality issues, I think I will have to give them another go next time I am in the market for a new pair of sticks.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

I got a couple of hickory sticks that felt as light as balsa wood

This rings true with what I have seen in my neck of the woods. I don't wish to needlessly malign ProMark - especially if their new owners are trying to undo this problem - but some retailers near me are still selling these sub-par hickory sticks for full price and in some cases for more then their competitors' equivalent.

I used to play the ProMark Japanese oak 7ANs about 20 years ago when they had the red and black paint and was pretty happy with them until they changed the overall finish of the wood somehow. Recently I was at a local rehearsal studio that sells ProMark sticks and picked up a pair of hickory 7As (priced at around 9GBP) to test them out and was taken aback by how insubstantial they felt in my hands; I know 7A is not a particularly hefty gauge of stick but these felt more like timbale sticks.

If someone is genuinely trying to restore ProMark's good name then fair enough - but I suggest that a good start would be to either recall these b-stock sticks that are still quite common in my part of the world or at least compensate dealers sufficiently so that they can sell them at b-stock prices.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

I have never had any problem with Pro Mark sticks. Their 5A is smaller in diameter than most of the others, and they do not feel right in my hands. I have tried many Pro Mark sticks but could not find one that I really like. The 747 hickory is OK. Their customer service is among the best. Peace and goodwill.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

ProMark seems to have the best customer service in the business. Too bad I don't really care for their sticks.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

If someone is genuinely trying to restore ProMark's good name then fair enough - but I suggest that a good start would be to either recall these b-stock sticks that are still quite common in my part of the world or at least compensate dealers sufficiently so that they can sell them at b-stock prices.

Unfortunately in many cases it's the individual stores that won't take bad or defective stock off the shelves and keep trying to sell it. I am glad, at least, that when I pulled a pair of Pro-Mark 5Bs at my local shop and they turned out to be warped, they took them in the back, never to be seen again.

But for whatever reason, Vic is easier to get in my neck of the woods, and I am happy with the consistency and quality. I still have some ProMark 5Bs left from an old brick, and I use them for practice room sticks or I give them away to kids who are getting into drumming.

I also don't see very many ProMark extended-length sticks, which I prefer. Vic has multiple extended models (longer than 16 1/4").

I really liked Pro-Mark's Pro Grip models, but they were harder than anything to find anywhere locally, even in Seattle.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

My disappointment with Pro Mark happened years ago, when the company changed their 5B sticks. Instead of making a new stick designation for the so-called "heavy hitter", they changed the most popular stick in their line.
 
Re: Disapointed in ProMark.

I had similar problem with promark. I bought some bricks of sticks from them and they all snapped really fast. Someone from promark claimed they were gonna send me more sticks and the problem was fixed in the new ones. After emailing my address to ship to more than once I never got the sticks and it seems the problem is still not fixed based off this thread. For me I will be sticking to vater and vicfrith just because of that experience.
 
The most issues I have with any brand of sticks is their straightness. I buy them in person, so I'm able to check this before making the purchase. And yes, this issue did come up with a pair of 5A Promarks this past weekend. No biggie.

Dennis
 
Vic Firth's are pretty essential in my opinion.

It is a sod if you play a certain brand and the quality goes out. It is not good swapping stick types .... I remember one drum shop trying to tell me how wonderful Zildjian sticks are, but I politely ignored them and reminded them about getting used to taper lengths and such like. That shut them up.

I remember trying all the big makes, and I have never had a problem with the Vic's. And they look cool too.
 
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