My favorite sticks

I can pretty much play any 5A or 5B from most companies. I stay pretty much with 5A or 85A sticks from Vic Firth. I work at a music store so I have various sizes from various brands up to about 5b and including signature sticks. I'm not all too picky about sizes... my favorite sticks at the moment are the Buddy Rich signature and the Tommy Igoe signature from Vic Firth.
 
pretty similar zildjian 5A's or Vic Firth equivalents. Went through a bagful at drum college!!!!
 
Man, I've used like every brand practically.

Right now I'm using 5B promark natual finish hickory.

But man oh man!!! Me and the guy rolled the sticks on the ground when picking out a pair and I've NEVER seen a pair of sticks bowed SO badly! He put them back in the little sleeve and they were bowing outward in a "Y" form.

I feel the 5B's are too heavy and the 5A's I break through.

I've been considering giving Vater a try again.
Good or bad expierences??

Another great brand I like is Silverfox.
 
I am sorry for the negative experience with the sticks. Can I ask where you got them from? Since the beginning of the year we have made some big changes to our manufacturing process. The sticks are now cut on centerless grinding machines as opposed to the back knife lathing process we originally had. This process makes more consistent sticks with lower moisture content bringing down the opportunity for warpage. The original design did warp quite a bit and is a problem that kept coming up. That is why we made these changes to try and improve the stick.

http://promark.com/pmNewsDetail.Page?ActiveID=3895&id=1173

I would really like to hear more about these fell free to email me at [email protected]

Thank you for speaking out.




Man, I've used like every brand practically.

Right now I'm using 5B promark natual finish hickory.

But man oh man!!! Me and the guy rolled the sticks on the ground when picking out a pair and I've NEVER seen a pair of sticks bowed SO badly! He put them back in the little sleeve and they were bowing outward in a "Y" form.

I feel the 5B's are too heavy and the 5A's I break through.

I've been considering giving Vater a try again.
Good or bad expierences??

Another great brand I like is Silverfox.
 
I used promark 7A for 1st 4 years but realised i needed bigger sticks for more volume (bigger venues). Just this year I started using Vic's 5A (always wood tip for me), much more versatile & comfy in my hands. I dont hit the s**t out of my drums but I do constant rimshots & a pair can last me around 20-25 hours of playing, 30 sometimes.

Funny I tried Vic extreme 5A & they broke much much quicker than the regular 5A.

I will try out Vater's & ProMark's 5A to compare. Very curious about Los Cabos sticks but cannot find them here in Oz!!
 
I'm a Vic Firth 5A with wood tip kinda' guy.

I grew up on Regal Tip 5A's, and a couple of years ago I bought a brick of Vater Los Angeles (5A) sticks, but I stick with the Vic Firths for some reason. It must be that nice bead - and if I flip them around, I have enough weight to really slam too.

I tried the Ahead sticks, and I had high hopes that they would work out for me, but they didn't.
 
I've used Promark 737's for years. I find they rarely break on me, they just wear away until there is no tip left. Nice and light so I get a little faster speed with less work. I play a lot of country and blues though - lots of fast shuffles.

I've recently started using Los Cabos Jazz sticks for slightly louder rock situations/ really large rooms.
 
I most often play the Vater Los Angeles 5A because it is easy to find locally. I prefer a stick in between a 5A and a 5B. So I have also used the Vater H220 and Fusion and the Vic Firth 55A.

Since the late 60s, I have used just about every stick out there, except the very big ones. Peace and goodwill.
 
I currently use Vic Firth 7AN Nylon tip sticks. I think Vic Firth puts out a good product. The 7ANs are light, and I have smaller hands which makes the 7AN stick pretty much a perfect fit.
 
I've got used to playing with thick sticks (Vater 5B's, .605" thick), even I thought I wanted to buy thicker sticks (2B's or Virgil Donati's signature). I don't know why, but I like playing on 5B's better than 5A's, even on 210-230 bpm metal, I like the thick feel and the powerful impact on less energy (How on earth, my hands?). I used to experiment on thicker sticks, and so, I'm used to them. Although I do play progressive rock, some jazz, and fusion music, sometimes I tend to play metal songs, especially on technical death metal, but obviously it's just that however, they're a little too heavy to blast-beat quicker. And I'm not a big fan of 280 bpm music, though! So, 5B's are still my choice.

But anyway, I'm on the mood to play more jazz fusion, so I'm really craving for thinner sticks. But on the other side, my hands have this kind of medium-to-far reach, and I'm going to miss my 5B's, because habitually I'm used to playing with thick sticks. However, I'm going to leave this habit if possible, because I'll try to get used to playing jazz fusion music, just trying some new things, generally speaking. So, I'll try to find another ones. If it appeared that I can't find some, I'll stick with my Vic Firth Akira Jimbo sticks, since I lost some sticks a little thicker than Akira's, but thinner than my 5B's. Sad. My target, if available for a buy, is going to be some .570" - .580" thick sticks. I'm somewhat afraid if I get to break some .565" sticks or even thinner.
 
Vater's 5Bs are my dream stick also. Right now I'm using Zildjians Brooks Wackerman models because I haven't had the funds to buy new sticks - but soon hopefully.The BW signatures are pretty close to Vater 5Bs. They might be a little lighter, but in size I can tell no difference.
 
Well, like a lot of drummers tend to do, I've changed up my stick arsenal yet again. My main go-to stick, that I use 95% of the time now, is the wonderful Vater Los Angeles 5A wood tip. I've tried Vater sticks a few times over the years, and while I liked the quality of their sticks, they almost always felt heavy to me. I don't know what Vater has changed, if anything, but the LA 5A's I've been using for the last few months are the highest quality, best built, best feeling sticks I've played in quite some time. I like how the Vater 5A has a heavier front end for more throw, more of a rockin' 5A. Never say never, but I think I've found my forever stick.

For some of the smaller, quieter gigs I play, I'll cut my kit down to a 4 piece with 2 cymbals, and I'll use my Sweet ride as my main ride/crash (I normally use it as my big crash on my larger kit at louder gigs). My Sweet ride crashes very easily, and has decent stick definition if played lightly. I've found that the Vater Manhattan 7A, with its round wood tip, gets even more stick definition out of my Sweet for ride patterns vs. an acorn tip. So, right now its all Vater for me, and I'm very happy with my 2 stick arsenal.
 
I love the Pro-Mark 5A Hickory - The Natural - nylon tip

The last time I bought them the guy at the store said he can't stand the naturals said; 'they feel like nails on a chalkboard.' I guess a person must love or hate these...

What I prefer as well. My hands sweat when playing and these sticks just absorb it, allowing me to have much better grip
 
I'm not to picky about my stick sizes... I can play most any brand's 5A size sticks, whther they be just regular 5As or signature sticks.

I do have a long lasting love affair with the Vic Firth 85A. When I discovered that stick, I bought about 50 or so pairs of them when they went on sale for Black Friday. I use them for most any genre except for when I am playing pretty hard for whatever reason.

I also fell in love with the Vic firth Buddy Rich stick. I use it for rock, jazz and everything in between.

I have over 200 pairs of ticks, consisting of most of the major brands in sizes from 5A to some 5B weight sizes (including many types of signature sticks from Vic Firth and ProMark). I use to work at Guitar Center, so my prices were cheap, and I would stockpile all types of sticks, since they were so cheap and I play so much. I ma play with a different type of sticks everytime I play... regardless of genre, whatever feels right on that day!
 
With my around 52 pairs of sticks, I thought being a little drumsticks fanatic. You beat me with your over 200!... It's so fun to collect and try different brands (5A in my case). Maybe it will be a good idea for me to work also in a music store ? ;-)
 
I like vic firth extreme 5As...

they are just a liiiiiittle bit longer than regular 5As, but its changes the balance of the stick, and gives a bit more tourqe
 
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