Vic Firth TITAN Drumsticks - Product Spotlight video

I'm always a fan of a well-made, great-feeling synthetic stick, but there have been only a few that measured up in the last 30 years. If these are the old Carbosticks/Blackwood products, they're not so great.

If they're not, I'd be interested in checking them out!

Bermuda
 
According to reviews and such, they have no increase on hand and arm fatigue. They are said to play and react just like a wood stick.

Also, for the rest of you, here's a video comparison of them versus wood tips on a ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr21A8cEShk

I can't believe how good they sound. They're just a little brighter than wood tips, but not nearly as offensively bright as nylon tips can be. Sounds like a good trade-off.

I'm really starting to think that Vic Firth is on to something here.

Very interesting! I guess I am going to pick a pair of these up then. They actually seemed to pull more low-end out of the ride for me. Yes please!
 
I've never been concerned with sticks holding up. They're cheap. Im more concerned with drums, cymbals and heads etc... somehow I feel the titans would threaten that..
 
I assume they are waiting to see the response before making other sizes. Does anyone know the process? And they molded or heat forced some way. Just wondering

You'd think if they went through the process of creating / marketing, etc. they'd offer a few sizes at least.........5b's are a little too big for my taste
 
I just got a pair and so far, so good.

My biggest pet peeve with sticks is the weight inconsistency. Pitch pairing never made much sense to me as a kit player because I just take the sticks and throw them all in my stick bag anyway. But I hate it when one stick feels much lighter than the other.

These sticks are on the heavy side, which I like, and they are the same weight, every time. They are straight and I assume that they will maintain their straightness despite temperate and humidity changes, we'll see about that.

I use nylon tip sticks so I the change in cymbal tone is negligible as a rock player. They do sound much better and more natural than any other synthetic stick I've used. Rimshots are killer. (I doubt the straight ahead guys will change anyway.)

I got a pair for $42.00 . If they make me happy over the next few months, I may switch.
 
I just got a pair and so far, so good.

I use nylon tip sticks so I the change in cymbal tone is negligible as a rock player. They do sound much better and more natural than any other synthetic stick I've used. Rimshots are killer. (I doubt the straight ahead guys will change anyway.)

I also just got a pair today, and they are really something else. I noticed that they sound a little bit brighter on the ride at lower volumes (though if you're playing low volume ride, you probably don't want to use these anyways) but they sound like normal sticks at higher volumes, and sound fantastic on everything else. I find the weight refreshing, and yet they're easy to handle due to the pretty standard diameter (plus, they're hollowed out in the butt of the stick to a certain point to decrease weight- puts a little more weight towards the front so they move more easily). Rimshots are markedly different- the stick contributes a really unique 'pop' to the sound, at least on my die-cast hoops. It's awesome, and I honestly can't see any marks on them where I rimshot. (plus, cross stick sounds are also really good!)

My only complaint so far is that they chip kind of easily on the portion where I'm crashing cymbal edges (most of my cymbals are angled so the stick is reasonably tangential to the edge curve when hit, so I'm not sure why it happens), but it's not any worse than wood chipping. It started happening much quicker than my wood sticks, but I don't expect it to be a major issue as far as life expectancy goes.

Overall, I really like them a lot, for both the logical reasons and the feel reasons. I got mine for ~$45 on Amazon, and I would seriously recommend them for anyone looking for a longer-lasting stick (or just a nice feeling heavy 5B).
 
I also just got a pair today, and they are really something else. I noticed that they sound a little bit brighter on the ride at lower volumes (though if you're playing low volume ride, you probably don't want to use these anyways) but they sound like normal sticks at higher volumes, and sound fantastic on everything else. I find the weight refreshing, and yet they're easy to handle due to the pretty standard diameter (plus, they're hollowed out in the butt of the stick to a certain point to decrease weight- puts a little more weight towards the front so they move more easily). Rimshots are markedly different- the stick contributes a really unique 'pop' to the sound, at least on my die-cast hoops. It's awesome, and I honestly can't see any marks on them where I rimshot. (plus, cross stick sounds are also really good!)

My only complaint so far is that they chip kind of easily on the portion where I'm crashing cymbal edges (most of my cymbals are angled so the stick is reasonably tangential to the edge curve when hit, so I'm not sure why it happens), but it's not any worse than wood chipping. It started happening much quicker than my wood sticks, but I don't expect it to be a major issue as far as life expectancy goes.

Overall, I really like them a lot, for both the logical reasons and the feel reasons. I got mine for ~$45 on Amazon, and I would seriously recommend them for anyone looking for a longer-lasting stick (or just a nice feeling heavy 5B).

Are they leaving any sort of unusual marks on your cymbals?
 
I'd like to see how everyones' Titan 5Bs are holding up, about 3-4 months after they've bought them...
 
Photo%20on%205-22-14%20at%2011.14%20PM.jpg


Well, guys, I finally did it. I broke one :( From my previous posts, we can see they lasted 3 and a half months through my very frequent playing. Before these, my sticks were usually ruined by rimshots in 2-3 weeks so by my worst estimate, these lasted 5 times as long as regular sticks in my situation, and they're 5 times the price- so they're an even trade in the worst case estimate. I'd call it better than that, though. I'm definitely buying another pair once I go into college, but for now I'm just going to try a couple different big sticks (starting with the Vater Marching MV-20s I've had for a while) and go from there. Seriously, though, the tone is pretty great for synthetic sticks and they feel great. Rimshots are definitely a bit louder. I recommend them.
 
I like the idea, and I'd love to try them by 5B's are not my cup of tea. Anyone know when/where I can get some 5As?
 
I swear they had 5As when they first tried this a couple years ago (then pulled them and retried). They definitely don't now, though. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if they're popular enough for Vic to introduce more sizes this time.
 
I have a Vic Firth catalog that isn't more than a year old, and it has 5A and 5B listed as models. (TI5A, TI5B model #'s). It is the catalog that is black, tall, but not wide, and says celebrating 50 years. Around 75 pages to.

I have tried finding 5A's and haven't had any luck :(, 5B's are a little too much for me!
 
I see a lot of positive things going around about the TITAN sticks, so I figured I'd throw a rare negative opinion of them in here:

The company I work for buys the carbon fiber from a supplier, then sells to Vic Firth for these sticks. A guy in the office was given a pair of these, and knowing that I'm a drummer, wanted me to try them out and see what I thought.

From a durability standpoint, these things seem to be awesome. They're also awesome from a "blister" standpoint...they're very smooth and don't tear up your hands at all (although I know some people prefer grippier sticks).

My biggest complaint was the weighting of the stick, and it made it unplayable for me. I know stick preference is totally subjective, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but these things are so forward-weighted (probably from the hollowed-out butt end) that I feel like I'm desperately fighting the stick instead of letting it do the work. I wanted to play for a few hours with them to give him some feedback, but I honestly couldn't stand them for more than 15 minutes. It feels like the equivalent of swinging a baseball bat with a donut on it.

I really am hoping they catch on and make more sizes and weights to choose from because I love the idea of ultra-durable and ultra-consistent sticks like this, but the TITANs themselves just don't do it for me.
 
My biggest complaint was the weighting of the stick, and it made it unplayable for me. I know stick preference is totally subjective, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but these things are so forward-weighted (probably from the hollowed-out butt end) that I feel like I'm desperately fighting the stick instead of letting it do the work. I wanted to play for a few hours with them to give him some feedback, but I honestly couldn't stand them for more than 15 minutes. It feels like the equivalent of swinging a baseball bat with a donut on it.

I really am hoping they catch on and make more sizes and weights to choose from because I love the idea of ultra-durable and ultra-consistent sticks like this, but the TITANs themselves just don't do it for me.

See, Promark gets that people have these balance preferences! I kind of wish they made the Titans so we'd at least have two balance choices. I much prefer forward weights, which explains why I like these more than you did.

Have to say, though, after playing with Vater Power Houses after breaking that Titan, I prefer the rimshot feel of wood sticks.
 
Back
Top