Wooden tips chipping!!!!

robertondrums

Senior Member
Hey everyone,

At the moment I'm currently very frustrated and wondered if any of you could help. For years now I've been playing with Vater 5a nylon tipped sticks and have loved the feel of them. They've allowed me to play at both fast and slow speeds with ease. However I've recently grown tired of the nylon tipped and moved to vic firth 5a wooden tip after trying the vater wooden tip. However after a few weeks of playing the tips simple chip and shatter when the rest of the stick barley has a mark on it.

I now have a problem. I play many different styles of music as I work as a session musician and wish to have a stick as light as the 5a but wont shatter. I've tryed the, american classic rock stick and a few others and have found them to be too heavy which makes my playing sluggish and messy.

Just wondering if any of you have any suggestions as to what to do?

Thanks a lot
Robertondrums
 
I had a very similar problem with my sticks splintering, so after doing some research and experimenting I've found that maple sticks don't splinter (they just dent, and eventually snap in half) and are very light, but can still have a wider diameter. They may be what you're looking for so you might wanna try 'em out. :)

-Jonathan
 
1. The weight of the stick has nothing to do with tip chipping.
2. I used Vics until the tips on them started chipping in abou 5 minutes. I switched to Promark and the sticks get ragged from rim shots before the tips chip. I like the tip shape better, too.
3. Check out the Regal Tip E-tips. These are nylon tips that look like this:

e-series.jpg


These don't sound like the typical nylon tip; in fact, they sound very much like a brand new wood-tipped stick. And obviously, they don't chip.

4. If you work as a session musician, sticks are part of the cost of doing business.
 
i used to play vic firth wooden tipped 5As, but like you i got tired of the tips breaking when the rest of the stick was perfectly fine. i switched to nylon tipped 5As and have been using those for a long time with no trouble. the nylon tips never break or come off. but recently i heard a live recording of my band and my ride cymbal sounded super bright with the nylon tips so i think i'm going to try the wooden tipped ones again. my new band isn't as loud as my old band so i think i should be able to make the wooden tipped sticks last.
 
1. The weight of the stick has nothing to do with tip chipping.
2. I used Vics until the tips on them started chipping in abou 5 minutes. I switched to Promark and the sticks get ragged from rim shots before the tips chip. I like the tip shape better, too.
3. Check out the Regal Tip E-tips. These are nylon tips that look like this:

e-series.jpg


These don't sound like the typical nylon tip; in fact, they sound very much like a brand new wood-tipped stick. And obviously, they don't chip.

4. If you work as a session musician, sticks are part of the cost of doing business.


I have these in both 5B and 7A and I love them. They last forever.
 
I only use chipped sticks for home practise and teaching, and I generally throw my sticks away when the chipping gets too bad. Mine (VF 5A or X5A) usually chip after about 6 to 8 weeks, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. That's not bad for the life of a pair of sticks - there's people who break sticks every week.
 
I had a very similar problem with my sticks splintering, so after doing some research and experimenting I've found that maple sticks don't splinter (they just dent, and eventually snap in half) and are very light, but can still have a wider diameter. They may be what you're looking for so you might wanna try 'em out. :)

-Jonathan
Thanks Jonathan I might just have to try out some maple sticks. Snapping my sticks is not a problem. I can make mine last months before having to change, I only tend to use new sticks for shows and such, it's just the tip chipping which drives me mad.

Thanks for the advice I will try this

Robertondrums
 
1. The weight of the stick has nothing to do with tip chipping.
2. I used Vics until the tips on them started chipping in abou 5 minutes. I switched to Promark and the sticks get ragged from rim shots before the tips chip. I like the tip shape better, too.
3. Check out the Regal Tip E-tips. These are nylon tips that look like this:

e-series.jpg


These don't sound like the typical nylon tip; in fact, they sound very much like a brand new wood-tipped stick. And obviously, they don't chip.

4. If you work as a session musician, sticks are part of the cost of doing business.
These are quite interesting, I've seen them before but never really tried them. To be honest tho I really just want to get away from nylon all together. Might try a pair tho if I come across them.

Thanks
 
i used to play vic firth wooden tipped 5As, but like you i got tired of the tips breaking when the rest of the stick was perfectly fine. i switched to nylon tipped 5As and have been using those for a long time with no trouble. the nylon tips never break or come off. but recently i heard a live recording of my band and my ride cymbal sounded super bright with the nylon tips so i think i'm going to try the wooden tipped ones again. my new band isn't as loud as my old band so i think i should be able to make the wooden tipped sticks last.
Thats the main reason why I have changed to wooden tip is because in recordings that I do in the studio my drums sound way too bright. I need to find the perfect pair as my band will start to record our new album that is due to be recorded this month. NOT GOOD!!

Thanks for the comment
 
I only use chipped sticks for home practise and teaching, and I generally throw my sticks away when the chipping gets too bad. Mine (VF 5A or X5A) usually chip after about 6 to 8 weeks, sometimes faster, sometimes slower. That's not bad for the life of a pair of sticks - there's people who break sticks every week.
I'e been thinking about trying out the X5a as I love the feel of the 5a sticks but want to find somthing that is going to last that little bit longer. How do they feel? Are they heavier than the 5a's and do they respond similar?

Thanks for your comment.
 
Whoever has a problem with wooden sticks chipping, breaking etc. you should give carbon sticks a try, i used to go through about 1 or 2 pairs of wood sticks a week but since switching to carbon sticks they last about 4 to 5 months with minimal damage to them followed by catastrophic failure after the 4ish months haha but i will never go back to wooden sticks unless its for recording purposes, just my own personal opinion.
 
I'e been thinking about trying out the X5a as I love the feel of the 5a sticks but want to find somthing that is going to last that little bit longer. How do they feel? Are they heavier than the 5a's and do they respond similar?

Thanks for your comment.
The size and weight of the sticks will not affect the life of their tips. X5A have pretty much the same tips as ordinary 5A, so they will last pretty much the same.

Try dipping the tips clear nail polish, that supposedly prolongs their life without changing the sound.
 
The size and weight of the sticks will not affect the life of their tips. X5A have pretty much the same tips as ordinary 5A, so they will last pretty much the same.

Try dipping the tips clear nail polish, that supposedly prolongs their life without changing the sound.

Actually I do get the impression that the X5A tips chip a little sooner, this might be because of the extra length (and thus the extra velocity --> kinetic energy) that they need to deal with. But maybe I just had some bad luck with them.
Next time I buy sticks I will buy regular 5A - the extra 1/2" isn't really of much influence for a tall guy like me. They respond similar, and the X5A's might be a little bit louder.
 
I'e been thinking about trying out the X5a as I love the feel of the 5a sticks but want to find somthing that is going to last that little bit longer. How do they feel? Are they heavier than the 5a's and do they respond similar?

Thanks for your comment.

I use X5A nylon for most playing. I like the nylon tip for live work & practice as they're really tough. You'll find the X5A's have a degree more whip feel to the wrist than the 5A's. The extra length adds this whip plus a small degree of extra volume.

Totally agree on the nylon tips being too bright in the studio. I suggest wood tips for this. I've just done some recording and made the mistake of using my nylon tip X5A's, but for live work they're so much more durable than the wood tips.
 
These are quite interesting, I've seen them before but never really tried them. To be honest tho I really just want to get away from nylon all together. Might try a pair tho if I come across them.

Thanks

My kid started playing these in a kind of fat-shouldered 7A size for church and jazz band, and I was impressed with the sound on cymbals--very slightly more articulate than wood, but nothing like the usual artificial sound you get from nylon.

Also, Regal Tip's finish is unique, it feels great to the hand and doesn't get slippery when you sweat.
 
I hear you on the tips chipping on the ride. I was just using the bargain bin 5As but it got to the point that one day I was chucking a stick every 5 minutes without crashing at all, only the sides of the head chipped off or it split down the center, I don't want to tear a 20 dollar head just because of a 1 dollar stick which I may or may not catch by the time I hit a drum.

After that I tried some cheaper nylon tips to see how they held up, definitely no complaints, all praise. I like the sound I get out of all of my cymbals better, they seem to rebound a little more and best of all I'm still using the same pair confidently for the last few weeks.

In my new fandom of nylon tips and always liking round tips, I've been playing with Vater 3a fatbacks nylon the past couple days. I'm pretty sure these will last a good long while.
 
Ive used so many different brands of sticks and my favorite are Vic Firth Peter Erskine's. I don't play my sticks very hard and it seems they always break at the tips. I have just forgotten that and decided sticks don't last long, and so now I just spend 9 dollars on sticks every 3 weeks.
 
Somebody on some forum (how's that for precision) mentioned using a Minwax wood preservative/hardner(??) and dipped the stick tips in it. Seemed to work ok. I'll see if I can find the exact name of the product.
 
I had the sane problem, I switched to the E series Regal sticks and I have been playing witht the same pair for 6 months. They have the sound of a wood tip (pretty close anyway)
and a good feel. I still like a wood tip so I will use a maple which is sfter and less likley to chip. Try the Regal, I don't think you will be disappointed.
 
This chipping is exactly why I switched to nylon tips early on. Makes me wonder why so many ppl that complain about chipping also complain about nylon tips- see the "least favorite stick" thread. Yes, they're brighter on ride cymbals, and if you don't dig that, just get a darker sounding ride. If it sounds silly, remember that rides generally don't take a lot of abuse unless they're crash-pummeled Lars-style, so eventually it'd pay for itself in saved stick money. Plus, most recording engineers I've worked with [and granted, it hasn't been a ton- maybe, 10, 11?] have loved the nylons, and they & some artists who'd hired me for sessions have only suggested wood tips when the sound fit the vibe of the song better. [And in those cases, I either agreed or thought neither was necessarily better in the situation than the other.]
 
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