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I made this for new drummers or people who haven't experimented with sticks.
I own almost every shape and size of stick available and there is a lot of people who don't ever change. It makes a huge difference in your playing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WdAMzR7Dh4
Awesome video. I picked up a few pairs of mike portnoy 420s and 5bs yesterday.
5B is pretty much the best middle of the road stick I find..Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyByNight
Nice job!
I keep a variety of sticks in my stick caddy, clamped on my cymbal stand. I typically use Ahead (aluminum) 7A’s, but I’ll switch to an Ahead 5A or a 7A wood, etc. between songs...depending on the song and situation. We may go right from a Texas Swing or Waltz to a Chicago Blues or Southern Rock tune. Changing the sticks seems to make it easier to get the appropriate sound for the style.
Tends to be 7a's or 7b's for me. If I need real difference in playing i'll hit lighter - I never felt like I absolutely needed a new stick to accomplish a new sound. I just find a way to work with what I have available.
2B or not 2B :icon_mrgreen: they really vary between company's... usually in the taper of the stick. But 2B 5B and my personal favorite Regal Tip Quantum 3000's are the ones I use
Nice video!
Good stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post.
Thanks for posting. I was the opposite. I never broke a cymbal till I went with 7A's...I think I was hitting the Toms harder to get more sound and started hitting the cymbals the same way which ended up cracking both of my K hybrid crashes.....arrrggghhhhh..... I have recently gone back to Ahead 5b's.
That is a good point.. Hitting harder with lighter sticks isn't the point... Technique should remain the same no matter what stick you are using. I used to do the same which is why I didn't think lighter sticks were faster or saved me energy until I got used to the slight decrease in volume. I had to learn to trust the mics on my kit and not compensate
I just started using 5b’s and I know what you mean. I cracked a china with my 7a’s. Those were the thinnest sticks i’ve used. While using a 7a probably hardly contributed to that, I can definitely hear a difference when i’m hitting toms and cymbals with 5b’s.Quote:
Originally Posted by MDK
I am constantly changing and trying new sticks.
Great video
I used 5B for years.....................tried every brand over the years too...................Regal, Zildjian, Pro-Mark & others.
About ten years ago I settled in on Vic Firth...........felt right and seemed to be a bit more durable.
Two years ago (just because I had not done it in ages), I bought 5 or 6 different VF provisions (not 5B) just to feel something different; you never know if something feels better.
I can testify that all of the stick-pairs but one did not feel as good as the 5B sticks I had been using a long time.
However, there was one..................I am now hooked on the 3A --- specifically, the VF American Classic 3AN.
A little beefier than the 5B but not huge like the 2B.
Also like the barrel tip.
Great sticks
I lived for decades with Regal Tip Jazz sticks. At some point in time, they started making them different, not a big difference but enough to make me start trying new sticks.
I went with heavier sticks, lighter sticks, and in between sticks. I played for a couple of years with Vic Firth AC 2's then tried other sticks. Manhattan 7A's are OK but they do feel like there is some "flex" in them when I use them.
I tried heavier sticks like 5B Power sticks for a while, but they bother my wrists, so I went back to AJ 2's& 3's. Going by the sticks I have tried, if they made a 4A, it would probably be perfect.
I found it funny how I play with the opposite of all my metal drummer friends... 5B,s 3A's seem to be the norm. Alot of them like the longer power or intense sticks too... Here I am with my short maple sticks lol. all kidding aside I find the long heavy ones make me feel it more in my hands as well. I used to change by the week. After buying about 30 different pairs, logging the results with BPM and giving each one an honest shot for a few days it was an easy choice.
One thing I do is when I do pad work I'll use 2B's, 7A's, Longer, shorter, heavy, light and weird sticks.... I like to be able to pick up any size and play. Plus I find each one works different muscles in your hand.
They tell bodybuilders to change up their routine every few weeks to keep seeing gains. If you work the same muscle group the same way it slows down. You target that group with a different exercise that hits the same muscle. That means change angles, change how many reps, speed, holding the weight, supersets etc.
For me that changes my practice, sometimes I work for volume and power, sometimes its for speed, sometimes I try and play as light as possible and work on control. The different sticks just add to the variance.
So THAT is what the little numbers and letters mean.......
A Correction:
I said if they made a 4A it would probably be perfect. It should read 6A.
I think i'd really dig 6A myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by rickthedrummer