drum sticks

[brutal juice]

OK - probably been covered before but I was wondering about the differences with wood and nylon tips.
I've always just used nylon under the assumption it would do less wear damage to cymbals and heads. And as I'm pretty stingy I haven't bought different styles of stick yet to test the differences.
So I wanted to hear about the sound and "bounce back" differences.
Normally I use a 5B stick - even though I play metal - cause I find it easier to blastbeat and do double stroke rolls fast with a lighter stick

I like a dark short sustain sound on toms (just switched to Evans black hydrolics) does the tip effect the tom sound much or is it more applicable to cymbals?

[itchie]

nylon is brighter on the cymbals but you loose a bit of that woody sound on the drums

i prefer wood tips

[brutal juice]

what is the "woody" sound on the drums? its hard to understand what you mean.

[cole1paul]

Getting a little pg-13 in here eh?

[sqadan]

Wood tips give a slightly warmer more natural tone with less attack when striking cymbals / toms.. It's hard to hear a diff. on snares I think.

Nylon tips have a brighter attack on cymbals... More attack on your toms etc... I prefer the feel of wood tips - I can control them better I think - but I use nylon when the room / gig calls for it.

[dt344]

I gave up on nylon tips long ago. I used to love them because I thought they sounded better on cymbals, but I would crack a nylon tip at least once a week. It got really frustrating. On top of that, it made my cymbals all dirty and marked up. I switched to wood tip 10 years ago and never looked back. In my opinion, if you want your cymbals to sound a certain way, then buy the cymbal that sounds the way you want it, don't change your sticks.

[DantheDrummer]

Thats strange.
I use vater 5B Nylon tips. They are ridiculously durable and i havent cracked a tip with them ever.
Great sticks and id heartily reccomend them to you

[sqadan]

I gave up on nylon tips long ago. I used to love them because I thought they sounded better on cymbals, but I would crack a nylon tip at least once a week. It got really frustrating. On top of that, it made my cymbals all dirty and marked up. I switched to wood tip 10 years ago and never looked back. In my opinion, if you want your cymbals to sound a certain way, then buy the cymbal that sounds the way you want it, don't change your sticks.

Hmmm... I don't think I've ever cracked a nylon tip.... I've had a few fly off now and then...

I agree to some extent re. cymbals and whatnot - but sometimes you just want a bit more brightness... and the nylon tip seems to get the job done.

[Halon451]

Wood tips can crack and chip as well. I've personally never cracked a nylon tip, and it's all I use - the OP mentioned the "bounce back" factor, which seems (for me) to come a lot easier with a nylon tip stick.

[dt344]

Hmmm... I don't think I've ever cracked a nylon tip.... I've had a few fly off now and then...

I agree to some extent re. cymbals and whatnot - but sometimes you just want a bit more brightness... and the nylon tip seems to get the job done.

I'm serious, they would crack all the time. I used Vic Firth 5A nylons, and by the end of the month I'd have a stack of sticks with only half of the nylon tip still on them. It must just be the way that I play, I've always been a bit of a slammer, especially on cymbals.

[brutal juice]

from what everyone's saying so far it sounds like wooden is the most durable and best for attack on the toms but nylon is going to bring out the best in my hihats due to a brighter tone. hhmmm guess i'll have to get some wooden tips and see how they go.

[itchie]

just get both

[sqadan]

from what everyone's saying so far it sounds like wooden is the most durable and best for attack on the toms but nylon is going to bring out the best in my hihats due to a brighter tone. hhmmm guess i'll have to get some wooden tips and see how they go.

Again - the attack is going to be brighter and more "present" all around with nylon... warmer and darker all around with wood. The diff. is subtle but there IMO.