Drum sticks the guide to dispelling the myths and what you should look for.

The art of the drum stick is a very interesting one and an art it is. For years the BIG drum stick companies have marketed the false dream of straight and perfectly finished sticks. This is all great theory but there is one basic reality about drum sticks; they are all just sticks of wood. Don’t get me wrong the work and craftsmanship put into “premium drum sticks” is very good but it really doesn’t make much of a difference. This brings us to the GREAT MYTHS of drum sticks.

Myth #1-

Straight sticks are a must for accurate drumming. Ok drummers have all kinds of little things that they believe in and straight sticks is the biggest myth of all. Fact of the matter is simply this if you are the most schooled drummer in the world or a person that picked up sticks today for the first time, when you are playing you could never…never … tell if a stick isn’t straight. I challenge any drummer to do a blind test with 10 pairs of sticks out of a box. I guarantee you that 90% of the time drummers could never identify straight sticks or non straight sticks. The 10% would just be good guesses.

Myth #2-

Straight sticks don’t break as often as warped sticks. This is exactly the opposite. Sticks that have a bit of a natural curve or bend to them are far stronger than straight sticks. Why you ask, it’s simple the wood is doing what it should be doing naturally. Changes in humidity, temperature etc will make the straightest pair of sticks change before your eyes. Let’s say you buy a set of sticks in Arizona on Monday and they fly back to Miami with you on Tuesday. You throw them in the back seat of your car and grab them for a gig on Friday. The weather in Miami was a bit rainy during the week. Guess what? Your sticks not only slightly and naturally a bit less straight they are also a few grams heavier (wood loves water). It’s just what you get when working with natural products.

Myth #3-

Sticks with wide grain and knots are garbage. I like this one so all you folks that believe this keep buying the pretty sticks. Mean while I will buy the wide grains and knotted ugly stick and have them last 3-5 times longer than the perfect looking sticks. Best example I can use here is this, have you ever chopped wood? I have and I love the nice straight logs. They split right in half with no effort at all. Oh but the ones that have twisted grain and knots well you can have them! There is nothing harder than trying to split a log that is twisted in grain and has a knot. It’s funny guitar players love curly or flame maple tops on guitars. The most coveted guitars on earth are flame maple tops. Why?? There is a few reasons, first they have great resonance and second they don’t for the most part they never crack. If you made drum sticks out of true high quality curly maple the purest drummer would never buy them because of the grain. Ask the people at Pro Mark they have been trying to market clear maple sticks for years with very little success. The problem is simply this, even clear maple has a darker visible grain to it. Purest just won’t buy them. It’s a proven fact that maple sticks last 5 times longer than hickory but they just aren’t pretty enough for the purest drummer!

Drum sticks are a personal thing. My point is simply this if your on a budget and need sticks don’t feel as if you have to settle for garbage. There are great deals to be had in the world of economy drum sticks. A few I like to recommend are;

Power pro by Zildjian. These are the holy grail of economy sticks. They are about ½ the price of premium sticks and are natural unfinished hickory. These sticks are made from Zildjian A quality blanks that didn’t make it to the big time because of simply how they look. You will find a few that may have machine marks or lathe imperfections but nothing that would effect the sticks playability or strength. You can usually buy these by the dozen for just a few bucks more than one set of the premium sticks. American made and a personal favorite.

LA Special or Pro Mark blanks- LA Specials are Pro marks A quality reject sticks. Again these are just like the Power Pro sticks, units that didn’t make the cut do to the way they look. These sticks are lightly finished and also a great value when you can find them. Pro Mark isn’t as picky as Zildjian so blanks that don’t make the cut at Pro Mark are fewer this makes the supply sometimes a bit of a problem.

LA special blanks are stick that Pro Mark won’t even put the LA Special name on. The biggest reason for this is the grain usually won’t take the print ink that they use to put the name on the stick. These are found every now and then on eBay and if you see them buy them they are a great bargain and are really great sticks. La Specials and the blanks are made in the U.S.A.

On Stage brand sticks- This is the best kept secrete in the stick world. Nylon or wood tip these are first run sticks with realistic prices. They are imported form Asia and are made of Asian hickory. This is a very similar hickory to what we grow in the U.S. but tends to be just a bit heavier due to the forests in Asia tend to get more rain than U.S. forests due. This give them a bit higher water content. These sticks in nylon or wood tips are generally available for $14.99 a dozen and work very well. The non bleached versions tend to be darker than U.S. hickory but don’t let this scare you away. Remember that more water content in a stick makes it less brittle and less likely to shatter.

Extreme brand sticks- These are high quality private label sticks made by Vic Firth for a dealer that sells them exclusively on eBay. These are Firth sticks with the Extreme name. This is a great value because you are buying a first quality stick for less than half the price. One draw back is they are limited to basic sizes. Made in the U.S.A. it’s defiantly worth checking these out if you would rather not take the chance on the more economy minded models mentioned.

See a great selection of sticks at the Drum-Stick-dlz eBay store!

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