What kind of sticks do you use?

Addressing the classic drum clinic question once again. In 2019, under the sway of our friend in Berlin, Michael Griener, after about 10 years of using the Vic Firth SD-11 Slammer (a maple 5B) or the VF SD-4 Combo (the universal standard jazz stick), I began looking into some very light hickory sticks. 

I had been put off of hickory by the brutal sound of the heavier Vic Firth models I used in the 80s. The lighter models get a stronger attack while not moving too much mass— I can get the dynamic sound I want without playing too loud. And the maple sticks, I felt, were producing too much body and not enough attack. 

I tried a number of other things, and was surprised that other sticks with similar specifications don't work very well for me. Vater's 500 Bebop model is almost the same size as the Swing Classic below, and I just couldn't hang with them. 

Here's what I'm using now— these all handle very well. I like to have a little stick and a regular stick in my stick bag:  

Regal Tip 7A Nylon Tip - 15" x .520"
Several years ago I saw that the pianist George Colligan (also a drummer) had some in his stick bag, so I bought a set, and finally started using them. They're an order of magnitude smaller than anything I ever used before. The nylon tips sound disgusting, but they do project.  

Naturally, I can't get them any more, because the Regal company is having some kind of inter-family squabble, which has resulted in them not producing any drum sticks. Apparently someone with a controlling interest in the company would rather let it burn than have another family member be involved in it.  

They also make/de 16" Jazz and Combo models (.475" diameter!) I'd be interested in trying if and when that becomes possible. 

Bopworks Birdland Model - 15 5/16" x .5"
Bopworks is a one-person company reproducing mainly signature models from the past— several models are very good, a couple of them seem more specialized. The Birdlands are by far the smallest sticks I've ever used, similar dimensions to the Regals, but even lighter. Long taper, slender at the playing end. It's easy to blend with unamped acoustic bass and piano with these, and after an adjustment period, they feel and sound like normal sticks. 

Bopworks 40s Swing Classic Model - 16" x .515"
Longer than the Birdlands, slightly beefier, with an acorn bead, long taper. Good balance, good normal stick. When a stick is too weighted towards the bead end— like those Vaters— it feels like I'm playing with boxing gloves on. 

You can get Bopworks sticks here. 

Griener on stick selection

Here's a forum comment by our friend Michael Griener in Berlin, which I wanted to preserve on this site. Michael is an excellent, very active drummer in Germany and throughout Central Europe, in jazz and avante-garde music, and also an active teacher in Berlin and Dresden. He's also been a big supporter of Cymbal & Gong cymbals, and very helpful in getting the cymbals to Germany. Michael has several Cymbal & Gong Mersey Beat and Leon Collection cymbals. 

UPDATE: I posted some video of Michael playing on Cymbalistic.

Here he gives his personal journey with stick selection, and how it reflects performance concerns and cymbal selection for jazz drummers. I recognize a lot of my own experiences here, except I never settled on an acceptable solution on my own. The comment is in context of a conversation about looking for a jazz stick other than the very common choice, the Vic Firth SD-4 Combo. 

Here's Michael: 

I used to play Maple sticks for years, although I went for SD2 (Bolero style) instead of SD4 Combo. I ended up with the now discontinued Gregg Field [coincidentally, my old teacher at USC- tb] endorser model, which was a maple stick in between a SD2 and a SD4. But as nice as Maple sticks feel, those sticks tend to make a darker sound which is pleasant for you as a drummer listening to yourself, but the cymbals tend to get buried in the mix.

The Bopworks Birdland model [one of Michael's favored models] was built after an old Roy Haynes model, and all the older sticks I came across had a long taper which was the reason why sticks started to break after drummers had to match their volume with amplified instruments.

So stick design changed in the early seventies. I think Pro Mark was the first company to make their sticks thicker around the taper, but that threw off the balance of the sticks. Drummers had to work harder to play a fast ride pattern and played louder as a consequence.

I found that drummers with bigger sticks (more mass, not necessarily more weight) tend to play louder and overpower thin jazz ride cymbals. That's probably one reason for those unlathed cymbals came into fashion a couple of years ago since you can't overpower them. They have an in-built limiter and my students used to like them when they weren't able to control a cymbal.

When I met with Pete La Roca, he used small Regal Tip 7A's with nylon tips, because he wanted his cymbals to get heard without overplaying.

I had Frank Kincel of LA Backbeat make me a special stick model which is .505 thick with a very long taper and I haven't broken one of them yet. Great sticks, especially for piano trios.

When I need a bit more beef, I use LA Backbeat's JBX 535 (J=Jazz= lighter wood, B=Bounce= longer taper, X=extra length=16"), but then I usually play with acoustic instruments only. But with those sticks I can control lighter cymbals and don't need to hold back.

I want a clear sound to make my time be heard in the band. I never could understand why people liked nylon tips at all, but now that I don't break sticks anymore the wooden tips wear off after some months. I now use clear finger nail hardener to convert my worn tips into nylon tips temporarily, but that needs to be redone every couple of weeks. The only problem is that my sticks now last so long that I'm afraid my favorite stick companies will go out of business since I'm not buying enough.

So, people, please seek out people like Frank Kincel of LA Backbeat and Chris Bennett of Bopworks and buy their sticks! Keep them going!

Todd again: See also my jazz stick roundup and Bopworks stick reviews. To get a further idea of why the Bopworks sticks are special, also see this interview with Chris Bennett, shared with me by Michael. 

Product review: Bopworks sticks

Related to my Jazz stick round up from January: I got to try out the product line of Bopworks Drumsticks, a small company in Austin, Texas, making sticks for jazz drummers:

Bopworks Drumsticks was formed to create genuine, faithful replications of the designs that produced a sound and feel not possible with those found in the modern market. Our sticks are custom made in the USA from American Hickory with vintage machinery similar to that used to make the original drumsticks in the 50's - 70's.

Making historically-accurate light hickory sticks for jazz is their stated mission, with designs either direct copies or close facsimiles of some well known players' signature models. Most of their sticks range in size from a small 7A to a large 5A... roughly the size of a Vic Firth SD-4 Combo or smaller.

From their FAQ:

WERE ALL THE OLD DRUMSTICKS THAT SMALL? 

Actually, yes, most of them were that small… although, the street/marching sticks were very similar to what’s out there today, both in thickness and length, going up to 17”or so. The orchestra or dance models, however, were generally less than 16” in length with a proportionate diameter. Models like the Krupa, Rich, and Belson models clocked in at 16” or close to it. 

Remember, sticks could be made in any size or length regardless of the decade, so it’s not like these guys had to use light sticks.  

Another interesting thing to consider is that Buddy, Gene, Chick Webb, Sonny Payne, Don Lamond, Jo Jones, Big Sid, Mel Lewis, Jake Hanna, Rufus Jones and a host of others were powering Big Bands with calfskin heads, “small” sticks and no mics.

Before getting into the reviews: Chris at Bopworks was nice enough to send some extra sticks, which I will send out to you all. If you want some free sticks, follow the site (in the sidebar, scroll down), and send me an email with your mailing address. I'll select names at random to receive sticks. US and Canada only, sorry.


The sticks: 

Birdland Model - 15 5/16" .500 - snap crackle
This is a signature stick from the 60s— Bopworks doesn't identify the artist by name, but let's just say it's the Snap Crackle stick. These are the smallest sticks I've ever played; a thin 7A, long taper, slender oval bead. It is not a stick for digging in— I find them to be unforgiving of any tension in my grip. You really have to dance with these sticks, and respect their limitation power-wise.

They are very interesting for their responsiveness to dynamics, especially subito changes in dynamics. They create so little vibration in the instrument that they are very limber in going from loud to soft. They are also interesting for the way they help you blend with the rest of the ensemble— normally drums tend to dominate the piano and bass, and the Birdlands really bring you down to their level, so you're much more co-equal with them volume-wise. They are also good sticks if you happen to have a lot of thin, live, difficult-to-control cymbals.


Mel Lewis 7D - 15 1/8" .540 - short / full
I associate Mel Lewis with good cymbal sounds and deep tom tom sounds, and that's what these give you: big sound out of the drums, and full, pleasing sound out of the cymbals. Very agreeable stick if you're playing a lot of drums.

Good if you like a tight set up, with everything close. They're relatively short, balanced toward the bead, so they feel rather stubby. The Birdlands are only slightly longer, but do not feel that way. My hands automatically seek a balance point, and I often find myself holding them very close to the ends. I like these sticks a lot, but would probably like them to be slightly longer.


West Coast Model - 15 13/16 .520 - general purpose runner up 
Excellent general purpose combo stick. Design is similar to the Birdland, scaled up— though it is still a light stick, roughly in the 7A category. Shorter taper, and balanced more toward the bead end, which I noticed more in testing the sticks than actually playing with them. Slightly mellower cymbal sound, and lighter sound overall compared to the Swing Classic.


40s Swing Classic - 16" .515 - general purpose winner
Signature model of a very famous drummer of the big band era— apparently Bopworks does not have legal clearance to identify him by name, but his initials may be GK. Small arrowhead bead, short taper. Great all-purpose stick, well-balanced, with a nice attack on the ride cymbal. After playing the Birdland and Mel Lewis sticks a lot, these feel quite long, and slender. This is may be my favorite stick of the lot, with the West Coast Model a close second.


Art Blakey 8D - 16" .530 - aggressive cymbal sound
Feels like a slim 5A, with a very robust acorn/arrowhead tip. Weighted to the bead end. Biggest cymbal sound of all the sticks. These are made for a big, aggressive Blakey-like sound. I don't want to overstate it; these are not extremely different from the Swing Classic, but they just seem to want to move long distances and make a lot of sound. I did not get to test these in a large ensemble setting, but they seem like they would be great sticks for big band.


Memphis R&B - 16" .570 - big stick / light sound
About the size of a 5A, with a surprisingly delicate, musical cymbal sound— a lot of highs and not a lot of body. It's a “refined” sound not unlike a Vic Firth AJ6, which is a normal stick that is extremely thin at the bead end. The Memphis is not as extreme as that, but it's a similar vibe. The pair I got seems to be made from very light wood, so although it's bigger than the Blakey model, it feels more limber, and gets a lighter sound. I don't know if the choice of lighter wood for these sticks is deliberate. These compared very well with the other sticks in a normal combo setting, despite being significantly larger— they got a bigger sound from the drums, and a nice controlled cymbal sound.


Rhythm & Groovz - 16 1/4" .590 - mellow heavy
Fat in the grip area, very long taper, smallish flattened acorn bead. About the size of a 5B at the butt. Not unlike the Vic Firth AJ12, but larger— the AJ12 also has an extreme taper. Rhythm & Groovz actually get a slightly mellower sound, with less highs in the attack. Very subtle stick on the cymbals, for having such a fat shaft. Seems a great stick for situations where some real power is called for, but also a nice cymbal sound.


Comments, comparisons, conclusion:

I have been using maple sticks for many years, but have become increasingly dissatisfied with them for drumset; they get a nice musical sound, but I feel I need something a little brighter on the cymbals. I tend to associate hickory with a hard, crude, “thuddy” sound— a feeling carried over my experience with Vic Firth American Classics, which I have used from time to time. That is not the case with these sticks; they are slimmer, and designed for a good cymbal sound— brighter than maple, with better projection, but still a musical sound. It is probably an ideal cymbal sound, since we are looking to be heard in an ensemble of players, in environments with varying degrees of background noise.

These are all excellent sticks, no actual dogs. Quality is excellent; sticks are well balanced, and made out of good wood— no detectable warpage or weird sounds/stick response that come from cheap, indiscriminately-selected wood. They do not appear to be matched for pitch, which is not a concern for me— I only need that in a concert snare drum stick. They are closely matched for weight, which is important to me. The closest thing to a design flaw I can find with any of them is the shortness of the Mel Lewis stick. But it's Mel's stick the way he wanted it, so...

For a general purpose combo stick, the most solid choices are West Coast and Swing Classic. Swing Classic has a stronger attack, with more highs. West Coast feels distinctly lighter (it isn't actually, so ???) with a mellower attack on the cymbal. The other models are all a little more particular, satisfying a more specialized need or taste. All the sticks work well in a combo setting, except Rhythm & Groovz, which are more suited to amplified music.

I definitely recommend trying out, and coming to terms with, the Birdland model, both for how they affect your blend with the ensemble, and to learn the touch required to use them effectively.

I compared these sticks with Vic Firth American Classic 7As and SD-4 Combos. The Combos are a very popular jazz stick, and the 7As are a conventional equivalent to the WC/SC/AB models. The 7As produced a very aggressive attack not unlike the Art Blakey model. The Blakey had a clearer attack, and the VF sounds relatively crude. The Combos produced a similar sound to the Swing Classic, but darker (Combos are made of maple), and with a mediocre attack.

See the jazz stick round up for more stick reviews and comments.

Jazz stick roundup

these 5Bs are kind of like

One thing my German friends made me realize is that I use really big friggin' sticks. For many years I've used one stick: the Vic Firth SD-11 Slammer. It's a maple stick the size of a 5B with a rounded arrow tip. It's big, but since it's made of maple, it's not overpowering. I get a nice, full, round sound with them, and I've still been able to play as quietly* as I've ever needed. Basically, playing a hotel gig once, I realized I could switch from brushes to Slammers with no volume change, and I decided I could just use the one stick.

But a 5B is really big. I felt there are some limitations to using the one fat, light stick— under some conditions, that full round sound can be a detriment. The body of the tone can compete with the attack. They're also rather clumsy for faster playing, especially at lower volume— moving that much mass, I felt they were forcing a certain tension in my technique.

So here are some notes on sticks I've been trying out, taken roughly in order from smallest to largest— but starting with the smallest stick I previously had experience with:



Regal Tip 7A — diameter: 0.52" / length: 15"
I've had a pair of these with nylon tips kicking around for a number of years. They're short and extremely thin. Much smaller than any other stick I have normally used.

I took them out and used them on a gig, and they do make for a very intimate sound on the drums, while still having a cutting attack. Good for guitar/piano/vibes— I'm not sure I'd choose them if there was a strong horn player present. They're an excellent bossa nova stick— it's easy to play the very fast cymbal rhythm, with a very aggressive, edgy high pitched sound out of the snare drum, similar to this.



Bopworks Birdland Model — diameter: 0.5" / length: 15 5/16"
Very interesting experience playing these sticks. They're a quarter of an inch longer, but thinner than the Regal 7A, with an even longer taper, and thin oval bead. They feel extremely delicate— the thinnest, lightest stick I've ever played, in fact— if you are at all prone to digging in (like I am), these may be difficult sticks for you. They don't respond to that kind of touch, and you may break some sticks. You really have to just dance around on the drums for these to work. In the practice room, the sound of the instrument initially seemed thin and insubstantial.

...and then I used them on a gig, and they were fine. I had no problem adjusting my touch for them. There is a definite ceiling as to how loud you can play, but there was a very interesting sensation of responsiveness to dynamics— since the stick isn't instigating a whole lot of vibration in the instrument, dynamic changes can be instantaneous. That was my experience both with the Birdlands and the Regal 7As. By comparison, my Slammers are like a PT boat roaring around, leaving a big wake. The Birdlands/Regal 7As are more like stones skipping across the water.



Bopworks 7D Mel Lewis Model — diameter: 0.54" / length: 15 1/8"
Similar in size to the Regal 7A, but a quarter of an inch longer, with a shorter taper. Weight is somewhat balanced toward the bead end, so they produce a fuller sound. To me they feel rather stubby— I find myself holding them close to the butt. I can see these as being engineered for Mel's low, deep tom sound. I'm still undecided on how useful these will be for me.

The Bopworks brand, by the way, is very interesting— they are duplicating signature models of sticks from the 40s-60s, with a definite doctrinal perspective that they are the correct sticks to use for jazz. Which... I'm not any kind of originalist; I don't believe in historical correctness for its own sake. A lot has happened in music in the last 50 years, and I'm only interested in what an instrument/implement does for my playing, and how it helps me do my job accompanying other musicians. But everyone listens to the drummers of that period a lot, so it's educational any time we can get close to using the instruments they used. If you take those Birdland sticks on a gig, you realize that oh, those drummers really must have been doing a different thing from what I've been doing. It's a rare thing for any drum stick to give me any kind of musical revelation, and I will be using these a lot.



Vic Firth American Classic 7A — diameter: 0.54" / length: 15 1/2"
Very solid-feeling 7As. Half an inch longer than the Regal, fatter bead, shorter taper, slightly fatter shaft. Chunky compared to the other sticks in this size. VF American Classic hickory sticks generally seem to be stuck in the 80s, when power drumming was the norm. We were all playing medium-heavy cymbals, Pinstripes on the toms, and everything was all about slamming, full, deep sounds. In a way, I never fully got over that, which is part of the reason for me using those larger sticks.

Despite the similarity in size, these sticks are a very different playing experience from the others so far— by an order of magnitude. They're very solid lighter sticks, not so different from what I'm used to, and probably the only stick from the American Classic line I would consider using today.



Vic Firth SD-4 Combo — diameter: 0.545" / length: 15 7/8"
This is what everybody in the Pacific Northwest uses; I used them for a long time, until I switched over to the Slammers. When I gave up the Combos, I felt they were the worst of all worlds— too thin, too short, and too light. I was playing generally pretty loud at the time, and felt I had to work too hard and move my arms too much for the volume. But compared to the other sticks here, they're not at all small; about the size of a 5A, and maybe a quarter of an inch shorter than my Slammers. The tip is basically a cube with a rounded end, and they're made of maple. Definition is fairly weak compared to the other sticks here, which was part of my original complaint about them. That was borne out on the same gig where I played the Birdlands and Regals— I played the Combos for half a tune then put them away. Overall not bad, though, and I will continue to try to find a way to use them. A lot of good players use them and sound great.



Vater Sweet Ride  — diameter: 0.53" / length: 16"
Long hickory 7A with a short taper, and very small round bead. These are really strange. This stick produces a lot of body, and little attack. I don't know the reason for wanting that sound from a cymbal— maybe if it was a heavy, ugly sounding cymbal. It works OK with my 22" Sound Creation Dark Ride. But I think this may be a bad design for jazz drummers playing normal jazz cymbals.



Vic Firth American Jazz AJ6 — diameter: 0.55" / length: 15 1/2"
Weird, short hickory 5A with shaved-down end, small acorn bead. I can see breaking these easily if you're prone to digging into the drums/cymbals. The last two inches of the stick is thinner than all of the other sticks listed here, which give a strange muting effect when played on a cymbal. Maybe a good stick if you have to play with a vocalist, or play very quietly on cymbals are too heavy. A really skilled player could certainly get a very refined, museum-like sound with these... not really my thing.



Vic Firth American Jazz AJ2 — diameter: 0.565" / length: 16"
Hickory 5A with a very long taper, fat smallish acorn bead. Basically a more refined 5A. A companion to the VFAC 7A. Both of them are good alternatives to my Slammers, but being made of hickory, they do get a harder sound. Sometimes in club settings you need the cymbals and drums to cut more, and these would be good for that.



Vic Firth Peter Erskine Ride Stick — diameter: 0.575" / length: 16"
The biggest, heaviest stick here. A big 5A, hickory, with a small tip. This stick is made to give a nice sound when digging in. Weight is emphatically balanced at the bead end, which feels good when you're playing medium tempo full strokes on the cymbal. That's a very 80s feel to me— we used to like sticks weighted at the end, with some “throw.” Today people seem to like sticks more balanced for speed. Seems designed for Erskine's round, musical sound on the cymbals and toms.

These would be a good alternative if you're used to playing relatively big fusion sticks like a 5A, and want a nicer cymbal sound. Or if you're using lighter sticks and want something heavier, but still “musical.”



Vic Firth SD-11 Slammer — diameter: 0.61" / length: 16 1/4"
After playing all of these sticks, my usual sticks feel very big, but they still work for me. I have no problem playing them quietly, but I have noticed that they overwhelm certain thin, very live cymbals. I don't think people should be buying cymbals that demand a certain kind of stick, but that's a subject for a different post.

The Slammer is most similar in playing experience to the Firth AJ2 and 7A; they are all normally balanced, and produce a full range of overtones from a cymbal or drum. The Slammer gets a nicer tone, and the others have more attack— I don't think it's a very pretty attack sound. Kind of a thud with the larger sticks and a thwack with the lighter ones. As I said about the Slammer, in some conditions the body of the sound competes with the attack, and definition can suffer.


We'll be seeing more of these jazz stick roundups soon— I'll be trying out some more Bopworks sticks, as well as those by a Louisiana company called La BackBeat. I'd be happy to hear anyone's recommendations or favorite sticks in the comments.


* - Quieter, in fact. There is such a thing as playing too soft. Any time you perform, there's a band vs. room noise signal-to-noise ratio in effect— if the music is intended to be heard, you can't be so quiet that every little sound in the room is competing with you.

Very occasional quote of the day: Paul Motian

I had at the time 7A drumsticks. After one set one time, Oscar came over and looked at my drumstick and started bending it. He said, “Man, what the f__ kind of stick is that? Go get you some sticks!”

- Paul Motian on playing with Oscar Peterson