Interesting thread topic. I can't recommend a stick for your particular needs, but the way I ended up with the sticks and bead I prefer had more to do with how the sticks sound on the cymbals than on the drums. I can control attack and volume on the drums with my hands, but getting a good sound out of the cymbals seems to depend more on the style and material of the bead. I play Hickory 7A's, 16" long, they have a long taper and narrow neck with a (small) acorn shaped bead. I get the most out of my cymbals with that stick/wood-bead combination. I suppose you'll have to experiment with many different stick/ bead combinations until you find the sound and feel that you're chasing. Tough to recommend sticks to another drummer, like recommending what shoes to wear. It's all so personal and individual. Your body, your hand size, how hard you hit, what feels comfortable in your hands, so many variables from drummer to drummer. I hope you find the 'magic formula' that works for you. It's not easy finding just the right ones. Good topic for discussion!

You 'might' want to look into a pair of vintage Rogers 'Finger-Control' sticks! Long taper, excellent rebound, nylon tip.

John

Exactly John. Good analogy. Now enough goofing off... get back to work on that W&A kit! ;)

Mike

I think that more than the bead shape, how thick the neck on the stick is determines rebound. I'm a finger-control player, traditional grip. I use rebound a lot. Over the years I found that the sticks with the most rebound are thinner, (like 7A's) and they all have a long taper and narrow neck. Those property's in a stick will make it more responsive coming off the head than a heavier, thicker at the neck stick. While I'm at it, I'm not crazy about the sound of nylon tips on brass. Too sharp/harsh/pingy for my tastes. Wood beads produce a warm, natural ticking sound on cymbals, so I prefer them. But I think it's the neck thickness that affects rebound, not so much bead shape.

John

I couldn't agree more, exept that sometimes while I generally dont like the nylons on cymbals and hi hats I sometimes have to resort to nylon tips if I'm playing on a dark k ish type of cymbal when it just doesn't cut through. I love in general the dark cymbal sounds but the bloody problem is half the time it just gets lost when there's a few to many horns in a band. Sigh. So that's when I have to use nylon tips. Otherwise purdies choice is what I would rather use availability pending.

Drumsticks come in all weights,thickness,lengths and bead types for a reason, and that reason is what type of music are we playing here? It`s also a personal preference depending on the size of your hands as well, so that`s another part of the equation and figures into the mix.Playing from the fingers is generally lighter sticks and if you play alittle harder(wrists and fingers) then you need a 5a or 5b.And if you are playing high power rock of any kind then you need the baseball bats and the neck thickness is always relative to any size of stick.

Nylon tips vs wood-well that`s totally in the"ear of the beholder" and i use both depending on cymbals or drums.It`s purely experimental and most of us go thro` life never finding what we are looking for with nylon vs wood beads and that`s what experimentation is all about.I`ve used nylon tip on my ride and wood tip on the back beat at the same time.Try it sometime and experiment the drumstick delema...

Wayne

> the drumstick dilemma...

LOL - That would have been a -perfect title- for the thread! :D

John

Make sure you test drive Vic Firth's American Jazz series. The AJ4's are similar to their 7A diameter, and the AJ3's are similar to 5A.

But they have a longer taper, with corresponding rebound, and a tip that sounds fantastic on cymbals. I think Firth calls it a "tear drop," but it may be closer to what other manufacturers call "acorn."

I started with whatever brand nylon tips because they sounded best on my cheap cymbals, but once I found which top line cymbals I liked (Zildian A's and Sabian AA's), and had more technique under my belt, I gave the AJ's a try and was over the moon.

One of the guys asked me about 'Hickory.' Hickory is a hardwood that makes for long lasting sticks with excellent rebound properties. The ones I use are 7A'a with a long neck taper and a small (wood) acorn bead. Wonderful sounds from the cymbals with these. 7A's are not for everybody, it's a long, thin stick, but they feel great in my hands and I get the sound I want out of my brass.

John

Great question, not that I could that much but but I can't help you because I have no idea how you play, or what demand you have on your dynamics. Do you have a video of you playing? Or at least a description of what your trying to achieve?

In the meantime sharp on cymbals indicates a case of nylon tip to me.