For all you real Drummers, What would be some good sticks?

[S1ashRev]

What would be some good sticks to get? Of course to play with the Rock Band drum pads.

[evilzom]

nothing thicker than the ones that come with the game... which are 5a's... you dont want anything heavier... the pads dont have enough rebound to justify anything heavier and the result is you working harder...

plus you will split the pads in half... trust me on this...

go get some 5a's that are nice and light feeling... some are heavier that others depending on the wood and how much clear coat is put on them...

[S1ashRev]

Thanks for the info. One more question, does it matter whether the tips are wooden or nylon?

[evilzom]

no but i would stick with wooden...

the only use for nylon tips is that they give off brighter high end sound to acoustic drums and cymbals...

i would stay wooden... i think nylon might be more prone to damaging the RB drum heads...

the letter after the number is the style of the stick as far as some of the thickness and tip design...

A stands for Orchestra
B for Band
and S for Street...

A's have the smallest tip and are not so chunky... B's and S's are for bigtime sound for Band and Marching setups... get A's again to keep from damaging the pads.

and go for a Maple wood... as they are the lightest and softest.


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[S1ashRev]

Again, thanks for the info!!:)

I'm just a guitar player playing around with drums.

[ShroominWITfurl]

well while sum sticks are meant for some htings than others its ALL preference no matter what n e 1 tells u. i learned snare first so i was used to girthy sticks and when i switched to a drum set im like wtf why are all these stick soo skinny, so i went with an in between stick. i like SD1 generals. i use them when i play a set OR just smashin on the snare. i dont like light thin (5a) sticks, but thats my personal preference and like i said its all preference.

[Teddy Bear Hugs]

It is all personal preference. I learned on 5B, but I like the feel of thinner sticks these days. I would recommend Vater 5A personally. Like the guy before said, anything thicker seems excessive for hitting on the Rock Band pads.

[CRCError]

My brother-in-law drums and he gave me a set of these:

Vater Josh Freese H-220 Drumsticks (http://www.guitarcenter.com/Vater-Josh-Freese-H-220-Drumsticks-443683-i1137599.gc)

They work really well for me.

[Dabog666]

You can't go wrong with a pair of 7A 's. They're nice and light, and very easy to move around quickly with.

[RingoDot97]

I was always a fan of Oak 5As, wood tip. I always felt that oak sticks were less prone to shattering (especially compared to hickory). Nylon tips never did anything but snap off for me, so I avoid them :) Oak 5as have a nice quickness and heft to them, and work real well with my Roland electronic kit. Ive used Pro-mark's Oak 5As for years.

[Harsher]

The best thing is to just play with the official Rock Band sticks, go out and buy the colored red or black ones with the cooler designs on them.

[evilzom]

My recommendations had nothing to do with personal preference... he's not a drummer, therefore he has no preference... So my recommendations were geared strictly towards not choosing a a stick that was going to break a set of plastic drums.

an SD1 would be like beating a baby seal with a shovel to the RB drumset.. :)

and going with dense wood so the sticks wont shatter doesn't apply here... unless what you want to shatter is a $100 piece of plastic.

so the best choice for someone that has no real drumming preference is the closest thing to the official RB sticks which are very light and tame. perfect for what we are trying to do here... register hits on a not so durable set of drum pads... not project massive sound throughout a stadium.

:)

[JT138]

I would go with nylon tips because wooden tips can chip off and leave scratches/marks. and for sticks go with 5a to 7a there are thinner and can move faster without having to hit real hard.Brands well i don't know very many brands but Zildian (zil-jin) are the best I have used.
PS I am a real drummer with 4 years of experience, trust me on this.
:eek::D:)

[evilzom]

You guys are thinking about this backwards...

your thinking about how to choose a stick that wont break under pressure...

thats fine with real drums and cymbals made from metal.... real drums that you hit with lots of force that break drumsticks...

we are talking about a plastic set of drums here... so the concern needs to be not how to keep the sticks from breaking but how to keep from breaking the cheap plastic drumset...


if you break even the smallest pair of sticks on the rockband drumset... you are playing it very wrong.

[xCHRISx]

For RB I'd suggest some 7a's with wooden tips, my personal preference is Vic Firth, but that's exactly that, personal preference.

You don't really have to worry about the heft of the sticks hitting the pads, since a hit is a hit, so going with a nice, light 7a will give you fast movement and limit fatigue for a new drummer. I would avoid the nylon tips as I have the same experience with them as a previous poster, with the tips simply breaking off, leaving you with a useless pair of sticks that are otherwise perfectly fine.

Definitely don't go above 5a for sticks, as you risk breaking your RB drums with anything heftier. Head to your local music store and try some sticks out and see which ones you like best.. :)

[_epacs_]

You can't go wrong with a pair of 7A 's. They're nice and light, and very easy to move around quickly with.

Totally agree.

[Frederf]

What's the difference between 7A and 5A? I know A is thin, B is medium, and S is like a fallen tree. B was the most comfortable in my hand.

Initially I thought nylon tips would be good for 1. noise 2. bounce. I don't play like an idiot and so breaking the drum set is not a primary concern for me.

Obviously lightweight sounds like a good suggestion for both noise and bounce plus it makes it harder to beat the crap out of your drum controller.

[evilzom]

the number signifies the circumference of the stick... the lower the number the larger circumference.

the 7A is smaller in circumference than a 5A which in turn is narrower than the 2B..

confused yet?

nylon tips will be noisier... thats their primary purpose.... adding a bright "click" to your playing.


lots of people also buy nylon tips for more durability on an acoustic set....

but for the RB drumset, the last thing you want is as overly durable stick... I mean what would you rather have break... your sticks? or your drums? each little notch up the ladder to go with durability in your stick choice is just moving you closer to breaking the drums...

light wooden tipped, non-lacquered sticks will be the best option.



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[Alucard400]

Question. What would would be a good store to get sticks I was thinking Guitar Center but I wonder if there are some specialty drum shops out there.

[0tj]

5A's are what i have.

[Edgehopper]

I'm using 5B's and I like them, but I have big hands. I played with the "cool" red/black lacquered Rock Band sticks, and kept dropping them because they were too slippery.

[Paradox]

I hate the vibration I sometimes feel with the RB sticks. That and I, too, lose them from my hands from time to time. Its a real pain to be in the middle of a hard section only to toss a stick.

[Frederf]

I hate the vibration I sometimes feel with the RB sticks. That and I, too, lose them from my hands from time to time. Its a real pain to be in the middle of a hard section only to toss a stick.

They make little rubber socks that go on the end of the stick that's supposed to dampen the high frequency vibration of striking rigid surfaces.

[limblessrob]

I just bought a set of sticks with rubber dipped handles and love them. Definitely the way to go.

[Alucard400]

I just bought a set of sticks with rubber dipped handles and love them. Definitely the way to go.

2x here. I bought the Zildjian 7A dipped sticks in Guitar Center. I forgot they got a 10% off coupon for a single item. oh well.

[JT138]

2x here. I bought the Zildjian 7A dipped sticks in Guitar Center. I forgot they got a 10% off coupon for a single item. oh well.

Those are the same sticks I use on my real drum kit and I love them they don't slip, feel great, speedy, and don't vibrate bad. They are the best.