Drumstick quality

How many times have you read "Are so and so's sticks dipping in quality?" I've been seeing this same exact phrase with insert major brand "X" for DECADES!
Guess what? Drumstick manufacturing and quality control hasn't change much in the last 60 years. Some advances in technology here and there, and all of them to put in place to INCREASE quality control. NOT cut corners.

So here ya go, a 20 min video discussion how drumsticks are made, the checks and balances in quality control, and why we as consumers sometimes get sticks that are lesson than ideal from what we have come to expect.

Living Dead Drummer said:

How many times have you read "Are so and so's sticks dipping in quality?" I've been seeing this same exact phrase with insert major brand "X" for DECADES!
Guess what? Drumstick manufacturing and quality control hasn't change much in the last 60 years. Some advances in technology here and there, and all of them to put in place to INCREASE quality control. NOT cut corners.

So here ya go, a 20 min video discussion how drumsticks are made, the checks and balances in quality control, and why we as consumers sometimes get sticks that are lesson than ideal from what we have come to expect.

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Thank you. Very nice. I worked in the wood machining manufacturing equipment ind.

I have only seen stick quality go up since the 60s. Even the B sticks are good.

Drumsticks are made from organic material (hickory, maple, oak, etc.), and no two trees are identical. Even with advanced sorting and grading, slight variations in density, grain structure, and moisture content exist. A stick that feels "off" to a drummer might just be a natural outlier—not a sign of systemic decline.

JimmyM said:

I have only seen stick quality go up since the 60s. .....Even the B sticks are good.

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"Yo M Jimmy I heard you was a talking about 60s sticks eh? Well I got two ah "Regal Tip by Calato" sticks here right now made in South Jersey, that wanna have a word with you and ah if you'd care to step outside please"..

~~Kidding, (not Calato) Joe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re: drumsticks: a Good read-->

JimmyM said:

I have only seen stick quality go up since the 60s. Even the B sticks are good.

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I alluded to that in some other drum stick thread. I haven't even noticed any glaring issues with seconds such as Goodwood.

Interestingly, a pair of actual nylon tip Vaters I bought a while back had the tip crammed down on the stick so far that it's nearly 1/4" shorter than the regular nylon tips. How THIS made it into the "good enough" pile, I don't know. That's the only issue I've had with sticks, and it was supposedly one of the "A grade".

Other than that, maybe hands aren't good enough to notice the overall difference between A stock and B stock.

brady said:

I alluded to that in some other drum stick thread. I haven't even noticed any glaring issues with seconds such as Goodwood.

Interestingly, a pair of actual nylon tip Vaters I bought a while back had the tip crammed down on the stick so far that it's nearly 1/4" shorter than the regular nylon tips. How THIS made it into the "good enough" pile, I don't know. That's the only issue I've had with sticks, and it was supposedly one of the "A grade".

Other than that, maybe hands aren't good enough to notice the overall difference between A stock and B stock.

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Mine aren’t, that’s a fact.

JimmyM said:

Mine aren’t, that’s a fact.

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To qualify that, when there is an obvious weight discrepancy, I absolutely notice. But most of the B stock sticks I've used were totally adequate.

brady said:

To qualify that, when there is an obvious weight discrepancy, I absolutely notice. But most of the B stock sticks I've used were totally adequate.

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I sometimes purposefully practice with different size sticks, just so I can minimize the impact different weights have. I'll play with a 7A in one hand and 2B in the other and try to make them sound the same.

I grew up in the sticks (no pun intended) and fairly poor, so I sometimes had to make broken or mismatched sticks work. I remember playing for a period of time with one stick that was broken near the tip. I cut it off and sanded the stump round and smooth. It ended up about two inches shorter with no bead at the tip, but I played with it for quite a while! Lol

Which was a long anecdote intended to say slight differences in stick weights don't bother me at all.

Snuggly said:

Drumsticks are made from organic material (hickory, maple, oak, etc.), and no two trees are identical. Even with advanced sorting and grading, slight variations in density, grain structure, and moisture content exist. A stick that feels "off" to a drummer might just be a natural outlier—not a sign of systemic decline.

Click to expand...

Exactly the point I've been trying to make for years. I think you just summed it up in my fewer words than I was ever able to.
And also without a near 25 min video


I have, at a few points, seen quality in B stock sticks fluctuate. The reason for that is typically because the standards are so high for the A grade stuff that even what most people would consider perfect fine, wasn't good enough to receive the companies branding.

I've also seen it go the other way. I remember in the 90's Regal Tip had a problem with selling TOO MUCH B stock. Even some high profile endorsers were using JoJo's. Right around the time I joined the company in the early 2000's they decided to stop lacquering them, and removed the "JoJo" branding. They still called them JoJo's, but now they were just printed with a generic 5A or 5B model number. No longer matched in pairs, just sold in bulk. This was done to push consumers to buy more Regal Tip and less JoJo.