Nylon tips for jazz... thoughts ?

I like both -the only grievance with nylon is they mark up my cymbals. I use to only play wood sticks and I never break sticks. Now I do chip wood tips but they use to last longer- seems the quality of wood for sticks isn't the same because tips seem so fragile now. Seem to chip no matter shape tip-I don't remember that being a big deal in past. I had wood sticks last years.
 
beet said:
Ahead has replacement tips in both soft wood-like plastic or hard plastic. Also, many shapes.
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Yes, that's one great aspect of AHEAD. You can switch tips without changing sticks. The standard tips that come with the stick model I use are to my liking, so I've never needed to install substitutes. Still, it's nice to have the option.
 
I bought a pair of Ahead 7A sticks a long time ago and tried different tips. I never liked how they made the ride cymbal sound, but I loved how they made the toms sound. If we all liked the same things life would be boring. Peace and goodwill.
 
Al Strange said:
If it sounds good, do it! (y) :)
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This!

I'm a fan of nylon tips because of durability & stick definition. They just have the sound I like.

GetAgrippa said:
I use to only play wood sticks and I never break sticks. Now I do chip wood tips but they use to last longer- seems the quality of wood for sticks isn't the same because tips seem so fragile now. Seem to chip no matter shape tip-I don't remember that being a big deal in past. I had wood sticks last years.
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I too have issues with this problem. If I chip the tip, the whole stick is worthless. And I don't like spending $10+ dollars a pair only to have the tip split in a few gigs. It's just not cost effective.
Nylon tips sometimes will have the whole tip come off or explode, but nothing close to the frequency of wood tips chipping & putting dents in my heads before I know what happened.
 
CommanderRoss said:
I too have issues with this problem. If I chip the tip, the whole stick is worthless. And I don't like spending $10+ dollars a pair only to have the tip split in a few gigs. It's just not cost effective.
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I splintered ~$100 worth of VF 5A's before I figured out the secret.

If I am playing a song that only requires the uppermost part of the dynamic range spectrum, like backbeat-rock, then I should be using 5B's and relaxing rather than 5A's and playing at high-velocity.

I still use 5A's for songs that require wide dynamic range, as switching sticks mid-song seems a bit pretentious in all but the most extreme circumstances (IE: switching to brushes or mallets for a bridge). I can usually get away with turning the stick around for most things.
 
KamaK said:
I splintered ~$100 worth of VF 5A's before I figured out the secret. If I am playing a song that only requires the uppermost part of the dynamic range spectrum, like backbeat-rock, then I should be using 5B's and relaxing rather than 5A's and playing at high-velocity.
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This "relaxing" advise is why I had bought a pair of the Thomas Lang sig sticks. They're basically refined logs just short of a marching stick in weight & diameter. But they taught me to let the stick do the work rather than me trying to muscle out the beat.

That being said...they're basically a one trick pony as they're too heavy for anything else than warm up or pad work. Plus, they only come in wood tip & that doesn't work for me.

This was the basis of my Excel spreadsheet on brands, weights & diameters. I knew how heavy & thick Thomas' were, so I could use that as a baseline on others that I know are lower in size & weight. I whittled the list down to about 4 that I'll go to my local shop & try out and see what fits the need of tip & weight.

I figure if I can get what I like to a group of 3 types, then I'll go with that for a while. Finding "The One" is almost impossible as there are just too many variables. One week you love this brand, the next you don't understand how it's so heavy.
It's never ending.
 
CommanderRoss said:
I figure if I can get what I like to a group of 3 types, then I'll go with that for a while. Finding "The One" is almost impossible as there are just too many variables. One week you love this brand, the next you don't understand how it's so heavy.
It's never ending.
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So something like?
VF 7A (Whisper quiet)
VF 5A (Basically Everything)
VF 5B (Upper dynamic range)

Outside of practicing rudiments, I've not yet found a use for my single set of big-ole SD1 sticks behind a kit. I imagine if I did civil-war larp'ing or something....
 
KamaK said:
So something like?
VF 7A (Whisper quiet)
VF 5A (Basically Everything)
VF 5B (Upper dynamic range)

Outside of practicing rudiments, I've not yet found a use for my single set of big-ole SD1 sticks behind a kit. I imagine if I did civil-war larp'ing or something....
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:LOL:
My Thomas Lang sticks are for warm up or pad work. They're just to much like a refined logs for anything on the kit. How Thomas plays ith those is a head scratcher.

Yes, your options are spot on. I'm not a fan of most signature sticks, so they don't really factor into this.

I like the Vater 3a "Fatbacks" as well as the ProMark oak 747's with the nylon tips. So I have to factor those in as well.
The 5b's are perfect for letting the stick do the work, but if you get them in maple rather than hickory or oak, then it takes a bit more effort.

I'm sure I'm putting WAY too much work into this, but it's important to to get the selections within an affordable amount. ;)
 
I have shied away from nylon tipped sticks for years as I found them a bit harsh sounding. After listening to a recording from a recent gig, it was clear the stick sound wasn't cutting through the wash on my ride

I borrowed a set of nylon tipped stick from the studio at practice and they sounded great and gave my playing more energy, texture and dynamic range. I'll be using them in noisier gigs
 
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Living Dead Drummer said:
I mean, the nylon tip was invented by a Jazz drummer, Joe Calato.
And Regal Tip's first endorser of these new nylon tipped sticks was Jake Hanna, also a Jazz legend.
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Yeah, not sure what the problem with nylon tips are in jazz.
 
JimmyM said:
Yeah, not sure what the problem with nylon tips are in jazz.
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Does playing jazz bass with a pick a good analogy? I love Steve Swallow's playing, how he makes it work is great...and I like a lot of pick bass players. Others, not so good though...can make a mediocre player even worst sounding.

For cymbals, the extra brightness might be welcomed in big band for projection but for darker smokier thin old k style, the shrill slappy attack brings out overtones that are sort of counterproductive...typically, of course no rules.

Regal Tip had the better nylon tips, they are thinner and sounded better than most. Others sounded like metal on metal contact. Zildjian sticks were the worst, the tip would break or just fall off....all that saved money on preserved tips when dealing with pitted heads from a tipless point stick around the kit.
 
s1212z said:
Does playing jazz bass with a pick a good analogy? I love Steve Swallow's playing, how he makes it work is great...and I like a lot of pick bass players. Others, not so good though...can make a mediocre player even worst sounding.

For cymbals, the extra brightness might be welcomed in big band for projection but for darker smokier thin old k style, the shrill slappy attack brings out overtones that are sort of counterproductive...typically, of course no rules.

Regal Tip had the better nylon tips, they are thinner and sounded better than most. Others sounded like metal on metal contact. Zildjian sticks were the worst, the tip would break or just fall off....all that saved money on preserved tips when dealing with pitted heads from a tipless point stick around the kit.
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I guess I could buy into that to a degree.
 
Use what works in your band setting and who cares what it’s made of.

I know that many jazz pianists would flip if they heard their drummer using nylon tips at a dinner gig.
I also know that uptempo fusion could use a little brightness from the hats

Don’t look for excuses to use nylon tips (“so and so uses them”)

Look for the correct tool for the song
 
JimmyM said:
I guess I could buy into that to a degree.
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Ok, good....it's a bit crude and your wheelhouse ;)

On the contrary, using a soft wood like maple just burns through tips and it just doesn't sound the same a few chips in, a bit annoying.

Not many signature nylon sticks, I can think of Omar Hakim and a Steve Gadd version....nothing else comes to mind.
 
brushes said:
....People who state that you should not use nylon-tips for jazz, are the same kind of music-nazis like those who pretend that you have to play traditional grip as a jazzer. *cough*
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Wood tips and traditional grip only for jazz.


:p
 
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The King of Funk drumming Clyde Stubblefield rocks nylon tips !!! Sampling him almost created the Hip Hop genre itself !!!
 
Some jazz drummers (especially those who also play fusion, contemporary, or crossover styles) appreciate the flexibility of nylon tips when switching between straight-ahead jazz and more modern textures.
 
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