Hickory is a common, well rounded wood for drumsticks. Hickory is favored for its flexibility and impact resistance. Maple is much lighter than hickory, allowing for a larger diameter feel without the weight. Maple is softer and stiffer than maple, which negative impacts the sticks durability. Maple sounds sweeter and brighter on drums and cymbals. Oak is dense and heavy, but transmits vibrations more. It tends to be more durable, but will split with little warning. The increased weight gives drums a bigger, darker sound and yields a very big, but brash cymbal sound. Laminated Birch is made from a high quality birch plywood. These sticks are very heavy and durable. They generate very deep sounds from drums and cymbals. There are smaller companies specializing in exotic woods and Vic Firth is currently making a carbon fiber stick. Also, companies like Ahead make sticks out of nylon.

Wooden tips have a darker contact sound and a less articulate sound on cymbals.

Barrel tips have a wide, flat contact surface. This creates a dark, but strong contact sound. Acorn tips have the largest contact surface. This dampens the contact sound significantly, creating a full, but dark cymbal sound. Ball tips have a very small contact surface, creating a very bright contact sound. Oval tips are between barrel and ball tips.

The other way to know the thickness of a stick is to find its diameter. This is usually measured in inches and displayed as a three digit decimal. . 500 is a half inch thick, for example. [5] X Research source [6] X Research source 7As are thinner and lighter. These will sound sweeter on drums and cymbals and are best for lower volume playing. 5As are slightly thicker than the 7A. These are generally considered to be the most generic and versatile stick. 5Bs are thicker, more intense drumsticks and are often used by rock and metal drummers due to their weight. There are many other models and each company has its own idiosyncrasies. For example, Promark has a thinner 5A than most. Vic Firth’s 7A is shorter than most while their 8D is more like everyone’s 7A.

Hold the stick as you would while playing. Let it slide through your fingers. Different manufacturers use different coatings that affect grip. Vic Firth favors a thin lacquer while Regal Tip favors a heavy lacquer, making their sticks a bit slicker and more resistant to skin oils and moisture. Promark favors a special finish that becomes tacky as your hands heat it up. Promark also offers many sticks finished only by sanding. Zildjian and Vic Firth also offer many sticks with a rubber coating offer the butt end of the stick. The only way to know what you like is to play with the sticks.

Ahead (Lars Ulrich, Rick Allen) - Ahead is favored by metal drummers due to the durability and weight of their sticks. However, many complain that the sticks hurt their hands. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/f/fc/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet1. jpg/v4-460px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet1. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/f/fc/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet1. jpg/aid544778-v4-728px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet1. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3. 0/">Creative Commons</a>
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<br />\n</p></div>"} ProMark (Joey Jordison, Mike Portnoy, Glenn Kotche, Benny Greb) - Promark lacks diversity in tip shapes, but offers some great finish options. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/2/21/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet2. jpg/v4-460px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet2. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/2/21/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet2. jpg/aid544778-v4-728px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet2. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3. 0/">Creative Commons</a>
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<br />\n</p></div>"} Vater (Chad Smith, David Silvera) - Vater is creates a product much like Vic Firths, but with different shapes. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/b/bc/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet3. jpg/v4-460px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet3. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/b/bc/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet3. jpg/aid544778-v4-728px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet3. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3. 0/">Creative Commons</a>
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<br />\n</p></div>"} Vic Firth (John Dolmayan, Vinnie Paul, Mark Guiliana) - Vic Firth offers probably the widest selection of sticks. They favor a light lacquer finish and many of their sticks are painted. [Image:Choose Drumsticks Step 4Bullet4. jpg|center]] Zildjian (Dave Grohl, Travis Barker) {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/f/fb/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet5. jpg/v4-460px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet5. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/f/fb/Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet5. jpg/aid544778-v4-728px-Choose-Drumsticks-Step-4Bullet5. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3. 0/">Creative Commons</a>
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<br />\n</p></div>"} Los Cabos Drumsticks (Mike Sleath, David McGraw, Cameron Losch)