ProMark has just unveiled Joey Jordison’s signature stick bag. It has the usual bag stuff: pockets on the inside, pockets on the outside, a handle, a zipper. You can use it to transport sticks and things.
The remarkable bit is the rather haunting half-image of Joey in his badass Slipknot mask. Just show up with this on your jazz gig. We dare you.
A bunch of Vic Firth’s American Classic models now come outfitted with a Vic Grip, a new antislip drumstick coating made from an ecofriendly, water-based urethane. It provides a comfortable and slip resistant grip that is specially formulated to be extremely durable. You can grab a pair at your local drum shop, or just click here for some “Buy Now” options on Vic Firth’s site.
Two of our favorite drummers, the incomparably funky John Blackwell and the understatedly awesome Ronnie Vannucci, have released some new wood with Zildjian. Blackwell’s whacker is 100% hickory, measures in at 16 1/8″ long with a 0.57″ diameter, and features a beefy neck, short taper, and a wood barrel tip. Vannucci has opted for a 16″ maple stick with a diameter of 0.610″. It features an oversized barrel tip and some artwork sketched by Ronnie himself.
Vic Firth’s venerable 5A and 5B sticks now come totally swanked out in a classic black finish. Steve Gadd model, not so smug now, are you?
Be still my thumping heart, some more signature sticks to try out.
First up is the Brian Frasier-Moore model. It’s just under a 5A in the grip but with some extra length for those way-the-hell-out-of-reach crashes. The width of the new Derek Roddy model is between a 5A and 5B, and it features a quick taper to a small acorn tip. The Mike Wengren model is the biggest of the bunch. It’s between a 5B and a 2B with a quick taper to an oval nylon tip, and it comes in a sexy black satin finish. All of them will set you back $14.99 MSRP.
Need a big ol’ marching stick in persimmon wood? As far as we knew, persimmon was a one-time wood of choice for golf clubs and old people’s furniture, but Silverfox has seen fit to unveil a version of its 3S stick made of the stuff. If you actually wield a pair, don’t be surprised if your BPMs slow down.
Cristiano Micalizzi, the Italian stallion of soul funk grooves, has snagged himself a signature drumstick from SilverFox. Cleverly called the “CM” model, the stick is crafted from select hickory dowels born in the USA. It’s 16″ long with a diameter of .585″, and the round ball tip measures .410″ in diameter. A short taper gives the stick added bulk in the neck area, which results in an extremely fast rebound and a well-balanced center of gravity. Like all SilverFox drumsticks, the CM model is strengthened with a proprietary finish that, according to the press release, “not only feels great in a drummer’s hands, but greatly extends the usable life of all SilverFox sticks.” No pricing info is available yet…but how much is it worth to you to sound exactly like Micalizzi?
Every Tom, Dick, and Travis has a signature stick these days, so it’s about time living-legend Lenny White got one too. With an appropriately white shaft, his Vic Firth signature whacker is 16″ long and has a .580″ diameter, which is somewhere between a 5A and a 5B for those of us who don’t speak metric too well.
Vic Firth has also posted some really interesting vids of Lenny jawing about drums and drumming here. There’s even a classic live clip of Return to Forever from 1976.
[Update 2022: Damn it, the vids are no longer active on Vic Firth’s site.]
Definitely the best customer review ever of Zildjian’s black 5B sticks:
I know my kind isn’t very common, but I am a world-class air drummer. I have played air drums to the very best from Rush, Motley Crue, Led Zeppelin, you name it. None of the chicks I demonstrated my skills to were impressed however…that is until I picked up a set of Zildjian Black Hickory Drumsticks Nylon 5B.
Anyway, so I persuaded this gal Beth to come to my place after a pizza (I splurged on some extra cheese, you KNOW that). I sat her down and implored her to check out my stick-whipping skills, and she watched as I nailed “Dr. Feelgood” to a TEE! All thanks to my Zildjian Black Hickories! (Nylon 5B)
She told me she’d never seen anything like that, and I think she may go out with me again sometime soon. I could tell she was impressed by how speechless she was. So of course I bought a few more boxes in anticipation of the big second date (this may be why they’re out of stock), and I have been practicing the fills in “Black Dog” for the next time she comes over. Hey hey mama, said the way you move!
Thank you Zildjian for helping me take air-drumming to the next level indeed! Highly recommended!
Let me tell you, these are amazing for air drums. There’s something about black sticks, for one thing. When these logs are flying through the air as you mimic “YYZ”, for example, it’s absolutely hypnotic! They’re nice and light too…one of the biggest problems an air drummer can have is heavy sticks. Choking up on drumsticks really makes you look wimpy, and there can’t be anything wimpy about air drums.
All those different models and all those different numbers—7A, 5A, 5B, 2B, 707, 747, etc. How’s a young slammer, and even some of us crusty oldbies, supposed to quickly and easily understand the difference between each stick and find the one that feels best? Pro-Mark has got an idea: this summer, the drumstick company will begin packaging its 200+ models according to diameter. Model names and numbers will stay the same, but each pair will come bundled in a color-coded cardboard label that designates thickness, from Small (like a 7A) to Double Extra Large (like a 3S).
So with worrisome width out of the way, you got only wood, taper, tip style, and finish to figure out. See ya in 20 years.
Hell yeah! Vinnie Paul is the subject of this week’s Vic Firth video podcast. Vinnie chats a little about his influences, how he got started playing double bass, and (surprise, surprise) his new signature stick.
