Breaking Sticks

[xdrummer2000]

I have broken 2 in 1 day twice this summer. Here is how this scale works:

0: You need to hit harder
1: You are hitting hard, but not hard enough
2: You are hitting just right
3: You are hitting hard
4: You are hitting very hard
5: Man you are a hard hitter
6+: You need to lay off the drumming and hard hitting for a while

I hope nobody has never broken a stick.

[Mister Acrolite]

I'm in the 6+ category - or at least I used to be.

But since I switched to graphite sticks, I only break a couple each year. Saves me a LOT of money!

[irishthump]

OK, Xdrummer, I'm gonna shock you here!!!!!

I honestly have not broken a stick for years. That's if you don't count chipping little pieces off the bead.
I would consider myself a moderately hard hitter, and I play an awful lot of rimshots, so my sticks tend to disintegrate around the middle point. But I tend to throw them away just before they break, you can feel when a stick is past it's best.
So I guess I go through about a pair of sticks for every
2-3 gigs.

[xdrummer2000]

OK, Xdrummer, I'm gonna shock you here!!!!!

I honestly have not broken a stick for years. That's if you don't count chipping little pieces off the bead.
I would consider myself a moderately hard hitter, and I play an awful lot of rimshots, so my sticks tend to disintegrate around the middle point. But I tend to throw them away just before they break, you can feel when a stick is past it's best.
So I guess I go through about a pair of sticks for every
2-3 gigs.

I am not knocking or flaming you. It is just by my standards. If you break little pieces off the head of the stick, I won't count that. But vote 3. You break that many at gigs, and that counts. Sorry if I made you feel bad! :(

[BVSCfanatic]

I have never broken a stick.  Never.  I've had to retire sticks which were quite frayed around the shoulders or chipped on the head, and that usually after weeks or months of playing, but I have never had a stick simply break on me.  Not once.  And it certainly is NOT because I play so lightly.  Of THAT I am certain.  

[Mister Acrolite]

I prefer to "retire" sticks before they blow out on me, (great term, BVSC), but often have had sticks shatter early on.

Apparently there's something drumsticks don't like about being swung like a monkey on crack. Go figure...

[Joe]

I voted for "two".

It was during a practice for a grunge-ish band I was in around the turn of 1999; rimshots and arm usage were the order of the day.  The sticks in question were Vater 2B, nylon tip.  Both fractures occurred across the midsection.  Despite this practice that I see as inane these days, I still have good memories of that band.

These days (2001-present), I have largely revamped my approach to the drumset.  The only sticks that would count towards any type of breakage would be the Vic Firth Dave Weckls; a tip of one chipped most unfavorably.  As a result, I'm still using sticks that I bought or procured three years ago; it's a nice feeling. :)

[nitro101]

at my first ever band practice i broke 7-8 but only because i had to cut through amps and i was using generic cheapies. i havent broken a stick in a few months since i changed to hardmon's. gotta love a stick that can do that :)

[russelljd]

i hardly ever break sticks either. i use quite thick good quality sticks though but i am quite a hard hitter so i don't know why.i'll work on it

[Ryan Culberson]

Never broke more than one stick in a day/night's playing, but here's one that'll tug at the heartstrings...

I recently cracked TWO 60's vintage Paiste Formula 602s in the same practice session!!!!!!!!!!!  I sobbed like a 5 y/o girly for about an hour afterword   :'(

WAAAAHHHHHHHH

[BVSCfanatic]

I finally broke a stick.   :o

Brand new one too.  

I took out these jazz sticks I had lying around in order to  get a little softer sound for a song we plan to record eventually.  It seemed as if my usual sticks were just too heavy and overbearing for this one selection.  But HONESTLY, jazz sticks have NO BUSINESS in my hands.  They survived the first song, but not the second.  

I truly LOVE jazz for listening, but I don't play it.  Those sticks should never have been in my house. If there were a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Drumsticks, they'd probably be at my door right now.  It died a horrible death.  

But, no ... my Vater ROCKS, 1A's, Power 5B's, DSK's, Virgil Donati Assaults and Universals never break.  They chip and they reach "retirement age", but they don't just up and break on me.  

[drumwild]

In my early days, before getting some good technique, I could go through a dozen pair in a night. It was my GOAL to break as many sticks as I could. Now I can make sticks last a long time. I'd guess a pair of Zildjian 6A sticks lasts me about 12 hours.

Played my Ahead sticks for over 2 years and still have them.

[Sean Welch]

I've only had one stick actually break on me so far (~2 years of playing).  Looking at the grain I think it was more a bad stick than anything.

The one thing that does happen is the tips chip away (Vater 7A Manhattans) after a while, at which time I stop using them - so I'll put myself in the "retire 'em when it's their time" camp.

[Bob Pettit]

When I was young and full of dumb I broke a lot of sticks. Now I use heavy sticks, still hit hard, but rarely break 'em.

If you examine the wood in the sticks and avoid the ones with angled cross grain, you'll $ave some bucks.

There is such a thing as 'infant mortality'. Sometimes a stick breaks right off the bat.

[TamaDrummer]

But since I switched to graphite sticks, I only break a couple each year. Saves me a LOT of money!

-Mister A
Do those chip/crack cymbals? (random).

The only stick i have ever broken was on the bell of my ZBT 18" C/R (i was using it as a ride).  I was playing and cracked it perfectly straight down the middle, all the way to where i was holding it.  Never broke a stick since then, course i havent been able to play much lately.

Mr. A! Have you tried Zildjian's Heavy Jazz Lamenated Birch sticks?  they are relatively thin ( i think like a 5a), but i have been playing with them for probably about 4-5 months now and looking at them i could swear i have only used them ONCE.  barely ANY wear showing, and they have a better punch than hickory sticks.  they were given to me by one of Zildians lead guys at a Convention i was at in MN a while ago.  They are a little heavier, but not by much, and they are incredibly strong/wear resistant.  i LOVE em!  they have saved me money already!

[Mister Acrolite]

-Mister A
Do those chip/crack cymbals?

I haven't noticed any difference in the longevity of my cymbals since I switched to graphite sticks.

[drumz1]

I have broken three sticks on more than one occassion, and the reason is:  I tend to play REAL LOUD, and when you are playing in a nine piece band, it's easy to do.

I play and endorse Regal Tip sticks (2B nylon tip).  If you happen to play this brand of stick and are a heavy hitter, you might consider asking your dealer to order the "dense wood" sticks for you from Calato, they tend to last a little longer.

As far as cymbal breakage, please, don't even ask......

Regards,
drumz1

[Paul L]

I voted zero.  The only time I can recall actually breaking a stick (bead broke off) was decades ago when I played on snare line.  But I don't think that counts here.  On drumset, the only damage I do is to the shank causing them to splinter (then they go in the garbouge).  I'm a light-handed, heavy user of rimshots.

[Paul DAngelo]

I almost never break sticks.  More often, they get chewed up because of rim shots and I'll retire them.  The most I've ever broken in one day is one.  That is followed by breaking another one several years later, at most.

regal tip

[Sean]

you shouldnt be breaking sticks every day on a regular basis, it just means your technique is bad or you are hitting too hard.  it is NOT good to break sticks, and its surely not something to brag about.. i couldnt see why you would.  and your rating system is just wrong...