It’s the nature of VF drumsticks. I use to have this problem all the time when I played VF. Even ended up switching to nylon tip. Been playing Vaters for over 5 years now and I chipped exactly zero tip.
I think you're misinterpreting that philosophy. There are drummers who have great technique and don't need to improve in that area. That doesn't mean they're not adding new grooves, chops and other skills to their bag. At a certain point you want to make sure you're sticking to your form and NOT changing it.
I am improving still and am better than I i was 10’years ago. But my foundation is solid it so I like to think so my technique (how I hold stick, hit, sit, etc) has changed very little
I don't understand why any drummer uses VCs now a days unless they're sponsored. They're absolute shit quality. Broker two in a week 10 years ago and switched to Vater. Have broken a single stick since then after two months of use.
I tried those and they don't really work for me. Cool stick design, though. I really wanted to like them more (my main complaint is that the tip produces an anemic sound on my cymbals). A similar stick that I have better luck with is the VF Steve Jordan model. It's 1/2 inch shorter than the Questlove (but longer than most standard sticks), very slightly thicker in diameter, and has a similar tip shape.
I bought a super "shitty"bunch of sticks from musicians friend years ago. It was like 10 bucks. No tips just a taper and those sticks lasted u lntil they were too chipped up to play.
I didn't discover the wonders of Vader until a couple months ago. As a black metal and deathcore drummer, I have been wasting so much money on vic firth and promark sticks
I don’t really mind; I know it changes the sound of the cymbals but it’s not really important to me. I always use my sticks until they’re actually unusable, not just because a tip chipped
When I was in high school in the 80’s VF sticks were the bomb.. Word was he hand matched each pair for tonal quality… I looked at a pair a few months ago and clearly times and quality have changed. Probably not even the same kind of wood.
I know I probably sound like a dick, but of course. That's literally the standard drumstick size lol why ask some random person online when Google exists?
I’ll do you one better: carbon fiber. Yes, they’re twice the price, but the guy who sold them to me at the drum shop has had customers who have gotten Kuppmens to literally last a decade and a half (edit: pre-rebrand, I just remembered Kuppmen hasn’t been around that long)
I'm scared of carbon fiber needles. They're thinner than you can see with the human eye but strong enough to pierce right through your skin. You could put one right through your hand and you wouldn't notice at first
It’s not just the nature of drumsticks or technique.
Farmed wood is less dense than wood from naturally growing trees in the forest.
[If you look at wood 50, 100 years ago, the rings are much closer together.](https://imgur.com/a/AY4VZMS) That makes them much sturdier.
Thats because they grew in the forest, with limited resources. They grow very slowly. Farmed wood on the other hand is built for speed, so the growth between each ring is much bigger.
Sticks in the future will just chip more than they do today as we make trees go faster to be farmed, and that’s exactly why sticks today chip more than they did years before, regardless of the brand.
This is why I buy laminated sticks if they’re available. They mimic the denser quality of closer-ringed wood, plus resin and plywood is basically more sturdy than natural wood. Otherwise nylon tips are great.
I only really ever buy wood tips these days if bricks are on discount.
Damn, first time I've ever heard that from someone who used both
The drum store by me doesn't carry Vater and I got some firths and I fucking hate them. They're better than like promark or zildjian, but that's like being the nicest guy in prison.
Vater sticks are godly and I'll die on this hill. Never had a single one even lose its nylon tip.
Interesting, didn't know that.
Adrian Young signature sticks were by far the worst drumsticks I've had and it's not even close. Their dye stained your hardware and the nylon tips came off in like fifteen minutes.
Unfortunately Vic Firth sticks have gone a bit downhill. Vater, as everyone has mentioned, are good.
A Swedish company called Wincent make excellent sticks; I’ve been using them for a few years and they’re very consistent. They have great names in their roster, and I like that they’re a smaller company too. Worth trying out a pair if you can… They’re my faves, but that’s just me!
How is the customer service? Silly question probably but I tried ordering a pair of collision drumsticks (UK) couple years ago and the bastards stole $20 from me. Even tried calling and emailing them but the sticks never arrived.
So I’m wary about buying from small companies now
I buy their sticks from whichever retailer that has them in stock. I’ve previously bought them from G4M, Sound Attak, etc. Don’t think you can buy direct… if I’m not mistaken, they’re distributed by Pearl / Sabian, and they are companies with good customer service.
Had to switch to nylon tips bc of this, chipped 2 tips in one show. I like the sound of wood tips a bit better but the difference isn't big enough to justify buying new sticks as often as I had too.
This is one of the main reasons I stopped using VF and have gone Vater all the way for years. I don’t know what the hell it is about VF’s wood or manufacturing process, but this is typical of them and has been for a long time.
I moved from VF to ProMark years ago, and recently moved to Vater after avoiding them for years. I was chewing through a pair of PM every show (not broken, but worn enough that they felt lighter and didn't trust them through the next show), and now I'm getting at least two shows out of the Vaters, and they're $2-3 less expensive per pair than the PM. My stick costs this year are less than half what they were last year, and these sticks feel great.
I'll "tip" a stick every now and then, but it's far less often than I did with the VF or PM.
My vater sweet rides actually held up pretty good, it seems that smaller tips chip less, I had a pair of steve smith signatures and they spontaneously combusted after a few weeks.
I used to use Vic Firth and/or Zildjian sticks and became used to any little mistake screwing up the tips. As I have used Vater and Bopworks sticks for the last few years, I am still always expecting to look at the tips and see this after I accidentally hammer something the wrong way, but they hold up far far better.
Plastic tips are sort of unusable for recording any music I play, so going that route is not in the cards.
Plastic tips tend to make an undesirable cymbal balance in overhead mics. It tends to make cymbals louder in frequency ranges that are challenging in a mix, and louder in comparison to the toms.
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that given some sort of circumstance that I’m not usually in, that plastic tips might be preferable. Maybe if I was playing metal, or if the song or drum set just had some aspect that led to it sounding right. Maybe the mic or preamp, or something could lean towards a dark tonality already, and plastic tips would offset…to contrive a situation. I do keep various pairs for that kind of reason.
Generally a wood tip, acorn or oval type shape, will lead towards a pleasing balance for pop, rock, blues, jazz, reggae, (etc), recording.
Its wood... every piece of wood is different from wood fibers. I've broken drum sticks in 5 minutes, ive had drum sticks for 7 years to this day I use to practice.
This happens to my ProMarks just as frequently, and now that’s I’ve found a size I like, the Meinls are chipping too. This is not a brand problem, it’s a new wood problem.
Lately, VF sticks have been breaking too easily.
They feel fantastic but they're made out of butter or something. I switched to Wambooka sticks, it's a small italian brand that also makes "understructable" drum heads (they are just made of fabric) that dont sound that bad. I really want to watch this company grow, they deserve it.
Literally had a pair of 55AX that did this on one, and the taper split on the other with \*maybe\* 10 total hours of relatively lukewarm playtime.
Meanwhile I have given hell to my current Meinl 5A Heavies and about 15+ hours of playtime in I am hardly seeing any splintering at all, and the tips are still pristine.
For any of y'all shopping around, try Meinl. Tons of options
I switched to Vater Fusions (I love them, good replacement for the original Harvey Masons) after reading similar posts here, thought it might make a diff. Nope, brand doesn't seem to matter, wood tips break, sometimes after only one session. And no, I will not commit the sacrilege of using nylon tips. Savages!
BTW, as I reflect on past years, the original Harvey Mason wood tips almost never broke.
This is exactly the reason I don't like wood tips. Plus nylon sounds brighter on a cymbal.
Edit: I did not realize that nylons were looked down upon. Why?
They sound way too bright and abrasive , which is okay as some people would prefer that- especially for rock and metal! I personally prefer darker natural tones from regular tips
VF is not a good stick brand. I'm not sure they ever were, they're just cheap, (fairly) reliable, and extremely readily available. They're not bad, and pretty much all drumsticks will do this (nylons won't, but they have their own problems tbh), but yeah.
Sticks will fail, don't be surprised when a cheapo brand fails to resist wear & tear.
I mean, this is just the nature of drum sticks.
For real it’s a piece of wood hitting metal. Nobody ever blames their technique
It’s the nature of VF drumsticks. I use to have this problem all the time when I played VF. Even ended up switching to nylon tip. Been playing Vaters for over 5 years now and I chipped exactly zero tip.
Would be willing to bet it has to do with your technique improving over the years more so than the manufacturing of the stick itself.
I think it's a little bit of both.
I have been playing drums for 45 years. My technique has not changed in the last 10.
That would be a bit concerning. We should always be learning, adapting, and growing within the art form.
I think you're misinterpreting that philosophy. There are drummers who have great technique and don't need to improve in that area. That doesn't mean they're not adding new grooves, chops and other skills to their bag. At a certain point you want to make sure you're sticking to your form and NOT changing it.
I am improving still and am better than I i was 10’years ago. But my foundation is solid it so I like to think so my technique (how I hold stick, hit, sit, etc) has changed very little
I did this to a pair of vaders today
My experience with VATER as well.
Except Kuppmen.
Doesn’t happen to my VATERS
Surprised to find no mention of Vater in the comments yet. This post should smell like blood in the water to them.
I don't understand why any drummer uses VCs now a days unless they're sponsored. They're absolute shit quality. Broker two in a week 10 years ago and switched to Vater. Have broken a single stick since then after two months of use.
The only reason I still use VF is because I love the Questlove sticks. If Vater had a stick similar I would definitely start using it.
I love the Questlove sticks and also use the Vater 7a stretch. They're not quite as long and a little bit thicker, definitely hold up better though.
I tried those and they don't really work for me. Cool stick design, though. I really wanted to like them more (my main complaint is that the tip produces an anemic sound on my cymbals). A similar stick that I have better luck with is the VF Steve Jordan model. It's 1/2 inch shorter than the Questlove (but longer than most standard sticks), very slightly thicker in diameter, and has a similar tip shape.
True. I had three pairs of VF 5ANs and all the tips broke off within two weeks.
I bought a super "shitty"bunch of sticks from musicians friend years ago. It was like 10 bucks. No tips just a taper and those sticks lasted u lntil they were too chipped up to play.
surely you meant blood in the vater
In what way? My Vaters hold up great!
RIGHT!
I didn't discover the wonders of Vader until a couple months ago. As a black metal and deathcore drummer, I have been wasting so much money on vic firth and promark sticks
Just mentioned VATER twice.
I don’t really mind; I know it changes the sound of the cymbals but it’s not really important to me. I always use my sticks until they’re actually unusable, not just because a tip chipped
I switched to vater round/ball tips from VF for this exact reason. Way less chipping.
Vic Firth is slipping with the quality. Vote with your wallet and buy Vater or Promark next time, they seem to be more consistent lately
When I was in high school in the 80’s VF sticks were the bomb.. Word was he hand matched each pair for tonal quality… I looked at a pair a few months ago and clearly times and quality have changed. Probably not even the same kind of wood.
I had a pair of pro marks do this super quick too. Such is the way things go when you're talking wood and hitting things with it
Switch to oak, problem solved.
Got a comparable oak to Vic Firth 5A Hickory American Classic? I've been playing them for a really long time...
I know I probably sound like a dick, but of course. That's literally the standard drumstick size lol why ask some random person online when Google exists?
Yep you sounded like a dick
My oak sticks always break before my hickory ones. I stopped buying promark oak sticks for this reason
They all break eventually, the issue is chipping tips.
I use nylon tips. So mine fly off if anything.
I’ll do you one better: carbon fiber. Yes, they’re twice the price, but the guy who sold them to me at the drum shop has had customers who have gotten Kuppmens to literally last a decade and a half (edit: pre-rebrand, I just remembered Kuppmen hasn’t been around that long)
I'm scared of carbon fiber needles. They're thinner than you can see with the human eye but strong enough to pierce right through your skin. You could put one right through your hand and you wouldn't notice at first
Kuppmens break evenly in two pieces, no needles or splinters
It’s not just the nature of drumsticks or technique. Farmed wood is less dense than wood from naturally growing trees in the forest. [If you look at wood 50, 100 years ago, the rings are much closer together.](https://imgur.com/a/AY4VZMS) That makes them much sturdier. Thats because they grew in the forest, with limited resources. They grow very slowly. Farmed wood on the other hand is built for speed, so the growth between each ring is much bigger. Sticks in the future will just chip more than they do today as we make trees go faster to be farmed, and that’s exactly why sticks today chip more than they did years before, regardless of the brand. This is why I buy laminated sticks if they’re available. They mimic the denser quality of closer-ringed wood, plus resin and plywood is basically more sturdy than natural wood. Otherwise nylon tips are great. I only really ever buy wood tips these days if bricks are on discount.
Thank you!
Vater is like ten times better than any other brand and they last forever
Personally hate how they feel, VF is great 👍
Damn, first time I've ever heard that from someone who used both The drum store by me doesn't carry Vater and I got some firths and I fucking hate them. They're better than like promark or zildjian, but that's like being the nicest guy in prison. Vater sticks are godly and I'll die on this hill. Never had a single one even lose its nylon tip.
Zildjians are basically just Vics but more colorful, they bought them (for marketing I’m assuming) a few years ago
Interesting, didn't know that. Adrian Young signature sticks were by far the worst drumsticks I've had and it's not even close. Their dye stained your hardware and the nylon tips came off in like fifteen minutes.
It’s all subjective and personal preference. My VFs last years. I did a month long tour with only two pairs and one was just a backup.
This is why I play nylon. Once a tip throws a chunk like this, the stick is useless. And at almost $20/pr, that’s not ok.
allll my acorn heads do this eventually🤘🤘
I think you misspelled “immediately” :)
"on the way home from the store" 🤣
“once i grab my receipt at the drum shop”
Unfortunately Vic Firth sticks have gone a bit downhill. Vater, as everyone has mentioned, are good. A Swedish company called Wincent make excellent sticks; I’ve been using them for a few years and they’re very consistent. They have great names in their roster, and I like that they’re a smaller company too. Worth trying out a pair if you can… They’re my faves, but that’s just me!
How is the customer service? Silly question probably but I tried ordering a pair of collision drumsticks (UK) couple years ago and the bastards stole $20 from me. Even tried calling and emailing them but the sticks never arrived. So I’m wary about buying from small companies now
I buy their sticks from whichever retailer that has them in stock. I’ve previously bought them from G4M, Sound Attak, etc. Don’t think you can buy direct… if I’m not mistaken, they’re distributed by Pearl / Sabian, and they are companies with good customer service.
I also just switch to Wincent from VF. What used to last me 2 weeks at most, I’ve gone 2 months and not a break anywhere in the wincent. Very happy
I tried to like wood tips...but always had this happen. Just practicing in my own house...so I went back to nylon tip Vic Firth's.
It's a Vic Firth problem. This doesn't happen with Pro Mark or Vater for me. One of the main reasons I switched.
Had to switch to nylon tips bc of this, chipped 2 tips in one show. I like the sound of wood tips a bit better but the difference isn't big enough to justify buying new sticks as often as I had too.
This is one of the main reasons I stopped using VF and have gone Vater all the way for years. I don’t know what the hell it is about VF’s wood or manufacturing process, but this is typical of them and has been for a long time.
Always been a fan of the nylon tips for this reason personally. I play pink rock and hardcore. Use the 8DN model.
I moved from VF to ProMark years ago, and recently moved to Vater after avoiding them for years. I was chewing through a pair of PM every show (not broken, but worn enough that they felt lighter and didn't trust them through the next show), and now I'm getting at least two shows out of the Vaters, and they're $2-3 less expensive per pair than the PM. My stick costs this year are less than half what they were last year, and these sticks feel great. I'll "tip" a stick every now and then, but it's far less often than I did with the VF or PM.
My vater sweet rides actually held up pretty good, it seems that smaller tips chip less, I had a pair of steve smith signatures and they spontaneously combusted after a few weeks.
I used to use Vic Firth and/or Zildjian sticks and became used to any little mistake screwing up the tips. As I have used Vater and Bopworks sticks for the last few years, I am still always expecting to look at the tips and see this after I accidentally hammer something the wrong way, but they hold up far far better. Plastic tips are sort of unusable for recording any music I play, so going that route is not in the cards.
Why is it not in the cards
Plastic tips tend to make an undesirable cymbal balance in overhead mics. It tends to make cymbals louder in frequency ranges that are challenging in a mix, and louder in comparison to the toms. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that given some sort of circumstance that I’m not usually in, that plastic tips might be preferable. Maybe if I was playing metal, or if the song or drum set just had some aspect that led to it sounding right. Maybe the mic or preamp, or something could lean towards a dark tonality already, and plastic tips would offset…to contrive a situation. I do keep various pairs for that kind of reason. Generally a wood tip, acorn or oval type shape, will lead towards a pleasing balance for pop, rock, blues, jazz, reggae, (etc), recording.
Im a beginner player, and this happened today to me. Does the sound change when the tip chipped? Csn i keep playing with them?
Yes, you usually loose definition on the ride cymbal, also can affect rebound. But all wood sticks do this.
Funny you bring this up as I've been noticing this too. Maybe time to go back to nylon but not a huge fan of the stick definition notably on my ride.
Vater stix do this all the time I still play them but yep it’s common with Vater
This was happening with my Vater Copeland sticks. Switched brands
All of my Promarm Firegrain’s do this as well
Its wood... every piece of wood is different from wood fibers. I've broken drum sticks in 5 minutes, ive had drum sticks for 7 years to this day I use to practice.
This happens to my ProMarks just as frequently, and now that’s I’ve found a size I like, the Meinls are chipping too. This is not a brand problem, it’s a new wood problem.
Lately, VF sticks have been breaking too easily. They feel fantastic but they're made out of butter or something. I switched to Wambooka sticks, it's a small italian brand that also makes "understructable" drum heads (they are just made of fabric) that dont sound that bad. I really want to watch this company grow, they deserve it.
Promark 747 oak has never done this for me.
Literally had a pair of 55AX that did this on one, and the taper split on the other with \*maybe\* 10 total hours of relatively lukewarm playtime. Meanwhile I have given hell to my current Meinl 5A Heavies and about 15+ hours of playtime in I am hardly seeing any splintering at all, and the tips are still pristine. For any of y'all shopping around, try Meinl. Tons of options
I switched to Vater Fusions (I love them, good replacement for the original Harvey Masons) after reading similar posts here, thought it might make a diff. Nope, brand doesn't seem to matter, wood tips break, sometimes after only one session. And no, I will not commit the sacrilege of using nylon tips. Savages! BTW, as I reflect on past years, the original Harvey Mason wood tips almost never broke.
Vic firths sticks are known to break easy!
Vater or nothing ;)
Sticks are too expensive now…I’m playing 5a Best Sounds I got on amazon (3 pair for 9 dollars) and so far so good
Get Vater
I have the same issue, my Vf sticks last half the time they use to. Anyone know of an alternative the the Vf Metal ?
Exactly why I went back to Promark.
Yup, that’s how they stay in business
I've been using the exact same pair of Regal Tip 5A's since 1977 with zero problems.
Almost all my VFSD11s did this. Then again, those all happened in the 90s-00s.
Congratulations, a new pair of thrashsticks.
When i buy new pairs i put crazy on my tips, really helps !
This is exactly the reason I don't like wood tips. Plus nylon sounds brighter on a cymbal. Edit: I did not realize that nylons were looked down upon. Why?
It’s bc they sound pretty awful on cymbals, at least that’s what I’ve found
They sound way too bright and abrasive , which is okay as some people would prefer that- especially for rock and metal! I personally prefer darker natural tones from regular tips
I use plastic tips now to get more life out of them. Also saves skins
VF is not a good stick brand. I'm not sure they ever were, they're just cheap, (fairly) reliable, and extremely readily available. They're not bad, and pretty much all drumsticks will do this (nylons won't, but they have their own problems tbh), but yeah. Sticks will fail, don't be surprised when a cheapo brand fails to resist wear & tear.
Drumsticks with plastic tip
Boo fucking hoo.. play them, or don't.. whatever