First, a reminder: so far, no one has ever offered to give me free product to try out.
Everything I review here is something I purchased either at full or discounted cost, and then ran through its paces on my own dime.
If a drum company ever wants to reach out to me about reviewing their products, they can find me here, on Facebook and on Instagram.
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Today I'm offering a two-fer review.
First, I've begun the process of winnowing down my stick holdings -- and preferences -- because the Crohn's-related arthritis in my hands has proigressed to the point where, in order to keep playing, I have to use smaller sticks. For now, I'm looking at "Concert"-specific sticks from companies like Vic Firth and Promark, and also testing every 2B stick I can get my hands on to see what I'll like the most. In the meantime, I've been re-homing my fatter marching sticks a few pairs at a time, because I just can't play for long periods with anything that beefy anymore and I want to keep playing for as long as I can.
Not all 2B sticks are the same. Besides differences in length of taper and the shpare of the tip, there are differences in diameter and wood density as well. A company that can maintain a reasonable consistency of weight and pitch gets points in my book, which is why I avoid companies that make custom sticks in very small batches. Dialing in that kind of consistency requires larger production runs and dedicated quality control people. For a small company to maintain that kind of consistency they would have to charge a lot more per pair, and at that point small-batch sticks become a boutique item and not something to have on hand in quantity.
Diamondback drumsticks have intrigued me for awhile now, because of
positive reviews from a couple of friends who like them and because they
look so clean and consistent. So I went ahead and ordered a pair of 2B's.
Diamondback intentionally creates a snakeskin-shapedtextured surface into the grip area of their sticks for improved grip. The texture also feels nice in the hand, and the textured grip makes sense; I can certainly feel the difference in my hands at the end of a practice session with these sticks. After 45 minutes of woodshedding, my hands don't feel quite as tired because I haven't had to grip the sticks as tightly to hang onto them.
Like most sticks labeled "2B," the diameter is .630", which is the standard for the size. But I would really like to see a diameter in between their 2B and their 3S (which I also tried and found to be similar to modern drum corps sticks in the .695 to .710 range, all too big for my hands). I've contacted Diamondback to see if they would ever consider a middle size, and I'll wait to see what they say.
The tip of this stick is a little unusual in that the sides are conical and flat, rather than rounded. If I had to guess, that may be to ensure that the center of the tip won't wear down faster. But unless you're aiming for utmost accuracy in every stroke you won't land the flat side the exact same way every time. My preference would be to round out the sides of the tip a little bit for a more natural contact surface and sound.
Finally the un-textured portion of the stick is clean and tight-grained,
meaning this is a great example of a dense hickory that's perfect for
drumming with.
I'll be hanging out with these a lot in the coming
weeks and see what Diamonback has to say about possible new stick sizes
in the future.
***** ***** *****
Turning my attention to practice pads, I've been enjoying my workouts on this basic pad from Drumeo. Drumeo is primarily a studio of instructors offering instruction for various styles of drumming. But in their shop they also offer this simple two-sided practice pad, which you can buy without signing up for lessons if you wish.
The primary practice side of the Drumeo QuietPad is made of a blue silicone material that provides enough of a satisfying bounce for working on specific charts, or on rudiments at full speed. It's comfortable without being wildly over-bouncy and out of control, and therefore excellent for daily practice. I would suggest that this pad is better-suited for folks who play drum kit, or who play marching drums with Mylar heads. Anyone playing primarily on Kevlar will want to keep looking, because this pad will not simulate the feel of a high-tension Kevlar head.
The other side of this pad features a thick, much softer foam surface that's ideal for slowing down and really focusing on technique. The dense, black foam is not unlike what companies like Reflexx are offering for far more money. It's a playing surface that requires you to pull your strokes out of the surface, just the way so many of us learned to do on Mylar marching heads back in the 60's and 70's. (When I marched in drum corps in the late 70's, we had to bring a pillow from home, not only for comfort while we slept but also for woodshedding our parts with NO bounce. It was, as they say, a different time...)
Sandwiched between the two playing surfaces is a basic compressed wood fiber platform that's more than adequate. At 11" in diameter, this pad won't fly around the tabletop from accented notes, and fits easily in most modern snare drum stands.
While It doesn't take the place of my heavier-duty RD Chop Pad for most of my heavy rudimental work, the QuietPad has found a place in my studio as both a great alternate workout pad (especially the softer side) and a very portable pad for bringing along to rehearsals or a park bench. If you're on a lighter budget and this is your only pad, it's not a bad choice at all.
Videos of both sides.
Blue side:
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