Pedestaled drumstick tips

Pedestaled tips. Often found on Japanese sticks of the 1960s through early 80s, also seen on turn of the 20th century sticks, especially in ebony and rosewood. They show up a lot on student sticks, especially in the 2B size, and I love them.

My friend and drumstick scholar Eric Harris adds: "I find that the pedestal acts like a compressor (sound) or muffler (as a scarf, moreso) by reducing how much bead material is attached to the central core. I find that with a pedestal, the tendency is towards producing less stick resonance. In terms of tapers, that's strong and durable compared to conical ones. (It tends to be more common in a classic 2B style with a curved taper shape.)"

I would agree about the slight muting effect. Perhaps that's why it showed up so often on student sticks of this era.

Sadly, the major stick makers stopped doing this years ago, removing a layer of the production process and makings it more cost-effective.
But you can still find this treatment in some craft-made sticks, like certain models from Cooperman. And artisanal stick makers will happily add the feature to a set of custom sticks if it makes sense to do so.