Endorsements from unknown musicians: do they matter?

Over the course of a lifetime of drumming that began when I was seven and has continued with only one injury-caused break over the last fifty years, I've had an opportunity to try a LOT of products.

Among the most important for me have been drum heads and sticks.

As a relatively unknown professional drummer and percussionist, I have found that my opinions don't matter to music stores or to major manufacturers nearly as much as they matter to fellow drummers and to the students I've had the privilege of teaching over the years.

That said, it's not a bad idea to say something positive when I discover a great product, or product line.

The pandemic has given me a chance to try a lot of different sticks, and after going back and forth and finding what I like, I've switched over all my sticks -- for rudimental/pad work, concert and drum kit -- to Vater Percussion.

I find that every Vater stick I've tried has been well-balanced, feels great in the hands and plays with great response on drums and pads.

Today my stick bag holds nothing but Vater sticks, in these models:

-- MV-20: rudimental, marching and heavy pad work. A great stick in a size that's perfect for smaller hands.
-- 2B: My go-to pad stick, especially in the mornings when my arthritis gets in the way during careful warmups, but really this is the stick I reach for more than any other when I just want to chop.
-- Classics 2B: a nice, slightly heavier alternative to the regular 2B.
-- Classics 5A: this has replaced the Vic Firth 5A and Promark 737 that used to live in my bag, as a great jazz or combo stick. I love the way it sounds on my cymbals.
-- West Side: a really nice drum kit stick that I think would be great for pit work as well as pop. Like a Vic Firth "Buddy Rich" model but less anemic. This is my current go-to drum kit stick. It feels absolutely perfect in my hands.
-- A old pair of "Acousticks" that I've had for a few years. I found these at a yard sale and was surprised at how much I liked them. They're great for a slightly more diffuse sound but sturdy enough to still play rudimentally with them around the kit.

At this point, I haven't had an opportunity to try any of Vater's brushes, and until I can get back to work I'm not ready to shell out money for them. My go-to brush since high school has been the Regal wood-handled jazz brush, but I am open to considering something else when the time (and wallet) are right.

And while my endorsement doesn't mean all that much in the big picture, I think it's nice to have settled on a product line that feels really comfortable in my hands, and that I'd happily recommend to other drummers.

Happy chopping.