My latest rabbit hole: all about sticks. Really FINE sticks.

I’ve really fallen down the rabbit hole of boutique, custom and collectible drumsticks lately.

They’re often easier and cheaper to find than some practice pads, they take up less space, and some of them are flat-out gorgeous.

Here are a few of the latest to come my way:

1. Cooperman #10: Nick Petrella “General”.  A heftier version of the original Petrella concert stick, with a bigger tip and a more robust feel. I was fortunate to find these in both Persimmon and Hickory; today, Cooperman is taking a break from making persimmon sticks until they can source old-growth wood again.

I wouldn’t be disappointed about hickory, though. Cooperman know what they’re doing when they turn wood into some of THE nicest, best-balanced sticks I’ve ever played. 

The persimmon version are lighter, and more rigid. 

They feel great in concert passages where you don’t have time to change sticks and a lighter touch is needed.

The hickory sticks have become my new best friend.

Since getting them over a week ago, I’ve been chopping with them every single day on a variety of pads (which, being home bound due to Long Covid, is 95% of my playing right now). They feel lively, extremely well-balanced and very comfortable in my hands. 

I like them so much I plan to buy another set or two at least.

2. I’ve been having a lot of fun hanging out at the Boutique and Collectible Sticks FB group. Run mostly by symphonic and concert players with some overlap in the ancient Rudimental drum scene, these enthusiasts have invited me to broaden my horizons well beyond hickory and maple, and far beyond mass-produced sticks I’ve been playing for decades. Through them, I am learning about all kinds of woods and the kinds of sticks each is best for. And I’ve made a few really good friends as well.

My latest stick acquisition came courtesy of a friend who got several pairs of padauk sticks some years ago, from a young man still learning the craft. My friend sent along a pair to me so I could experience what playing with padauk sticks feels like. So far, they’re fascinating. I wouldn’t say I’m converted or anything, not with my hickory #10’s hogging a lot of my drumming time. But padauk is an interesting wood. The sticks are lighter than hickory, but possess almost no shock-absorbing qualities. So I have to make mental and physical adjustments to play cleanly with them. Once I figured this out, my diddles became smooth and light, almost ethereal. I know that some fife and drum corps sticks are being turned in padauk today, but I’m not sure my hands would enjoy playing on the march for an afternoon with them. I need to hang out with them more.

These sticks arrived with an incipient split in the wood on one of them. So I carefully lifted the split , applied some Elmer’s Glue-All underneath and in the cracks around, and set it to dry.

After it was thoroughly dry, I removed the wrap, sanded the excess glue off the surface, and applied a light coat of clear nail polish over the area to seal it.

When that had dried thoroughly, I gently tapped them on the dining room table so see if I could hear anything odd. I couldn’t. So I chopped on a rubber pad with them for a little while and really liked the subtleties my hands were receiving. 

They’re drop-dead gorgeous sticks.

Other woods on my list of Sticks To Try probably include rosewood, ebony, zebrawood, walnut  and various kinds of maple. If aim able to find sticks in those woods affordably, I’ll share my findings here.

Here’s video I made earlier this morning, some freestyling with the hickory Cooperman #10’s. 

They are absolutely delicious to play with, and just might have become my go-to stick for pad work and rudimental chopping in general.

Happy chopping!