Jon Singer, proprietor of the Third Floor Percussion Bazaar in New York, is now working with various independent makers of pads, sticks, cymbals and other drummer’s tools. At this time, the individual makers are not being identified, but the items are being offered as “prototype” or “new” items at his FB site.
I recently purchased two pairs of 3rd Floor concert snare sticks, in Jatoba and purpleheart.
The Jatoba sticks measure 16 1/4” long and just over 5/8” thick, with a short taper and a tip measuring a little more than 7/16” wide. Each stick weighs around 80 grams. These are robust concert sticks that would do well for heavy orchestral works, or for Rudimental practice.
The purpleheart sticks are a bit small all around, 16” long by a little over 9/16” thick, with a nice medium taper to a round tip that’s a hair over 1/2” wide. It weighs roughly 63 grams per stick, and is a really nice concert stick, especially for standard wind band use. I’d happily play a Sousa March on a 14” x 6” concert snare anytime, yet I could also control them easily enough to get a nice mezzopiano press roll. They feel very nicely balanced in my hands and play beautifully. I found one of these sticks a tiny bit warped, but not enough to make it hard to use. With wood, warpage feels like a given, and with handcrafted small-batch sticks, it feels like some slack is in order; as long as the warpage is super- mild and infrequent, give the maker a break and play the sticks. If, on the other hand, the warpage is obvious, send them back for a refund or exchange. Most small-batch makers will be glad to make a swap and take back your warped sticks to learn from.
I think I need to search the landscape for more from Jon’s Third Floor collective, and also look at other sticks in purpleheart. (Photos really show the beautiful purple glow of the purpleheart, which has stolen my heart big-time.)
Right now these sticks are sold in short batches of three to five pairs, so keep your eyes peeled at the site.
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