Product Review: Vic Firth Stockpad, 2024 edition

I wasn’t going to do this, but I scored a barely-used —demo? — 2024 VF Stockpad from a music store. 

(Free shipping made it easier.)

There was a lot of initial hype and buzz when this pad was released over the summer. A few pads were strategically “leaked” by large retailers in advance of the official July release date. Vic Firth representatives, including the pad’s two designers, insisted it was accidental, but too many pads were released early for me to be convinced. Call me cynical.

A lot of younger marching drummers got it into their hands and immediately insisted that it was the best pad they’d tried in ages. They were all young, and perhaps simply lacked the historical memory of good pads predating the previous generation of the Heavy Hitter pads (circa 2010 or so). But honestly, once you’ve figured out how to slap a rubber-nylon compound disc onto a slab of MDF for cheap and sell it high, you’ve done your job of growing the bottom line and making your bosses happy.

Yeah, I am definitely a cynic. Blame it on too many years spent working in retail and peeking at how the sausage is made.

This pad came with the laminate already added, and showed a large air bubble near the center.

I tried it with the air bubble first, just to know what I was looking at.

Then I lifted the laminate — not difficult — and tapped a little on the bare rubber surface. I didn’t find it overwhelmingly exciting, as rubber compound pads go.

(Note: the rubber on these new pads is compounded with silicon, ostensibly to make it more durable and because real gum rubber is not cheap. Anyone who has played on an early gum rubber pad can feel the difference.)

I carefully reapplied the laminate, using my thumb to expel the air bubbles by pressing hard in a circular motion, moving outwards from center to edge.

It made a helpful difference, and I hope the air bubbles won’t reappear.

I know I would not spend money on the Slimpad version of this model year. It simply will never meet my specific drumming needs.

Having owned previous editions of the Stockpad, I can’t say that the naked version of this pad breaks a lot of new ground, with or without the laminate. To be fair, it IS a bit better with the laminate. But IMHO, it’s not better enough for VF to have doubled the price, even with a hard rubber rim added. Sorry, kids, but this is NOT a pad that's worth a hundred bucks, and I’m glad I didn’t have to spend a hundred bucks to find that out.

Carry on and keep chopping.

Below: the pad with air bubble, and accompanying video:

The pad with the air bubble removed, and accompanying video. 

You can hear the difference.

UPDATE: I wasn't going to share this, but after online attacks from Vic Firth's representative, I decided to go back and offer these photos as well. The pad also shows evidence of hot glue gun blobs at several points just outside the rim. I've shared the photos here.

When you offer a practice pad for a hundred bucks, you really ought to tighten up your quality control standards. If you cannot do so, then maybe don't charge a hundred bucks for a slab of silicon rubber affixed with a hot glue gun to a slab of painted MDF. Anyone with power tools and some woodworking knowledge could have made something like this at home for far less.