Crap just keeps getting crappier: The arms race is over and I’m done.

The latest from Xymox, the Voldemort of drum practice pad makers, appeared in my feed today.

That’s right. Oblivious to the patent and trademark infringements going on here, Xymox has decided to screw everyone by selling a knockoff of the old tan RealFeel pads from the 1990s.

Same look, same shape, and a nice knockoff of the old HQ logo that reads “OG”.

They must know they’re in violation of something here.

And my guess is that they don’t care.

As soon as this showed up on the drum pad groups, people howled, either in derision (“I cannot believe that Xymox would stoop this low”) or in excitement (“I have to get one!”)

A guy who works at D’Addario, which owns Evans and all the designs and branding from HQ (which originated the design thirty years ago) is popping a vein. He promises that D’Addario will take legal action, if necessary, to stop this thing in its tracks.

I predict that they’ll be too late, and that almost no one in the general pad market today will actually care all that much. They’ll be too late because the pads are already in production and are being sold at the Xymox web site, and any legal action taken will not stop the pads already shipped out. (Nor will said legal action protect the exclusive on the octagonal shape, because you cannot really patent a geometric shape anymore.) 

And other than a few hundred people who got ripped off by Xymox, almost no one else will care, especially the Gen Z kids who  see this as their chance to get something close enough to the original tan RealFeel pad their dad practiced on thirty years ago.

It gets better. RCP just came out with this delightful little Chinese-made knockoff, which I believe is supposed to hearken back to Offworld’s Shuttle Pad. It’s another crass attempt to play on fake nostalgia, and it’s kind of depressing.

Crying foul now, when nearly every mass-produced pad on the market is made in part or in whole in China, is like bolting the barn door after the horse has fled.

And with that, I know that I have stayed involved for long enough.

There is less and less interest in vintage pads and their history now. The online drum chat groups are populated mostly by folks who are young enough to be my grandchildren, and they want whatever the top 12 DCI drum lines are using. Even if it’s poorly made, even if it’s unsustainable, even if it will wear out in a year or two. They do not care. Fine. Let the modern mass-producers of practice pads chase each other’s tails, and chase the dollars of every high school and college drummer out there. I’ll chop on what I have and be content.

I hope to be shed of all but about five pads by the end of the year. If I ever feel the need for another practice pad, I can always make one.

Happy drumming.

(Photo: yours truly, using a fire hydrant as a practice pad.)

When an expensive new pad is just… expensive

There’s a new pad on the market, by a company that just filed an LLC last month.

Live Edge Drum Company is marketing a practice pad made of a slice of tree and which uses a playing surface made of some kind of rubbery epoxy. 

Feel free to check out the company’s web site:

https://www.liveedgedrumco.com/

You won’t find much info there, or even any contact information.

You can watch this shiny new demo video, offered by a talented snare drummer who marched Bluecoats this summer. 

Be advised, though, that said drummer is sponsored by the company, which just means that he got his pad for free. How nice.

If you want one, it will set you back a cool $140 PLUS shipping.

Before you jump at the chance to own one yourself, be advised that the pad is being pre-sold in small batches, and you have to get on the list before you can see a meaningfully detailed photo of the pad.

Also note that we don’t know the manufacturing process at all, only that it’s “made in America.” We don’t know by whom, or where.

In the absence of any more info at the web site, I looked up their business info, and found a listing for Live Edge Drum Company’s incorporation in Florida dated October 11 of this year. That means the company became an LLC just seven weeks ago. It’s possible the pads are being made in Florida, but we have no way to confirm that.

We also don’t know what kind of wood is being used or what the playing surface is made of, because that’s not mentioned either. The grainy-resolution photo at the web site doesn’t help matters.

A clue comes in the video when the drummer tells us that the pad is very lightweight. So we know it’s probably not a dense hardwood because those are mostly fairly heavy. A softer wood could be coated with an epoxy and still weigh less than a fine-grained hardwood. And whatever the playing surface is, it can’t be terribly heavy, either. It may be a very thin layer of clear silicone, which wouldn’t add a lot of weight but still provide some bounce.

So in the end, I reached out to a friend with decades of professional woodworking experience, and I asked him what his impressions were.

He was underwhelmed: “I’m sure it’s a cheap trivet from somewhere we can all access. It’s really covered in plastic or epoxy or something when I zoom in. Bark should not stay on wood naturally like that. Reminds me of the stuff at like Michael’s or other craft stores. If it’s light it’s fast growth birch or balsa.”

I trust this guy and his response makes a lot of sense to me.

UPDATE: just got these, which explains things even better.

As with all things, Your Mileage May Vary.

But I’m not going to get excited about a cheaply-made pad that sells for $140.

Caveat emptor, kiddos.

Vintage practice pads for sale: batch #1

I am liquidating most of my remaining collection of practice pads.

This is the first batch being offered.

Top photo

top row, L-R:
WFL gum rubber tilt pad, 1940s, SOLD
Leedy tilt pad, refurbished, 1940s, $20
George Way tilt pad, VGUC 1960s, $50
Ludwig tilt pad w/padded calf surface, 1930s, SOLD

bottom row, L-R:
Jim Dinella homemade tilt pad, $40
Satellite tilt pad, 1950s, $40
World tilt pad, $35
Ludwig oak tilt pad, $40

All of these pads have good playing surfaces with good to excellent rebound.

Postage will be additional, and will depend on how pads you want to buy.

I will consider a price break on multiple pads going to the same address, though I cannot offer a price break on postage (shipping rates have gone up a lot this year).
I'm not able to ship outside the USA, sorry.

If you're interested, reach out to me on Facebook Messenger.

Thanks.

The future of drum sticks?

If you read various chat boards (Reddit, DrumForum.com, etc.) you may notice a lot of griping about two things:

1. The increasing price of wood drum sticks; and

2. The decreasing quality of wood drum sticks.

There’s some truth to both points.

1. Stick prices have slowly risen for years. Inflation is out of control these days, so that should surprise no one. Some makers have managed to hold off raising prices for quite awhile but had to bite the bullet this past year. Others have been slowly and steadily raised their prices little by little over time.

2. Drum stick quality and consistency from the big major brands (Vic Firth, Promark, Vater, et al) has been declining for some time now. Drum stick makers that once sold their pitch- and weight-matching as marks of excellence have grown quieter about that as consistency has suffered. 

There are some salient reasons for both, and they are mostly beyond any company’s control.

A. Increasing scarcity of quality wood stocks due to deforestation and climate change. People don’t like to talk about climate change. Either they refuse to believe it’s real (though I don’t see how they can with today’s weather extremes), or they insist that it’s simply not a factor that affects wood quality. But the truth is that increased deforestation (to meet higher demand for wood in all industries) has helped speed up global warming, and the market’s impatience for mature raw wood has meant cutting trees before they have a chance to become “old growth.”  That makes for a lot of naked, unshaded earth, and that means the weather gets hotter, faster.  The global marketplace also adds climate pressure because of the increased carbon footprint required to harvest and transport raw materials from their source locations to the manufacturers for processing.

B. The lack of mature, old growth wood stocks has lent itself to cutting second-growth timber that is less dense and less stable, meaning a wider variance in wood grain and hardness. Both of these mean that as the wood dries, it can warp or crack more, which in turns means lower consistency in the quality and feel of sticks — and less durability — from pair to pair.

******

When I was a young drummer in the early 1970s, the big stick manufacturers didn’t match for pitch or weight. Instead, you pulled all the sticks out of the bin labeled with the desired size at the music store. You rolled them across the countertop to check for warping, pulled out the eight or ten straightest sticks and then tapped them lightly on the counter to check for pitch. On a good day, you might go home with two or three pairs of decent sticks that way. On a bad day, you’ll be lucky to get one decent pair. When I was a kid, that’s the way things were and I simply accepted it.

Only when the big stick makers started doing this at the factory did sticks become consistently better. And of course, because they were taking this labor in-house, sticks also started costing more. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Nothing is free in retail.

But in the last ten years, wood consistency and quality from the big stick manufacturers began to suffer noticeably. Some people complained, and others went looking for another brand. European stick manufacturers began shipping their products overseas more, using European hardwoods that maintained a higher standard of quality. Higher-end shops like Steve Weiss began carrying those brands, making them available to a larger group of consumers, and the sticks caught on.

Add to this the rise of American craft makers like Cooperman and Reamer, with their beautiful hardwood sticks, and eventually we arrived at a time when American drummers got, to be honest, a bit spoiled.

And that’s when things began to fall down.

******

During the pandemic, while we stayed at home and chopped on practice pads and waited for things to oen up again, we also continued to buy drum sticks. Demand remained high. But makers could not keep up. Towards the end of the lockdown, first Cooperman and then Reamer announced that they would stop offering their sticks in Persimmon, because their old stocks had run low and the second-growth stocks on the global market were not up to their standards. Vic Firth began running out of favorite models regularly, and by early 2023 some models could not be found at any price in shops or online. Vic Firth and Promark began discontinuing their lowest-selling models. Vater simply ran out of select models and didn’t respond to my requests as to when they might return. At one point, the Big Three’s budget brands — Nova (Vic Firth), LA Special (Promark) and Goodwood (Vater) — also ran low at online dealers, a sure sign that bigger issues were affecting the global economy even among drum stick manufacturers.

The bottom fell out when the rumblings about quality grew louder on multiple online chat boards, and many of my drumming friends had given up on at least one or two of the Big Three in search of smaller, craft-oriented stick makers. (You can follow my adventures along the way in earlier posts on this blog, notably my testing of Harlan, Cooperman and Morgen sticks.)

******

Today, the drum stick market is not struggling — sales continue to hold steady — but it has changed.

Custom stick makers are suffering. Cooperman is blowing out the last of its old Persimmon stocks, and has switched over to mostly hickory. Reamer is using hickory only. Rick Dior, one of the finest craft stick makers in the country, suffered devastating losses to his house and his home-based workshop during recent catastrophic flooding in North Carolina. He was able to salvage a number of ready-made sticks to sell online, but has advised his customers that new sticks won’t be available for quite some time, perhaps up to a year depending on how quickly the mud can be cleared out and extensive repairs can be made. Frank Kincel at LaBckbeat has had a difficult time sourcing local mature hickory stocks that are up to his standards, as well as facing health challenges and mechanical issues with his lathe.

I still enjoy my Vic Firth sticks, though to be honest I mostly like older models that I find as NOS (New Old Stock) at online retailers. I also look for deals from select eBay sellers, and occasionally I find nicer used sticks in good shape on various secondhand sale sites.

Since I don’t play drumkit these days, I don’t really need a great quantity of any size. I’m content to keep a few pairs on hand of the pairs I use the most. 

I suspect that students will have to settle for whatever they can find locally and make the best of it. Serious professionals will have to be a bit less picky, or guard the sticks they have a bit more carefully to make them last longer. 

Younger drummers reading this post may scoff. I can’t really help them, sorry. They will have to find their own way forward to a more resourceful and sustainable drumming future.

To be honest, I’m glad I’m no longer playing professionally on a regular basis. It takes the pressure off having to be properly and fully equipped, and invites me to be grateful for what I have.

Happy drumming.

Throwback: Promark DC6 marching sticks

I like using marching sticks for Rudimental practice, especially on my larger tunable pads. The heft feels great and I don’t feel like I have to work so hard to get the response I want.

However, most modern, full-size marching sticks are too big for my needs, and designed for use on high-tension drums that I never play. 

There are lighter weight marching sticks out there, meant for younger players; but very often these are too light and skinny for me. I found this to be the case with the Vic Firth Ralphie Jr. sticks that someone recommended a couple months ago. I got a set, and found them to be far too light — in some cases, lighter than a standard pair of 2B concert sticks. 

I found these on eBay last week, thanks to a recommendation from a friend.

Promark DC6 sticks were made around 10-15 years ago, part of their Milennium series. 

Their dimensions (17” long, 5/8” diameter) are great for younger hands, but the thick taper and big tips provide a punch on a marching snare drum. They were described by my friend as “2B on steroids,” and I can see that as an apt description. These also make a nice Rudimental stick for practice.

The thing is, I don’t like the dimensions. They’re a touch too long for the kind of balance I generally like. I held them up alongside a pair of my favorite VF IMS10 indoor marching sticks, and found both similarities and differences in the design. The DC6 has a thicker taper that leads to a bigger tip, but otherwise the shape is similar enough. So I took one of the two pairs of Promark sticks, measured them against the Vic fair ths and cut a little off the back ends to match the length.

It helped, though it did change the balance a little. So I added some stick tape to the Promark sticks and was pleased with the result.

I’m not sure I’d look for more DC6’s, especially if I have to trim down every set.

Still, it was a useful experiment and I’m glad I did it.

If you want to try the DC6 yourself, Mountain Music has a bunch of them in New Old Stock.

Meanwhile, I’m looking for a few more sets of the IMS10.

It’s a bummer that the sticks I find and like are so often models that are no longer made.

Happy drumming!

Drumslinger Percussion is back! Get some!

Some of you know that I have a special place in my heart for Drumslinger Percussion. 

Bill Olson makes some really excellent practice pads for the serious drummer right here in the USA.

There were delays during the pandemic as Bill had to deal with the devastating loss of a family member, and then came down with a serious illness himself. Orders fell behind and consumers complained, and Drumslinger’s reputation suffered.

Then, last year, Bill was well enough to get back to work. 

He filled as many backorders as he could, gave refunds to those who had lost patience, and began making new pads.

Unlike another pad company which shall not be named here, he did not skip town or hire a lawyer. He simply got back to work.

At this point, Drumslinger is no longer offering tenor pads. However, they are offering standard snare drum pads for different applications of concert and marching percussion, as well as a more affordable student series that has the same high standard of excellence.

If you haven’t tried a Drumslinger pad, this is a great time to consider doing so. Drumslinger has ready-to-play pads available on their web site and they will ship within a couple of days after ordering. These pads are reasonably priced for what they are, and when compared to other, similarly designed pads on the market.

It’s great that Bill is well enough to return to making pads. But he’s not a young man and this won’t go on forever. So if you’ve been thinking about getting a Drumslinger pad this might be the time to do so.

(Note: I was not asked to write this post, and I am not an official endorser of Drumslinger pads. I just like them a lot.)

(At left: screen shot from the Drumslinger web site, taken earlier today.)

 

I’m going to seriously winnow down my pad collection this winter.

I’ve had a great time researching and collecting vintage practice pads, a hobby Ve enjoyed for over twenty years.

And I’m ready to move on to other things while I pare down my possessions quite a bit.

So beginning next week, I’m tossing up a bunch of old pads for sale.

My goal is to get down to fewer than a dozen pads that I will practice on and enjoy, and make space for other things in my studio.

Among the pads I plan to sell are those shown below. Look for listings on the FB Dum Pad History and Parching Percussion groups.

Product review: a second look at Vater Stick Shield

I tried the Stick Shields from Vater several years ago, on a pair of 5B sticks. I wasn't thrilled at the time. The shield performed as advertised but added noticeable weight that changed the balance of the sticks.

I gave that pair to a student and moved on.

I decided to give the Sick Shields a second look, this time on a heavier, thicker pair of sticks.

This time, I think it makes a little more sense.

I have multiple sets of the Cooperman #10 sticks in Hickory. This model is one of my favorites and I use it every day. It's a nice rudimental stick for the days when my hands are really feeling arthritic, and the balance and response are simply terrific.

Because I tend to hit the rim a lot I decided to tape up a pair of #10s. I double-taped them for protection, and to add a little weight to a too-light pair.

They work just fine for my purposes.

I'm not sure I'd want to give this treatment to every pair. They're not cheap at over $30 a pair, and usually it's enough for me to ask Cooperman to send me the heaviest pairs they have on hand when I order.

But it got me thinking about the Stick Shield again.

So I went looking online, and discovered that they were no longer in production. The shops that still had them in stock were selling them off at slightly discounted prices to be rid of them. (I guess this hadn't been a best-seller.)

I ended up ordering three sets.

Installing them isn't difficult, but you do need to take your time and measure exactly where you want the shield. Once it's on, it's hard to remove.

The Stick Shields are made of a carbon laminate with a strong adhesive backing.
Simply measure where your stick is getting dented the most, clean off the dirt, and apply according to the instructions. Rolling the sticks on a tabletop after applying will help the adhesive to hold more firmly.

The Stick Shields in the standard size will add some weight to your sticks, so consider what size you want to use them on.

I didn't like using this on smaller sticks because the weight difference was simply too marked for my liking. But on rudimental or marching sticks -- say, 2B or larger -- the difference isn't so pronounced.

Vater also made this product in a size meant for marching sticks. It's longer and wider, and designed to fit fat marching sticks. It's made in white to look better against sticks that might be taped with white tape (the standard color choice when taping marching sticks).

I was able to find one set for marching. Those are en route to me now, and I will think about where I want to use them.

The Stick Shields perform as advertised, and while I didn't care for the added weight on a drum kit stick, I think it's fine on a fatter, heavier stick for rudimental or marching work.

Note: The standard size may not provide enough coverage on an especially fat stick, say in the .715 range.

A few online retailers still have this in stock, but act soon because it dones't look like Vater plans to bring them back.

If you miss out, there may be some carbon fiber tape out there for industrial applications. Good luck.