Petrellas from Rohema: UPDATE

The Rohema Petrella sticks arrived.

After hanging out with both models for a little while, I can tell you they’re good.

I don’t know what wood they laminated, and the packaging doesn’t say. (Neither do the listings at Steve Weiss.)

The Petrella 10s, my favorite stick from Cooperman, have a slightly fatter taper than the Rohemas. The lamination adds a little weight to the sticks, so I assume that the narrower taper helped to keep the Rohema version within the same weight range. Both pairs shown here weigh 71g.

The only thing I noticed is that these laminated sticks have a tiny bit less shock absorption than solid hickory sticks do. It becomes apparent a minute into playing with them, but it’s a small thing and doesn’t prevent me from liking the way these play.

They’re awfully nice to play with. Well balanced, feel great in the hands, and they’re available now. Assuming that Cooperman won’t make the Petrella sticks anymore — and there’s no word from Cooperman about the future of their sticks in general — you can get these and not be disappointed at all.

Available at Steve Weiss, Percussion Source and other higher-end retailers. 

Cooperman Sticks: Gone for good?

Cooperman Drum Company has been out of sticks for months, with no expected resupply date.

So today, I was surprised to learn that Nick Petrella, whose concert models have been made by Cooperman for years, is now having his sticks produced by Rohema of Germany. 

Cooperman previously offered Petrella's signature sticks, models 5 and 10, in persimmon and hickory, and very occasionally in rosewood. They were popular with concert percussionists. (The Cooperman #10 has long been one of my favorite concert sticks; I currently own three sets in hickory.)
Rosewood production ended with CITES restrictions on harvesting and importing rosewood.
Persimmon sticks ceased being available when cured persimmon stocks became scarce; Cooperman and Reamer both switched to offering their models in hickory only over a year ago. Now, Cooperman doesn't appear able to keep making even hickory sticks because of issues in sourcing quality hickory stocks, an issue that may grow with the acceleration of climate change.

Enter Rohema, a German company that has been making drum sticks for a long time. Their sticks were mostly available in Europe, with limited importing to the US. Steve Weiss announced this week that they now stock the new Nick Petrella signature models from Rohema, modified versions of his old Cooperman models # 5 and 10, in "laminated wood". Rohema hasn't revealed what wood is being laminated to produce its sticks. Birch has long been a choice for lamination, but produced much heavier sticks. 

Comparing the Coopermans with the new Rohemas, there are some interesting modifications. Read the dimensions offered for each maker and each model, and you'll see that the new Model NP5 is actually offered in a slightly larger diameter than the Cooperman version, while the new Model NP10 comes with a longer taper, a narrower neck and a slightly larger tip than found on the Cooperman version.

Cooperman Nick Petrella #5

 

 

 

 

 

Rohema Nick Petrella NP5

 

 

 

 

 

Cooperman Nick Petrella Model 10

Rohema Nick Petrella NP10

First-quality Cooperman sticks last sold for $39/pair. The new Rohema versions are selling at Steve Weiss for $28-29/pair. I was flush from some recent pad sales and so intrigued by this development that I took a chance and ordered one pair each of the new sticks. They should be here next week.