Seeking traditional Rudimental sticks, pre-1980

A follow-up from my post of a couple weeks ago.

Here are most of my pre-1980 Rudimental sticks lined up to show the subtle differences in length, taper, tip size and shape and diameter.

Top to bottom (hickory unless noted): Tilco 2S maple, Duplex 3S, Gretsch 3S, Slingerland 3S, Ludwig 3S nylon, Leedy & Ludwig 3S, Ludwig Burns Moore 3S, WFL Burns Moore 3S.

The tips. Some interesting differences in size and shape, even among sticks all marked 3S.

If anyone’s interested, I have multiple sets of the nylon-tipped Ludwig 3S, NOS in original plastic sleeve. I’m open to trades or outright purchase. I’m looking for:

— Promark oak gold band in 1S, 2S and 3S

— CB700 in 3S

— Gretsch PermaSticks in 2B but open to other sizes

PM me if interested.

Vintage Corner: mystery sticks

New to me. 

I bought a large assortment of sticks in order to obtain these two pairs.

I have no clear idea about the wood, maker or vintage.

Both pairs around 16” long.

Thicker set measures 18mm diameter at center of grip, 13mm at fattest part of tip.

Slimmer set is 16mm diameter at center of grip, 11.5mm at fattest part of tip.

Fatter sticks almost 80g each.

Slimmer sticks 55g each.

(On cheap postal scale)

Both pairs matched reasonably well in weight. Fatter pair matches in pitch as well, in spite of the repair. (I wonder if the fatter pair might be mahogany? They seem like the right color.)

One stick in the thicker pair showed a long-ago repaired crack, which was not evident when I tapped to hear the sound. I especially like the weight and feel of this thicker pair.

They are light in weight and I assume they were made for concert use. To my uneducated eye they seem like circa 1910s or 20s. I’m hoping for a few friends who are stick geeks to weigh in on more details.

I like them.

Cooperman alert! Outlier sticks back in stock!

Hey Cooperman fans:

Coop has a number of models of Outlier sticks back in stock at their web site.

Included is the OOP (Out Of Production) #16 Michael Bull model in persimmon.
My guess is that they stumbled across these in a back room and are moving them out. It's a very nice concert stick with lovely balance and feel.

Get some while you can.

Why do I need/want SO MANY sticks?

I got into boutique and specialty sticks in a big way during lockdown, with some help from the guys over at the Boutique and Collectible Sticks group on Facebook. Since then, I've had the opportunity to try many, many different kinds of drum sticks, and was able to narrow my focus to sticks designed for rudimental and marching applications.

I didn't go as crazy as I'd done with practice pads, as I didn't have the space or the budget. But over the last three years I've managed to set myself up with some really excellent sticks for those purposes.

My ultimate goal is to keep one or two pairs of my favorites on hand for regular use, and display the most special sticks on my little wall rack. Some of these sticks have seen some use, while others are in new condition and I don't plan to play with them all that much.

The variety of sticks just for my purpose is staggering. Larger factories produce an astonishing number of rudimental models every year, in the tens of thousands. Craft makers who turn sticks a few at a time can produce hundreds in a year if everything goes right. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Ingrained Instruments 1S. A great all-around rudimental stick in hickory. Strong, thick and yet lighter in weight than one might expect. My heaviest pair weighs 75g per stick. These are shaped very similarly to the "Air Force" style of rudimental sticks, but with a shorter taper.

Vic Firth IMS10 (no longer made). A terrific marching stick for smaller hands, which still has enough heft to work outdoors and a fine enough balance to work as an indoor stick. Some drummers use this as a heavier concert stick when the score calls for a "field" drum. I was able to procure ten pairs of these and I use them almost exclusively with my HONK! band on a 13" marching snare. If you find some, get them.

Promark 2B in oak. A classic concert and student stick, a little shorter but still well-balanced and with enough weight to use in a middle school marching situation. My favorite application for these is as an affordable student stick for woodshedding rudiments. I have several pairs from different points in their history, including a pair in golden oak that feels heavier and more dense than the white oak models. For the size and shape I tend to favor the vintage versions from the late 1970s through mid-80s.

Cooperman marching sticks, several models. Cooperman has largely stopped making sticks from any wood other than hickory due to diminishing stocks. But even in hickory their sticks feel amazing. In particular I'm a fan of #10 Petrella General (for concert work), #21 Connecticut Drummer and #24 Fastick.

John Crocken Moeller model. A very distinct stick made by one of the oldest stick craftsmen in the buisiness, made in your choice of hickory, persimmon, jatoba or purple heart. I have a persimmon pair and I love playing these because of their size, thickness and balance. There's literally no other stick like it for rudimental work.

Craft drum sticks made in small batches can be very expensive, but you're paying for the maker's time and experience. If you live far from the craft makers, as I do (most are located in the eastern half of the US), you'll need to be pickier about when to invest in a more expensive stick.  On the plus side, many of these small-batch makers are happy to talk with you about your possible choices by phone or email, and they will work with you as much as they can.
Choosing sticks for rudimental work can be almost as personal as choosing a bicycle saddle. What length of taper do you like? How thick a diameter is the most comfortable in your hands? Will they feel different if you play traditional versus matched grip? Which woods give you the response you're looking for? Do you want to be able to use them on a pad as well as a drum?
There are LOTS of possible answers to these questions.
Take your time, ask other players for their thoughts and try a LOT of sticks before you buy.

Below: My Ingrained 1S on a Rudimental Drummers practice pad.

Below: Chopping with a pair of Cooperman Fasticks that have been taped.

Enjoy the exploration and discovery, and Happy Chopping!

Stick-pad pairings: an inexact and fun science

 Prompted by an earlier discussion of “pad sticks” at the FB Boutique Sticks group, I’ve decided to offer a few suggestions for pairing ordinary drum sticks with practice pads in ideal combinations.

First, a word about “pad sticks,” which have been discussed earlier in this blog:

Generally speaking, “pad” sticks are designated as such by the manufacturer, and not an historic category.

They most often come with a diameter similar to a smaller marching drum stick (think 2S or so), with a medium taper and an oversized ball tip.     

  

Pad sticks are designed for use on a practice pad, most often to practice rudiments and to clean passages before applying them in rehearsal or performance. But without an historic designation, pad sticks are basically an invention of stick manufacturers and drum companies looking to expand their “brand”.

The oversize tip makes them risky to use on an actual drum, unless that drum is built to withstand the additional forces provided by a heavy stick. (The original pad stick from Vic Firth was not labeled as such in the beginning, but as model “Thunder Rock” for rock drummers.)

Moving away from Pad sticks — go back and read the post on those from a couple years back if you like — I was intrigued by the idea of pairing sticks with specific practice pads, the way Girl Scout cookies have recently been paired with strains of marijuana. This list is by no means exhaustive, and reflects the opinion of one Drummer, but is a good place to start.

1. Vintage pads (through around 1990). Older pads work best with the sticks in use at the time of their design and manufacture. Using a modern marching stick on a Real Feel tan rubber pad from over twenty years ago may not give the most ideal results for feel and response as using a stick in production in the mid to late 1990s. Likewise for pads made earlier, like this 1960s Remo pad. Promark was just beginning to make a splash in the US with their handmade Japanese oak sticks. Here’s an early 60s Remo pad with a pair of Promark Japanese oak 2B sticks, and the feel is very satisfying.

2. Marching-specific pad with marching sticks. Marching specific pads weren’t really a factor until the later 1990s and later, but their appearance in the world of practice pads changed a few of the rules for pad and stick pairings. Designed to take the heavier hits of newer marching sticks, marching pads don’t always offer the nuanced feel of a more standard pad (like a Remo, still on the market and used by students around the world even today). So if you have a marching-specific pad, you’ll be happiest with modern marching sticks. Below, a HUN adjustable snare pad and my VF Brian Mason signature sticks, which I use when playing with my local community marching group. They feel great and are sturdy enough for the craziest rim shots.

3. Custom/boutique sticks and tunable pads. When I use boutique, custom, small batch sticks, I prefer to use them on tunable pads with a Mylar head. That’s the closest to an actual tuned drum, and the least likely to damage the sticks. If your pad uses a coated head, it’s helpful to lightly sand the center of the pad to remove some of the coating (to reduce wear and tear on the tips).  Inculcate brush patterns mostly utilize the outer four to five inches of the head, so you won’t lose much brush coating where you really need it. 

Below: a really lovely pair of Cooperman concert sticks with a QuietTone tunable pad.

Again, this is only a starting point, and can get as specific or as general as you like. If you have lots of pads and sticks to choose from, it might be fun to consider which pair well, so you can get optimal use from each.

Happy drumming.

Stick modification: Cherry Hill Drums sticks

Earlier this past spring, three friends polled their money and gifted me with a beautiful set of sticks, made from black walnut by Cherry Hill Drums. The sticks were so beautiful they took my breath away.

1. Beautiful sticks made from black walnut, backweighted with heavy, solid brass ends. I live with these for a few months, playing them periodically to see if I can learn to like them. 
   Nope. The backweighting is far too extreme for the light weight of the sticks. So after checking with my friends to make sure they won’t be offended (they assured me they wouldn’t be as long as I documented my process), I decide to reweight the sticks.
   
   
2. First and hardest part is removing the brass weights. These are made with a solid length of brass and a smaller rod poking out of it into the wood. I cannot remove the extension without destroying the stick, so I saw it off flush with the end of the larger weight itself. This reduces the weight, of course, and also the length (to less than 15”, as these weren’t overly long to begin with).
   
   
3. Then, how to build up and restore length? I try a couple of options, hoping they will fit inside whatever I finally cover my work with. FixitStix, a UK product, fails immediately, as manipulating finely enough to approximate the end of a stick is nearly impossible before it cools and hardens; moreover, it cannot be shaved or sanded easily afterwards.
   Next option is wood putty, but what I have on hand is too soft, even after drying, and I don’t have a ton of cash on hand to throw at this project. In the end, I realize that, to fit inside the cap I’ve chosen, I’ll have to fabricate something wonky and just make it work. So I come up with the sawed-off end of another pair of project sticks, combined with bicycle brake seating washers, a rubber end for improved response/shock absorption and Super Glue gel. It works.
   Interestingly, at this point in rebuilding the sticks already have very nearly the balance I'm seeking. The addition of a thin cover of some kind may shift the balance from "almost there" to "Yup, this is it."
   
   
4. Finally, I cover the whole thing with a shell casing from a .50 caliber bullet. (This decision was inspired by photos of antique drumsticks that had been given the same treatment in the early to mid 20th century, usually by military drummers hoping to preserve a worn stick.) This was the hardest thing to find, as it’s not a commonly used caliber for hunting and craft shops have a hard time finding them legally except through shooting ranges and perhaps military channels. But I sourced and bought eight  casings (four pairs’ worth); and I hope that once I trim off the smaller opening, the remainder will just slide over my rebuild.

 

The shell casings are an education all by themselves. I'm not a shooter, so my knowledge of guns and ammo is severely limited. These casings have two things going against them: first, the walls thickened all the way from the opening to the end. Secondly, they're not going to be a perfect fit, but I had expected that.

I remove the tops, and decide that for these sticks, I'd use only as much of the top half of the brass as necessary to cover the added length and seal everything up. To seal off the open ends after the casings are installed, I make up a mixture of sawdust and glue, and stuff it into the gaps until it was full. After that dries, I seal that end with clear nail polish. The leftover, larger-diameter back third of each casing, I glue onto a pair of marching sticks that I think could be fun to backweight and experiment with. It's a little klunky-looking but I can live with it. (I can always add tape up front if I feel like it.)

Above: Two .50 caliber bullets, complete.
The craft supply company just ships empty shells that have been de-primered.

In the end, it's highly probable that I've re-applying close to the same amount of weight concentrated in the original sold brass caps, and spread it farther out over the last two inches of the stick.
(I tend to be so intent on solutions that I don't weight the bits beforehand. Sorry. I'm more of a mechanic and less of a scientists/researcher with these things.)

The balance does feel different, and better; though if I knew what I was doing I could probably shave a few more ounces off. They play better and that's the primary goal. To be fair, I don't think I did a bad job without precision tools and they still look decent. I MAY apply some wound string up front to better balance things out but there's no rush.

Interview with Brian Kiethly and Russ Buchek of Ingrained Instruments

Based in the St. Louis area, Brian Keithly and Russ Buchek are crafting beautiful drum sticks in very small batches, from all sorts of domestic and exotic hardwoods, and selling them under the company name Ingrained Instruments. I had a chance to chat with them recently about their handcrafting adventures, the wood selection and stick making processes, and why they chose to enter the fray of high-end, hand-crafted drumsticks.

BH: What's your drumming story? How did you get into drumming and why?

BK: Russ and I have been best friends since HS, and it centered around music. We work well together, we can attack a project without having to speak, really.
I didn’t really get into drumming until I was around fifteen or so. My father played a little, and I got into messing with his drums. Close to graduation, my brother got into guitar and I hopped on kit.
I’ve also been into making and building things with my hands, for a long time.

BH: What's the story of Ingrained Instruments?

BK: You always want something you can’t seem to find out there already. Russ and I talked about this for a long time. A neighbor from down the street has been a woodworker for a long time had has a workshop in his garage. I asked him for guidance and eventually he wound up just turning a pair of sticks — he’s not a musician but they were really good right off the bat.

RB: Then it became of question of “How do WE do this?” and we just got more and more into it.
Eventually we got into this thing where we each got into some aspect of the process and got good at it.
RB: But it’s a very home grown, grass-roots kind of thing, where we learned as we went along.
BK: We’ve gotten into mixing old school woodworking with some automation, and each time we make an improvement it’s been huge — because the process has been and continues to be very organic.

BH: How do you select what woods you will make sticks from?

BK: I began with woods that were less common because I was really curious about them.  I had a martial arts fighting staff made from purple heart and wondered what it would be like to make sticks from it. I ask, “Will it be playable? Will it be workable on a lathe? How will it cure?"  We use the  Janka Hardness scale, which tells us what woods’ hardnesses are from softer to harder. The hard part with wood is that it can be so changeable, and so you have to figure out whether the actual wood you find may or may not be the best in that species.
RB: sometimes the wood you get will have burls or knots that can be hard to work with and still have the sticks come out straight.
BK: I want it all to be functional when it’s done.

BH: How does sustainability/scarcity factor into your choices?

RB: We’re trying to grow relationships with local companies that source domestic wood so we can have a more hands-on way of selecting woods. The more local, sustainably grown wood, the better.  
BK: There’s a few regular places online and one place locally which also import woods like cocobolo, ebony, and other woods not grown here. Those woods are getting harder to locate and far more expensive. Choosing those woods will get harder and harder and that will affect our choices and also our process of manufacture as we try to keep sourcing woods that will make great sticks. If we can get something whose source we trust (to be sustainable and/or imported legally) we’ll go with it.
There’s dozen different species of hickory and the fact that there are more domestic woods becoming available is encouraging for us.

BH: Has anyone questioned your wood choices for environmental reasons? How do you respond?

BK: We don’t use enough wood yet for anyone to really ask us about that, but things are changing all the time and we know that those questions are coming. We are looking at materials that will help us stay sustainable in new and interesting ways.
RB: Brian is very artistic and creative, and so when we started getting “off” strips of random pieces, which we can then layer and laminate — and utilize to make beautiful sticks. So we’re looking into doing more of that as well. We’re looking at both synthetic and natural non-wood sources like carbon fiber, bamboo and even hemp. We’re open to all kinds of experimenting to find our way to good playable sticks from materials that aren’t endangered and that’s exciting.
RB: Combining certain materials as we do also makes the stick "pop" visually.

BH: When making sticks one at a time, are there things that make it easier or harder to match weight and pitch? (My brother-in-law is also a woodworker, who specializes in repairing and restoring antique spinning wheels and making drop [hand] spindles, so I'd guess there's some overlap; but he doesn't have to worry quite as much about weight-matching as you do.) How much do pitch and weight matter in the sticks you sell?

BK: I’ve found that kit players tend to worry about pitch less than marching and concert players. A big part of it is starting off with wood that’s as clean as possible.
RB: If we weigh the planks before we start to work them, then it’s a little easier to match pairs up. but with wood there’s never an ironclad guarantee…

BH: But there’s still a high-wire excitement to this, isn’t there?
BK: If we get an unusual piece of wood that’s a one-of-a-kind, there’s no way to predict, except to try and minimize the margin of error at the start.

BH: Besides drumsticks, are there other musical items you're working on bringing out? (In as little or as much detail as you're comfortable with)

BK: This whole thing actually began around practice pads, but sticks took over quickly. We’ll probably get back to developing pads soon. We’ve also made guitar picks — Russ plays guitar — I’m experimenting right now with a tabletop music stand with a stick holder underneath.
RB: We’re both creative and musicians, so the thought process is going on all the time.

BH: Anything else you’d like to add?

RB: It’s been so interesting making a drumstick. I play guitar, and had never thought about sticks but I’ve learned a lot about this — from Brian, and also from Eric Harris and the folks at the Boutique Sticks group on Facebook — it’s been quite an education.
BK: The last three years of my life and building this into a business, has been some of the most rewarding time of my life. It’s been incredible to meet and learn from so many people around the world. It gives me hope.

Product Review: Rudimental Drummers sticks

I was intrigued when Rudimental Drummers, makers of high-zoot, high-quality practice pads, announced the introduction of two models of rudimental drumsticks to their line. The sticks were the result of a collaboration between RD and Pellwood Drumsticks, another Dutch company; Pellwood manufacture their own line of sticks in addition to these models for RD.
So when the company invited me to try them out and write a review, I jumped at the chance.

The sticks arrived a few days ago, and yesterday and today I finally had time to hang out with them. Here's what I can tell you.

1. Van Haaren Signature model. (Length: 17"/Diameter .710"/Weight 95g)

This stick, named for RD co-founder Rene Van Haaren, is designed for those who do traditional drumming on lower-tension and/or rope tension drums.  Made from American Hickory, this is a seriously beefy drumstick. Even for someone used to the size and heft of marching sticks, these feel shockingly heavy. I'm guessing that this is because of both the size, and the additional weight focused on the ends of the stick (see photo), which may be useful when playing on lower-tension traditional drums.

The sticks are beautifully finished. The result is a clean, semi-matte coating over natural hickory.
Graphics are clear and bold without being distracting.

The large oval tips provide a big contact surface area when contacting the drumhead. If you're thinking about using these on a high-tension Kevlar head, well, don't. That's not what these are for, and you'll only end up hurting your hands and wrists if you try.

On a lower-tension drum, these sticks will provide enough mass at both ends to help you keep those big rolls balanced and even at every dynamic level.

For more modern drumming needs, there's the other stick in RD's line:

2. Cornelissen Signature Model. (Length: 17"/Diameter .710"/Weight 89g)

Named for RD co-owner Daan Cornelissen. These sticks, also made from Hickory, are a little smaller in diameter, and have more mass focused in the front half of the stick to provide the balance required for modern corp-style drumming on high-tension drumheads. The sticks are finished with the same semi-gloss coat, over an attractive walnut-colored stain and bold white graphics. I found these a little closer to the marching sticks I'm used to, but still a bit heavy. I like them but they will take some getting used to.

The acorn tips provide plenty of punch without overblowing the tone and articulation. They also offer a more modified bounce than a round tip will, meaning there's room for some shading on quieter passages (especially when playing buzz rolls).
These sticks are great for a higher-tensioned Kevlar head, but be aware that the shift of the mass and weight to the front half of an already heavier stick will definitely require you to slightly modify your approach to playing.

If you choose this stick for high-tension drumming, give yourself time to get used to it, especially if you're migrating from modern sticks like the Vic Firth Hardimon or the Promark Audesmore. The mass is placed differently here, and it gives a heftier feel overall as a result.

Below, a couple of videos checking out the two models of RD sticks.

And a note: In this day and age where pitch- and weight-matching are becoming expected by drummers, it is always a disappointment when sticks arrive and are not matched.

(This was the case, if you remember, with the Ukranian-made Star Marching model -- an attractive, comfortable stick which unfortunately played pitches more than a whole step apart and was a huge disappointment as a result.)

You will hear in the first video that the Van Haaren sticks I received are almost a whole step apart in pitch. The weight doesn't feel markedly different between the two sticks, but the pitch difference is noticeable. This may be less annoying on an actual drum than on a pad, but on my RD Chop Pad I can absolutely hear the difference.

NOTE: I shared this information  with RD co-founder Rene Van Haaren, and he was shocked that I'd been sent a pair of sticks that wasn't pitch-matched. He apologized profusely and thanked me for my honesty; and said that even greater focus would be placed on this aspect of stick manufacture going forward. I believe him, and down the road I may choose to acquire another pair of Van Haarens so I can have a pitch-matched pair.

And here's a video of me exploring the feel of the Cornelissen sticks.

 

 

Overall, I find the Cornelissen sticks easier to work with, and I anticipate a shorter break-in period with them. They seem fine on my Mylar-headed Chop Pad, and while they are definitely heavier then the sticks I normally use (Vic Firth Jeff Queens and sometimes the thicker Roger Carter models), they're not completely overkill.
That said, I think players with bigger hands than mine may find their sweet spot with these sticks and enjoy them a lot.

A caution: Because these sticks are already at the heavy end of the continuum, I would advise against taping them. Tape does add weight; even wrapping the last two or three inches of your favorite stick will change the feel and the mass. It may be that in future editions of this stick, RD may wish to use a natural finish, since the lighter color will show up better against most uniforms.

Another consideration: although the demo video at RD's web site shows the sticks being played with a few simple tricks, the heavier weight of this stick may make those tricks harder to learn, especially for younger players who are still growing. If anything, this stick may help make the sound educational case for playing musically and correctly first, and adding visual tricks later.

As for the Van Haaren sticks, I'm not a rope drum player, so I may choose to send these to someone who is and invite them to comment. It is unlikely that I will ever find a serious use for so big and heavy a drumstick. That's less a reflection on the stick and more a reflection on the reality of my smaller, slightly arthritic hands.

Both models retail online for €17,99 / $21.71 per pair, plus shipping. Considering that most American-made marching sticks retail for half to two-thirds that price, this is definitely a stick for the serious rudimental drummer, and not for beginning drummers who basically eat sticks for breakfast. It's a nice addition to the range of available professional-quality sticks, and I look forward to seeing whose hands they land in over the next few months.
Happy drumming!

 

(Disclaimer: I own and use a Rudimental Drummers practice pad. RD did not pay me to test and review their pads or their sticks. I ordered them online like a regular person, and so can you. I shared this review with the folks at RD before posting online, and they provided additional info about the specs that I've included here.)

Full review: Boso bamboo drumsticks, 2B

 Today I received the second pair of sticks from Boso, size 2B. After reading about Boso's ability to make thinner sticks heavy and fatter sticks light, I was hoping that I'd feel a noticeable difference with a thinner pair of sticks.

Sadly, I found the smaller sticks to be really disappointing.

Even with the advice to approach these sticks differently than wood sticks, I found the 2B sticks to be so light that it felt like playing a jazz or a 7A. I found the light weight unnerving.
Even playing them for up to twenty minutes, I could not make the adjustment necessary to really enjoy playing with them.

I set them aside and picked up the Marching sticks, which I'd tried previously.
To my surprise, I found I liked them more. Their fatter diameter was a welcome change, even if I still wasn't crazy about the smaller barrel tip. The Boso Marching sticks felt the way I'd want a heavier woodn pair of 2B's or 1S's to feel.

Then, just to be sure, I picked up a pair of 5A sticks made of hickory. This is the size I generally like to use at my drum kit.
After reacquainting my hands with those, I picked up the Boso 2B's again.
And hated them.
I just could not make the transition. The Boso bamboo sticks were too light for the kind of playing I like to do.
So I put them back in their packaging and set them aside.

Here are photos showing the difference between the Boso 2B and Marching sticks.
The 2B sticks are much narrower, and for whatever reason, Boso favors a small barrel tip on their sticks that I'm not crazy about. FOr a 2B to be a good concert or practice stick, I'd like it to feel heavier and have a slightly bigger, round or acorn tip.

 

 

 

 

I won't spend the money to send them back. More likely I'll just find someone who wants them and move them along.
But they did help me understand the bamboo Marching sticks better, and I'll keep those as an alternate pad stick. I think they'll do well on my softest practice pad.
If nothing else, the experiment has helped me get clearer about what I like, and that's always useful information to have.

Happy drumming.

Full Review: Boso bamboo sticks

 My friend Don sent me a pair of these sticks after he'd tried them and liked them himself.

I spent about an hour last night and another couple of hours today hanging out with them and researching their web site for information.

Boso sticks are made from bamboo, sourced and manufactured in China.

The sticks are available in two different densities of bamboo plus a laminated combination of the two, in the basic sizes most drummers use: 5A, 5B, 7A, 2B and Marching. Don sent me a pair of the Marching sticks and right away I knew they were different.

In all photos, left to right:
-- Vic Firth Jeff Queen solo stick
-- Rogers 1S, circa 1970s
-- Boso Marching

The Boso stick is 17" long and has a diameter of .710, with a very short taper. The feel is VERY lightweight when compared to similarly-sized hickory stick, and that's part of Boso's point. The company was founded in large part to provide a longer-lasting, more flexy alternative to traditional hickory sticks, from a material that could be more sustainably grown and harvested.
Bamboo has proven its durability and sustainability in the home-building industry with applications in flooring and furniture design. Boso sticks attempt to prove those same qualities in drumming.

A note of caution: Bamboo sticks do not feel or play like wood. Before picking up a pair of Bosos you need to forget a lot of what you know about drumsticks, and just open yourself to a different experience. My friend advised me to grip the Bosos "about 80% of your normal grip and really feel the action."

I haven't played with these long enough to form a solid opinion yet. At this point, after only a couple hours' exploration, I still tend to favor my old reliable Jeff Queens. But I am open to other possibilities, and I'm even open to changing up my approach to playing if it's beneficial for both my hands and the planet.

At first blush, here are some observations:

1. The bamboo construction is clean, even and close-grained. The feel of the stick in my hand is pleasant and much lighter in weight than my usual hickory marching stick.

2. The tip is quite a bit smaller than that found on a typical wooden marching stick, and this does change the response and the sound. I think this could be a good stick for indoor drumlines and perhaps even some concert applications where the score calls for "field drum," though that might also be fulfilled with Boso's 2B stick.

3. It does take some time to adjust to the very different feel of this stick. In the videos below, I compare the sound and response playing the same pattern of three different sticks (in the same order as shown in the photos above).

And here is another video comparing another figure, using first the Jeff Queens and then the Bosos.

(Yes, that's a first-generation VF Stockpad; and no, it's not for sale.)

I'm not ready to say this is or isn't my new go-to stick. I think I'll need a lot more time with it before I can know either way.
What I can say is that this stick has promise, especially for younger players who are still developing their muscles and whose hands might benefit from a lighter approach to playing in marching settings. I also think it would be interesting to get a pair of Bosos in the 2B sizse and try them out in non-marching applications.
While I applaud the company's attempts at greater sustainability, the fact that these sticks come from overseas doesn't address the large carbon footprint involved in bringing them to US and European markets. If the company were based in China, that might change things (though it could also mean that drummers in North America would have less access to purchasing the sticks here).
The web site indicates no office or warehouse location, though it gives a New Jersey phone number for the company's founder/owner.
I suspect that even after ten years, this remains a smaller company (compared with the giants like Vic Firth and Promark, whose products ship worldwide). Still, pursuing new materials for drumsticks is always a welcome idea, and could bear fruit over time.

I'll try to order a pair of 2B and see what happens. The sticks appear to ship directly from an overseas warehouse, so you could be waiting awhile. Still, I applaud anyone who wants to try and make sticks more sustainable, and for that alone it could be a worthwhile experiment.
I'll continue to play with these and report back in a few weeks.
Happy drumming!

Vintage Corner: Ludwig & Ludwig marching sticks, ca 1940s (??)

These heavy marching sticks were made by Ludwig & Ludwig sometime in the 1940s, possibly earlier (though I can't tell for sure).

From Wikipedia:
In the late 1920s, the company was sold to the C.G. Conn instrument company. William Ludwig stayed on to run the company for Conn (which also owned the Leedy Drum Co. at this time). Eventually, William Ludwig decided to leave Conn and start a new company of his own. He was unable to use the Ludwig name since that trademark now belonged to Conn who continued to market Ludwig & Ludwig drums.

In 1937, William bought a factory building and started The WFL Drum Company (his initials). The company continued producing drums at a small scale for the duration of World War II, but William got back to the idea of making the company a large drum manufacturer after the armistice. WFL was a competitor with Ludwig and Ludwig. Conn combined their two drum brands into one in the early 1950s, forming Leedy & Ludwig, and then decided to quit the drum business altogether. In 1955, William and his son Bill Jr. were able to buy the Ludwig trademark back from Conn, and over the next few years their company and its products transitioned from the WFL brand to being called "Ludwig" again.
My research indicates that these sticks had to be made before William Ludwig bought the rights to his name back from Conn; so these sticks were in fact made and sold by Conn under the Ludwig & Ludwig name. I think they date from the 1940s, but they could be older than that. More research is needed to be sure.

Marked as size 3S, a standard size for marching drums, they are not exactly the same diameter, but the wear pattern indicates they were sold and used as a pair. I suspect that the difference was in the turning during manufacture. It's significant enough to tell by feel in the hands, though interestingly, the weight feels about the same for both sticks.

I love the patina these sticks came with, indicating honest wear through use. And although they're big, they fit comfortably in my hands and play beautifully, with the tips still intact.
The wood is too dark to look like modern American hickory. In fact, they look like mahoghany in color and grain, but I don't know if that was an available choice for drumstick manufacture back then. I'll ask my brother-in-law, a woodworker, what he thinks they're made from.
These came in a box of vintage sticks I recently obtained. I'll share the other pairs as I research and photograph them.