Product Review: Beetle Percussion Last Pad, Single-sided/concert

Early last year, I had an opportunity to put Beetle Percussion’s Last Pad through its paces. At the time, there was only a double-sided, marching focused version available. It was designed for modern marching drummers, able to take very high tension. You can read that review in two parts here, and here.

Eventually, after multiple experiments with that pad, I passed it along to a drummer with more experience playing modern, high-tension drums for further testing. Then, I turned my attention to other pads.

A few months back, I was offered the chance to try out the newer single-sided version of the Last Pad, designed for lower-tension concert and traditional marching practice. I readily agreed.

The single-sided Last Pad arrived this weekend, and I assembled it.

Beetle kindly sent the pad with two coated heads, one in single-ply Ambassador weight and the other in a heavier, two-ply Emperor weight. Since I already have a few pads with Ambassador heads on them for concert work, I chose to assemble this with the Emperor head.

The Last Pad comes with everything needed for assembly, including:

— Valchromat base, pre-drilled

— your choice of a lower-profile S-Hoop or a regular triple flange hoop

— all the necessary tuning bolts, nuts and washers

— a 14” insert consisting of 1/2” dense foam laid into a Valchromat base, designed to fit under the drumhead and on top of the primary pad base. You can order inserts made with recycled tire rubber if you wish, but the foam insert is necessary to make a lower-tension concert/traditional pad.

— a 14” head (not included in the base price, but you can buy one from Beetle for an extra charge or use one you already have)

You’ll need a standard drum key and a 5/16” open wrench. Beetle sells these as extras, too, if you don’t already have them.

The Valchromat primary base comes in multiple colors by request. My primary base is orange, and the insert (which is unseen once assembled) came in blue.

At left: the underside of the primary base, finished with foam discs for a nonskid experience on a tabletop.

Below: the top side of the primary base, inlaid with the same recycled tire rubber used on other Beetle pads.

The insert is inlaid with dense foam that, when placed under the drum head, provides a buttery feel that’s ideal for lower tings and coated heads.

Remembering my experience with the double-sided Last Pad and how the insert could wiggle slightly off-center, I put down a small rolled piece of clear tape between the primary base and the insert to keep it centered during tensioning. (Once it’s tensioned, the tape won’t affect the function of the assembled pad.)

The primary base comes pre-drilled to receive the tuning bolts, nuts and washers. I assume that two washers are used to provide greater strength and stability, with the larger washer going in first, followed by the smaller washer and then the nut. The holes of the washers have different inside diameters, so pay attention when assembling.

I took my time, using the overturned box as an assembly surface. Because everything came pre-drilled, assembly was very straightforward. However, you need to take your time and be patient because there are twelve nodes of contact. Tensioning and tuning properly will take longer, and you’ll want to make sure the insert doesn’t wiggle around while you put everything together. (The tape helps a lot with this.)

The holes are drilled to take counter-sunk washers on the bottom, and the elongated ovals make it easier to set up the tension bolts while you work your way around the pad. Once you assemble everything hand-tight, positioning each tuning bolt in or near the middle of the oval is straightforward.

After going around enough to ensure that nothing rattled anymore, I put the pad into a concert snare stand and began tuning more assertively. My concert stand of choice is a vintage Hamilton stand that is strong and heavy. The arms don’t line up with the cutouts in the primary base, but that’s not a problem here. A stand with three arms of equal length and distance will match up with the cutouts easily.

When it was all done, I tried it out. First, I used marching sticks:

Then, I turned to some concert sticks and tried some buzz rolls and a lighter touch:

Finally, I tried some brush strokes:

The foam insert definitely makes you put in a little more effort and thought to “pull” the strokes out of the head, just as you would when playing a traditionally-tensioned field drum or a snare from a drum kit.

That’s a feature of playing lower tensioned drums, and not a mistake. Anyone used to chopping on Kevlar will have to adjust their approach accordingly.

At some point, I may swap in the Ambassador head and try that out but honestly, I am so delighted with the feel and response of the Emperor head that I’m going to hang out with it awhile.

If you’ve been on the fence about the Last Pad, it’s worth the money and the time you’ll invest in it.

If you’re focused on marching snare and you chop on Kevlar, get the double-sided version and put different heads on each side. If you’re looking for a really fine concert or traditional pad, the single-sided is ideal. 

(Note: Beetle Percussion does not pay me to test and write about their pads, or to help market them. Now that they offer hoodies, though, I may just have to buy one.)

Happy drumming.

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.

Purpose-driven developments in practice pad design

I've been cleaning out the dark corners of my practice pad collection, selling off doubles and making some space in my studio. Along the way, I've been trying out different pads and deepening my knowledge of pad design in the process.

Tonight I did a little comparison.
Using an excerpt from one of the NARD solos ("Benevolent Bill"), I played the first section on each of four different pads in my collection (disclaimer: all keepers, so don't ask if I'm selling them).

In order of trial and approximate age, here are my videos.

1. 1948-50 Slingerland Radio King pad, 2B sticks. The pad itself is actually no big deal, because it's the same design dozens of companies were selling in the back of their respective drum catalogs. Slingerland's Radio King pad was perhaps a little bit bigger than a lot of what else was out there at the time, but really the only thing that makes it special is the iconic "Radio King" badge. Still, it's fun to play on something so historic and older than I am.
The black rubber surface is still in good shape, and hasn't hardened yet. But it's also not quite as bouncy as gum rubber would be, and I have to pull the strokes out of the pad. This would also be the case with the bigger, deeper drums of this era (marching snare drums measured 15" or 16" in diameter back then), with Mylar heads tuned lower. Drummers of this era had to do some of the work involved in double bounce rolls and paradiddle rudiments, which is why so many worked out on pillows as part of their training.

2. 1972 Patterson design Pad. Another wood box, this one horizontal, with a more pure gum rubber playing surface that's lively and offers a bit more rebound. Still using the 2B sticks out of consideration for the design and the pad's age, I can get a very nice bounce. This is more in line with the marching drums of my youth, which usually measured 14" in diameter and had more lugs, so they could be tuned tighter and higher than the older 15" drums. Combined with a Remo "Pinstripe" head, these drums produced a fat but crisp sound that was tremendous to hear when eight or ten drummers played in perfect unison.

3. Vater Chop Builder pad, black (hard) side, with marching sticks. Switching to marching sticks for this heavier, denser pad made sense; the 2B sticks don't really work as well with the modern marching pads. I chose to utilize the harder black side of this pad to see if there was a real difference between it and the final pad in the comparison. There definitely is a difference.
Several companies produce two-sided pads with a soft and hard side, and in most cases the hard side on these pads is SO hard that you might as well be playing on a Formica countertop. The Vater version pulls back a little from that, with a thick "hard" side that still has a little rebound in it and makes for a more pleasant playing experience.

4. Vic Firth Heavy Hitter Slimpad. One of the most popular marching pads on the market since its introduction in the early 2000's. This predates the Vater pad by a few years but I saved it for last because it comes closest to the feel and rebound of a modern Kevlar marching head. It's 1/8' thick gum rubber on a wood base. Nothing fancy, but they dialed in the feel so it gives modern marching drummers exactly what they need in a practice situation. The gum rubber is lively and offers rebound, but the thin playing surface means there's a lot of hardness coming from the wood underneath. As opposed to "pulling" the strokes out of the drum, as I'd do on a Mylar head, all of the bounce comes from the tightness and hardness of the Kevlar surface. If I tried to "pull" the strokes from as Kevlar head I might end up pulling a wrist muscle and actually hurting myself.

The heavier marching sticks are really the best way to go on this pad, as the heft of the bigger stick balances against the hardness of the pad.

Practice pads from the early days up through the 1970's and very early 80's were not quite as purpose-driven, not as specialized as they are today.
They didn't have to be because concert, jazz and marching drums all utilized Mylar heads, which can only be tightened so far before either the head breaks, or the hardware pulls out from the side of the drum.

With the advent of stronger materials, drum heads could be made from carbon-fiber and Kevlar, and later on, hybrids of the two materials. These heads, capable of being cranked high and tight, became the standard for marching bands and drum corps -- and changed the way marching drummers approached technique. New drum pads specifically designed to meet the demands of marching drummers came onto the market. Some of the earliest models are no longer in production and are highly sought after by drummers of that generation, hoping to replace the pad from their younger marching days that got worn out or lost.

But practice pads for Mylar drummers have also evolved. Very few drummers today would willingly choowe to practice on that Slingerland Radio King, when other, more responsive pads now exist on the market.

That said, how much have technical advances in drum and pad design affected drumming technique? Or vice versa? Or does it have that much of an effect outside of modern marching ensembles? These are questions with complex answers, and I'm just trying out practice pads.

Feel free to respond with your questions and insights here in the comments.

And Happy drumming!

Full Review: Xymox Hybrid Snare Drum - and an UPDATE (Dec 2020)

Back when I still thought I could play Kevlar and learn to like it, Xymox Percussion released a new product called the Hybrid Snare Drum. Not quite a drum (because of its size and lack of portability on the field), not quite a pad (because of its weight and volume), this "hybrid" of the two was something new, and I admit it caught my attention.

(Without going into the whole backstory of Xymox's fulfilment woes and everything, I will say that, in all of my dealings with the company, as long as I was polite and friendly, they were the same way to me.)

Very late last winter, when I was feeling flush after some especially great gigs, I went ahead and ordered the Hybrid Snare from Xymox. As usual, I expected there would be a wait, and I was not wrong. Thanks to their ongoing supply issues, plus a global pandemic, it took a few months to get my order.
In fact, it arrived the day after my Rudimental Drummers Chop Pad.
Because I was so stoked about the Chop Pad, I decided I would not open the box from Xymox right away. Tonight, I finally opened it, and here is my review.

1. Construction. The Hybrid Drum, since it's marketed as a drum and not as a pad, seems to be made with a shocking amount of plastic, and only enough metal to provide snare mechanism, lugs and lug bolts. The shell and rims are all plastic. Now, sure, it's supposedly a high-strength sort of plastic that shouldn't easily break after a rimshot or three, but it IS plastic and that doesn't inspire confidence in a high-0tension DRUM. Still, it looked clean and stylish and well-thought-out.

The drum is a single-headed affair, with gut snares lying directly against the underside of the Evans Hybrid (high-tension) batter head. There are adjustment screws at each end of the snare mechanism (which makes sense since there's no strainer involved). And there's a thick heavy plastic panel that's form-fitted to the inside of the drum. This panel can hold the snares in place, or it can be used to hold a dampener in place.

When I first pulled out the drum, the snares looked especially slack. I decided not to mess with them until I'd played it, to see how it felt and sounded.

It was pretty awful.

Almost no response from the snares, and the head was clearly too loose. So I tightened the head VERY carefully, using very small incremental turns of the drum key. (Again, the lugs and lug-bolts asre metal, but the drum is plastic. I didn't want the thing to collapse from over-tightening too soon.)

The first video demonstrates the sound with dampening insert. The second video demonstrates the pad before any real tuning is done.

 

 

2. Adjustability. After experimenting with the tuning a little bit, I turned to the dampening pad. According to the instructions provided with the drum, the pad is designed to be inserted under the heavy plastic panel, which requires removing the four screws that hold that panel in place against the underside of the drum. According to Xymox, this change can be done in three minutes or so. It took me over five the first time because I wanted to be careful about working with metal screws in a plastic drum. (There are metal threads beneath the plastic, but still.) Subsequent changes took less time but I still never got it down to three minutes.

 

The dampening insert comes with a hard side of recycled rubber, and a soft side of foam rubber, which goes against the underside of the drum head on the snares. The instructions don't make it clear, but you can sort it out visually to decide how much of the snares you want exposed when you lay the dampening insert down.

I tried it both ways and found that exposing more of the snares at either end provided a better fit and sound. The dampener entirely cuts off the snare sound and provides some muffling for the drum, though it's still pretty loud even with the snares dampened.

Finally, I decided to tighten up the head further, and also to see if I could adjust the snares themselves. Xymox suggests experimenting with various tensions and tunings, but gives no guidance as to what a suitable range might be. The only clear instruction they give is: "When first tightening the drum head, allow for a minimum of 1/4" space between the top of the lug (not the tension rod) and the bottom side of the top rim. Utilize this space for continuing tightening of the drum head over a period of time."

Following these instructions, I tightened it to about a 1/2" gap. Mindful of the ratio of plastic to metal I continued to have concerns about the overall strength and durability of a high-tension drum made mostly of plastic, even industrial-strength plastic. Even with metal threads beneath the plastic -- because what is that receiving nut attached to? And how is it kept from stripping out in the event of over-tightening?

(To be fair, I admit that my concerns are colored by playing both the Drumslinger and Rudimental Drummers pads, both of which have metal where it counts and are far more durable as a result. Possibly also colored by having taught teenagers for years. Adolescent drummers are beastly-hard on gear.)

Nevertheless, I did tighten things up a fair amount, which helped.

After removing the dampening insert, I attempted to adjust the snares so they'd be a little bit more taut. This proved to be somewhat frustrating, as the adjustment screws are designed to be finger-tightened (probably a good idea consider overall construction), which meant that getting purchase on the screws was difficult at best. I was able to tighten the snares only a very little bit; the tensioning screws were not evenly set at the factory, and so it was difficult to know where to begin and end on my efforts.

I can only imagine what it would be like for someone with larger hands and fingers than mine. The screws are right up against the underside of the head, and not positioned well at all for actual adjustment.

When I tuned and tightened as much as I dared, I put it back on the stand and played it again. It did sound better, and much closer to the desired high-tension drum sound commonly found in modern drum corps and marching band.

3. Summary. In all honesty, this drum is a little bit of a letdown for me. While the construction is very interesting and showcases some real innovation, the final product seems less like a real drum and more like a salesman's sample, or an elaborate plaything. Knowing the high tension required to bring out the optimal sound of a Kevlar-headed marching drum, I have real concerns about this drum's durability in a regular practice setting. Its size and portability make it easy to take anywhere, but at that point, why not just take a pad? It will be lighter and fit in a backpack more easily than this. And if you want a real drum sound, then just play on a drum; isn't that what practicing is ultimately leading us towards anyway?

The Xymox Hybrid Snare retails for a base price of $184.00; adding a custom "skin" to the shell will cost extra, and then there's postage and handling, which will easily bring it to over $200.00. At that point, you can easily find used floating tension marching snares for sale online, sometimes including a carrier as well. The drum weighs six pounds; for comparison, a Dynasty wedge drum weighs about ten and a full-size marching snare weighs around 15 or so. (Having carried both wedge and full-size high-tension drums I can say that the modern snare drum is a very heavy thing on an aging lower back.)

About the only real-world application I can see for the Hybrid Snare is in the pit, sitting on a concert snare stand and being used as some kind of color instrument. (Now that everything is mic'd, volume shouldn't be a problem.)
But that takes me into territory about the state of modern marching percussion, and that's not a discussion I want to begin here.

Abut the only reason for me to keep it at this point would be as a curiosity in my collection of practice pads, even though it's not really a practice pad. Otherwise, I may just sell it in the spring.

I think if Xymox wants to get into making an actual drum, then they should make an actual drum, with metal hardware all around and a way to carry the thing. If they can keep some of these innovations while beefing up the construction so it inspires more confidence, then the results could be interesting and useful. But as it is, it's more of a toy, and an expensive one at that.

UPDATE, December 2020: According to the latest online buzz, the owners of Xymox have left southern California. There is no one answering the phone or returning emails; orders have gone unfulfilled for months and in some cases more than a year. The couple who own the company recently celebrated their wedding in Washington State, and no one seems to know where they are right now. It is highly probable that, without a class action suit filed on behalf of the many customers who purchased Xymox products online and can't get a pad or a refund, this may be the end of the company as we know it.

Based on how many people are claiming publicly that they've never gotten a pad, a refund, or even return communications, I'd have to advise that you do NOT buy anything from Xymox Percussion. There are plenty of other excellent drum pads out there from companies that can supply you without an unreasonable wait time.

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.

Day one: Slingerland redux

After fixing up the four concert snare drums for my friend, I turned to the drum he gave me.

I'm offering a photo dump of each step of the process.

The badge, and the lack of date-stamnping on the inside of the shell -- helped me determine that this drum was likely made in the early 1970's. I will spend some time trying to date it more accurately using the serial number, but drum companies often used new serial numbers on older drums during transitional periods of manufacture. I'll see what I can find out.

After removing the lugs and taking off the wood hoops, you can see that there was a LOT of dust, which looked and felt like fine, dried mud -- my friend said this drum might have been to Burning Man.
I wiped down everything with a damp cloth to get the worst of the dirt off, and to get a closer look.

Underneath the dirt, the Mahoghany ply shell shows some gouges and scuffs, enough that I'll elect to clean and sand lightly, rather than attempt a full restoration. I like the patina, anyway; and there's no need to remove it all.

The maple hoops are another story. They get the brunt of the abuse on a drum this old, and show compression from the lug clamps and some cracking on the lower hoop at the snare cutouts. Maple is a more brittle wood, and can easily crack under strain. I am hoping that because the cracks are partial, I can figure out how to repair them. I'm envisioning gently and carefully clamping the cracked pieces back into alignment, ideally in a bench vise, then drilling small holes, carefully installing wooden dowels and glue, clamping all that in place and letting dry. I'll talk to some woodworking friends to see what they suggest, as the cracks aren't all the way through and I'd like to save the original hoops if I can. (Plus, new wooden hoops are not cheap.)

This wood already glows a little after an initial wipe-off of dirt. Once it's cleaned more and then waxed, it will positively shimmer!

The worst of the gouging and scuffing appears at the part of the shell most likely to have been scuffed, by a belt buckle or jeans waistline button.

This right here is a big part of why I won't try for a restoration, but simply make this a player again.
Even sanded out, there will be a depression that can't be filled attractively with wood putty.

Attempting anything with wood inlay or parquetry is way above my abilities.
And as I said, I actually like that the drum shows signs of honest wear from use.

The metal hardware, chrome-plated and very simple, should clean up nicely with a good wipedown and an application of some Quik-Glo.

Stay tuned. I'll take photos at each step of the rebuild and share them here.

Happy drumming!

Vintage drum: Slingerland parade drum, 14 x 10

My friend dropped off a stack of drums today.
The four concert drums with metal shells I'm going to clean up for him to use with his radical drum corps. The fifth drum, a wooden parade drum, he said was mine to keep.

It's filthy and needs a lot of cleaning, along with replacement heads.
I'm guessing from the hardware and badge that it's probably from the 1960s.

Here are photos of the drum as I received it today. As I take it apart and clean it up over the next few weeks, I'll post periodic updates.

  

The hardware appears to be all original, which hints at a 1960s vintage.

I love the old-school drum key slot (below).
If this comes back I'll want to look for a period-correct key. It's filthy and looks either paint- or mud-splattered.
But I think it should clean up nicely, especially with some replacement heads (Ambassador top and bottom).

Not sure what I'll do about the finish. One friend has suggested I simply clean off the dirt and apply some wax. There are a few places where the stain has worn away but I think it's honest wear, and I may just sand it lightly and let it be. I'll ask the guys at Revival Drum Shoip what they recommend.

I think this will be a nice project to distract me from the pandemic over the next few weeks.

Vintage sticks: Promark 3S Japanese oak

Back when I marched in my high school band, the stick of choice for the snares was a traditional, heavy 3S stick with a medium taper and an acorn-shaped tip. Fat as my father's thumb, and seventeen inches long. Usually pretty heavy -- too heavy for my still-growing hands, which is why I used 2B's until my senior year.

Promark came out with sticks made in either American hickory or Japanese oak. The hickory sticks were predictably comfortable -- they had a "spring" and "flex" to them, and absorbed the shock of accented notes so your hands wouldn't have to take the full impact. Hickory remains the first choice for drummers today for that reason.
Oak was another matter. Oak sticks were noticeably heavier, and harder. They were harder to break unless you played like Sesame Street's Animal. My section leader, a handsome boy who came from one of the wealthiest families in town, could buy any sticks he wanted, and he did, trying out various brands and models to find the sticks that worked for him. He tried the Promark 3S in both oak and hickory, ultimately opting for the hickory for its ease on the hands. The hickory also cost less than the oak model, so you could buy many more pairs and always have spares on hand.

Today, a pair of Promark 3S sticks in oak arrived, from a fellow vintage drum enthusiast who didn't need them and offered them to me. (He knows I try to find stuff from my early years of drumming, mid to late 1970s.)
I cleaned off the masking tape with some nail polish remover, and tried them out on my rubber pad.
They felt lighter than I remembered, perhaps because my hands are full-size now (and far stronger than when I was fifteen). They felt well-balanced and surprisingly not all that heavy. A longer session with them might prove me wrong later on.

They're beautiful sticks. The oak grain is luminous and almost shines in places. The gold stripe at the ends is accompanied by the numeral "79" (year of manufacture, perhaps?) and the words "Hand-made in Japan" -- and they don't appear to have been used all that much.

These will enjoy a slot in the stick display, and I may play with them from time to time (on a pad only, though).   What old sticks do you like to play with now and then, for nostalgia's sake or just for a change of pace?