You'll sometimes see sticks made by one manufacturer or another that are named after a famous drummer. These are usually slight variations on a standard size, and they usually cost a little bit more because the person after whom they're named is just really, really cool. It's certainly not a bad idea to check out a pair named after a drum hero of yours, but don't expect to magically sound as good as your hero by merely using his sticks. I know you're smarter than that, and I don't even know you. However, if I ever come out with my own model of sticks, then you'll know that they are magical. You might also see sticks that are not named after someone, but also are not standard sizes.



These are usually sizes that fall in between the standard sizes. If you want to check these out, it's important to ask "Oh, these are like 5As but a quarter-inch longer", or "These are in between a 5A and a 5B". If you've tried a standard size and it never feels quite right, some of these in between sizes are worth checking out. One of them might be the perfect stick for you. Ten Pairs of Sticks for a Dollar: just Say No! At some point very soon in your future, you might walk into a large music store and notice that there are some sticks named after the store that cost so little that it seems like the price must be a mistake. The mistake would be for you to buy them. I know it's tempting: Why would you want to pay up to $10 for one pair of sticks when you can get 10 pairs for the same $10? For one thing, drumsticks are made of wood, and wood can be very inconsistent.

What this means to a drummer is that you can have three pairs of sticks that are supposed to be the very same weight, but they don't feel the same when you compare them. One pair might feel much heavier or lighter than another pair. One thing that a name (or more expensive) brand offers you is greater consistency between pairs. In other words, higher quality brands go to the trouble of making sure that every stick of a certain size feels as close to the same as possible. That is why they get the big bucks. When you buy the cheap sticks, even though they are all supposed to be the same weight, they can vary wildly. There is nothing worse than dropping or breaking a stick during a show, reaching into your stick bag for a quick replacement, and having the new stick go flying out of your hand because it's lighter than a butterfly's antenna.

The straightness of a stick is also an important factor. The first class sticks are almost always as straight as they can possibly be. If sticks shaped like a banana (which the cheap sticks can often be) were easy to play with, we would just use really hard bananas instead of sticks. Try it if you don't believe me. You might think that the cheap sticks might last as long as the top-shelf ones, but they won't. You'll end up with a big pile of lousy broken sticks, while the good sticks will still be in one piece. Also, the cheap sticks can break while you're playing them, fly into your face, and kill you. I've never actually heard of this happening, but why take a chance with your life?