Drummers - Bopworks Drumsticks - Awesome!

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T-rex
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Drummers - Bopworks Drumsticks - Awesome!

Post by T-rex » Sun Mar 03, 2013 5:43 pm

So I have been woodshedding like crazy on drums lately since I am currently not in a band and I actually have a little spare time. One of the things I am getting back to is some jazz and in trolling the net I came across this company called Bopworks. They make vintage style hickory drum sticks. So I ordered three different kinds and wow. These are seriously amazing and they are inexpensive to at like $8 a pair. Here is their webpage that shows a comparison of all the models they offer.
http://www.bopworks.net/model-comparison/

Now I haven't focused on drums in a long time so I am sure there are offerings from the big stick companies that are probably great but I have never played sticks that felt this good before. These things are so small and light that it makes me feel less like Phil Rudd and more like Tony Williams. They are very light and balanced and even though they are small, they feel great in my hands which I was concerned about because I have big hands (insert joke here).

I bought the Birdland, West Coast and 40's Swing sticks. I was concerned the Birdland would be too small/short but my god, it feels perfect. The Birdlans is definitely my favorite of the three. The West coast is a good balance of bigger size/less nimbleness and the 40's Swing stick while still a relatively small light stick feels super heavy compared to the others. I want to try the Shelly Manne model next to see how the acorn tip sounds since its basically the same as the Birdland in size. The woody click sound on the cymbals are great. I tried them on my old cymbals too just to make sure I am not enamored with my new Constantinople's sound/response and I had the K's for a few days before I received the new sticks. So I got a pretty good before after and I have played them side by side and there is no comparison.

Clearly these sticks aren't for heavy rock. They are small with really tapered ends and they have been around for a while so maybe I am late to the party? But if you play lighter music or obviously, bebop. I would really recommend these.

The only negative I see is getting hooked on a small company only to see them maybe stop producing sticks. But I plan on buying a bunch of whichever model I settle on.
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Post by drumsound » Sun Mar 03, 2013 7:10 pm

Seems like a groovy company.

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Post by Gregg Juke » Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:59 am

Thanks for the link!

GJ

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Post by dave watkins » Tue Mar 05, 2013 7:03 am

those look rad! i'm only slightly skilled with drums having only started teaching myself a couple years ago, but i've come to love jazz sticks, especially for recording. i'm definitely going to have to try a couple pairs of these, Thanks for posting! so far my favorite stick has been the Vic Firth Peter Erskine ride stick, it has a really small teardrop and a fairly thick shaft diameter. I swear they even makes shitty cymbals sound decent, but moreover i always feel i have greater overall balance, articulation and dynamic control with lighter sticks, even when i'm not playing anything remotely jazzy. it's rare and wonderful when you can find gear that actually makes you feel like your are a better player.
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Post by T-rex » Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:35 am

You are totally correct. I am going through the stick control book right now so I went back to the first page with these. The speed and control I have with these is so much more than with my normal sticks, yet they still sound great. They don't sound thin at all. It actually makes me want to play more because they seem so effortless.

So now I am doing the book matched grip with my normal sticks and traditional grip with these.

Weight savings is everything in a car, who knew it would be the same for drum sticks ?
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Post by drumsound » Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:20 pm

I guess I'm the opposite of T-rex and Dave. I like sticks with some weight and diameter for everything but jazz or acoustic things. I still use my same set of Firth SD1 generals when I do Stick Control and the like. Playing rock, funk, pop, anything with a serious backbeat, I want the stick to work with me to cut through.

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Post by cjogo » Sat Mar 09, 2013 1:30 am

70% of time I am performing on E drums >> SO I prefer rubber tipped sticks ..they are also much quieter in the studio. [Although I do have a cage ]
In the early days, when I needed volume > I used metal tipped .. for sure ~ those ride cymbals ~ cut through :-)

If I want volume > I have the gain turned up on the mics .. it takes years to learn how to play really quiet, with a full kit & sticks ...the FOH should control the mix of the drums with band.. .
Last edited by cjogo on Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by T-rex » Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:33 am

drumsound wrote:I guess I'm the opposite of T-rex and Dave. I like sticks with some weight and diameter for everything but jazz or acoustic things. I still use my same set of Firth SD1 generals when I do Stick Control and the like. Playing rock, funk, pop, anything with a serious backbeat, I want the stick to work with me to cut through.
No I think we are on the same page. I am just using these for jazz and really light music. For back beat music I usually use heavy sticks. I use to use some big Vic Firth sticks and lately I have been using the Travis Barker sticks which are huge, although I wish they weren't freaking white. So I do stick control matched with those and traditional with The bop works.

I guess in the past I have always used a med sick for light music and discounted even trying really thin and small sticks till now.
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Post by T-rex » Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:36 am

Although, this has made me rethink that approach too.
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Post by digitaldrummer » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:10 am

you may also want to check out the Vic Firth Maple sticks (for example, the SD4 comes in maple). They are lighter than hickory and I've been using them for light jazz gigs and liking them.

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Post by Gregg Juke » Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:30 am

My approach to GLS' "Stick Control" has been the same as my approach to "Master Studies," and Dahlgren & Fine's "4-Way Coordination," among many other classic drum methods in my library.

What I like to do is leave them on the shelf, occassionally staring at them or pulling one out to look at it longingly and think "I should crack this book again," then put it back and leave it there for a year or so at least before repeating the process. Then I don't have to worry about things like stick weight, tip shape, length, etc.

Same approach to physical excercise...

GJ

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Post by DrummerMan » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:47 pm

Thanks for the recommendation! Ordered a few pair today and am looking forward to trying them out. I almost exclusively play thin sticks, which unfortunately I seem to have fewer and fewer decent choices of as the decades go by.
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Post by T-rex » Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:24 pm

DrummerMan wrote:Thanks for the recommendation! Ordered a few pair today and am looking forward to trying them out. I almost exclusively play thin sticks, which unfortunately I seem to have fewer and fewer decent choices of as the decades go by.
Awesome, sounds like these are probably perfect for you then. Let me know your honest opinion once you get some playing time in!
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Post by T-rex » Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:34 pm

Gregg Juke wrote:My approach to GLS' "Stick Control" has been the same as my approach to "Master Studies," and Dahlgren & Fine's "4-Way Coordination," among many other classic drum methods in my library.

What I like to do is leave them on the shelf, occassionally staring at them or pulling one out to look at it longingly and think "I should crack this book again," then put it back and leave it there for a year or so at least before repeating the process. Then I don't have to worry about things like stick weight, tip shape, length, etc.

Same approach to physical excercise...

GJ
You know its funny, I have had stick control for years, the first time I tried but just couldn't get into it. Then recently I got it out and realized it was basically a calisthenics book for drummers and I have been loving it. Mainly because I don't have to think about it. I just set a timer and do each exercise for one minute at a brisk tempo and move on to the next. I do different volume levels, fingers wrists whatever I feel like for 60 seconds and move on to the next. It's like stretching before a workout but man, it really does make a huge difference in your playing. It doesn't seem like it would but it really has. At least it has for me but maybe that's because I have never been a really "technical" player.

I was using it for double bass too, which I recently started playing. But I have been checking out some George Kolias stuff about leading with the right foot only. so I am not using it anymore for that. But that was cool to get my left foot a little more playing time in getting used to double bass.
[Asked whether his shades are prescription or just to look cool]
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