Hardimons...They are good and all, just not for me. I like the Mike McIntosh stick though from IP.

Only bad thing about Vegas is that my hands get sweaty, so they get slippery.

The vegas aren't really working out for me. I'd much rather use a hardimon snare stick on tenors than the vegas.

Promark.
Ah.

Yeah IP is not a good brand at all

I hate Pro-mark, Zildjan, Vater, And anything else that isn't Vic Firth or Innovative... And innovative's marching sticks... Bad.

I do hate though when i get underweighted Raplhies.

I love the VF MS3's.
That has to be my favorite. Once you get used to the weight, its the best stick you will ever play with.. Though the wood is really soft...

The vegas are really sluggish. I don't understand how the blue devils can play so well with them... but they again, they're the blue devils.

Weird... I get a nice 'live' feeling from Vegas. I don't find 'em sluggish at all.

Balter keyboard mallets(or anything made by balter) they just dont hold up to the beating an average pit can inflict.

pro mark I dont at all buy into for any application marching, set, orchestral. They just never seem to feel right

Snare
VF Hardimon: They feel like logs
Pro Mark anything: I might rate these differently if I could ever manage to get a pair that even comes close to matching pitch from stick to stick.

Tenor:
VF MT-1: I hate this stick with a passion, it is just too thick IMHO to be a tenor stick, I also hate the smooth grip as opposed to the textured one on the MT-1A.

The high school line I tech and the winter line I direct are both Pro Mark endorsed. In the past I've always used VF for marching implements and currently I march Innovative in a University band. Each company makes great sticks that I love playing with.

The issue of brand and "sound quality" are all blown WAY out of proportion. It honestly all comes down to the kid hitting the drum. If the player knows how to hold a stick and how to strike the drum correctly then the wood in his hands is relative. I doubt you'll ever hear a judge tell you that a lines snares sound bad because of the stick choice. But rather you'll be criticized for how the kids use whatever sticks are in their hands.

It's my opinion that putting so much wieght on stick choice takes some of the accountablility away from the players. If a line sounds bad... I can almost guarantee it's the players not the sticks/mallets.