There is an Edit button. <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I marched with him in the Caballeros. Back in the days when his nickname was Fire Boy. I also did a parade or two with him on the side.

I'll probably wind up seeing you guys this fall. Be sure to look for me.

And you still missed the Edit button. <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/cwm30.gif" alt="" />

In my far too many years at UNC we've used a variety of sticks (depending on is endorsing Savage that particular year <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )
First was VF and I liked the design of the sticks but we did have sticks randomly break out within 15 min of breaking them out of the package. Not through heavy playing but just random rim clicks, doot, wood snapped in half. Haven't used them reguarly in recent years so I can't def say one way or the other as to how I feel about them now.

Next were the JohnnyraBB years. Matt signed with them and came out with a line of marching percussion sticks and tenor mallets (another story for another time). The bass mallets came with a "pinky groove" which I have come to prefer to use as a ring finger groove. My only gripes with the bass mallets were that I wish the shaft was tapered a little bit, (it is just a bit after the grip but it straight all the way up the shaft. The other gripe was with the quality of screws they used in the bass mallets after the initial batches. The first mallets we got were okay but later in the year they changed the screw to one of much lower quality and we broke these screws (instead of the actual wood breaking) like crazy. The JohnnyraBB company from my understanding has went out of business this past year and we have long since switched to ProMark (as a side note, when your house is without power for long periods during a snowstorm and you're without dry firewood and you have a large quantity of JohnnyraBB sticks lying around, they will burn in your fireplace like no other <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ).

Most recently Savage has been with Pro Mark and I have really enjoyed being with them. They always send stuff when we need it and seem to be producing a quality product. I'm a big fan of the bass mallets with the exception of the white paint that they use which is hardly durable (but then again that's why we tape them isn't it). In winter drumline I use the ABR's and haven't been disapointed the first time.

Haven't used the Innovative mallets yet, somebody wants to send me a pair, I'll be more than happy to let them know what I think <img src="/threads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

UNCGQ, are you guys using the Yamaha Rim savers or anything like that? From what I've heard, those types of things can chew up mallets pretty fast.

Rob

in my opinion IP bass mallets aren't as good as Vic. Atlanta Quest got IP to sponsor them so we used IP mallets this past year. I didn't like them too much. First was the design. There's kinda of a knob in the middle of the mallet that makes people who don't know better think they gotta hold the mallet to far up, leaving way to much space at the bottom. Second, IP's weigh a lot more in the larger mallets then VIc's do respectively. This really hampers the abilities of the larger end basses. Vic's I like. They don't have a knob in the middle of them and are very comfortable to hold, whereas IP's take some getting used to. Vic's are well designed in my opinion to play with good technique whereas IP's support bad technique. Vics and IPs are the only mallets I've played with before myself. I used Vics during High school. The craziest mallets I've ever seen were some that Ayala HS form California was using for indoor at the WGI championship. I talked with the bass 5 there and he told me that they used Pro-marks with the felts knocked off of them, turned around, and taped up a whole lot (the larger the bass drum the more tape/wieght needed at the end to control the mallets). I was watching Ayala in the parking lot and daaannggggg, the basses were able to handle some fast junk with those mallets.

You just contradicted yourself. Do you need the weight or don't you?

I haven't used the IP mallets, but I believe that the notch you are talking about is of the same type that is on their tenor mallets. I've found the the notch makes it easier to get a consistent grip across the entire line and is pretty comfortable too.
I've found that the Vic Firth bass mallet heads deform too quickly for me. After an hour or two they start looking like an egg.

MAM, don't you know, Cavaliers, Bluecoats, Music City, Crown, etc... are all using improper technique :-P


Heavy = good.


B

Sorry Project_BP, I didn't catch that statement until you pointed it out to me. Pretty funny.

I think heavier mallets are better too, I just wanted Atlquestbaduqwa to qualify his statements.

sorry about that, let me explain myself. weight is needed at the end of the mallet (the larger the drum the more the weight). but the thing is, if you have too much weight then it gets harder to control but too little weight creates too much of a rebound/bounce. The IP's weigh more then Vics do, in a bad way. I hope this is a better explaination, if not I can try to explain better. BTW: a balance between heavy and light is required in bass mallets and the balance of these in IP's is, in my opinion, heavier then they should be to have a proper balance to them.

heavy is good.

light = breaks easily, doesn't produce good QOS, doesn't let the drum speak

B