Chuck

I bought a pair of 5A barrel tips on ebay which I really like. I think the sound is crisper and I just like the way they feel. I think it's probably the way they rebound.

I tried comparing the sticks again and this time I didn't hear the change in pitch. Maybe my ears were playing tricks on me the first time.

Somehow the plastic tips sounded more jazzy to me which I guess shows that I know nothing about jazz.

I have a 22 inch Zildjian ride from the late 60's which I acquired not too long ago. I was hitting it the other day with a 5B stick with a wooden tip. Then for some reason I pulled out a smaller stick with a plastic tip and hit it. This may sound melodramatic, but I was kind of stunned at how different it sounded. I guess I never compared wood versus plastic side by side before. Not only was the sound from the plastic tip "brighter" (not sure if that's the right word to use) but to my ears it made the pitch of the cymbal sound higher. Would that make it better for jazz? Any other thoughts on wood vs. plastic?

I still like them. I didn't weigh them, but I do think they are slightly lighter than the Vic Firths. Just that little bit of difference in weight feels better to me.

So I bought some used gear recently and they threw in a couple of pairs of sticks in the deal. They are Goodwood 5A's with nylon tips. I kind of like them. I think they're slightly lighter and a slightly smaller diameter than my Vic Firth 5A's. I'm not familiar with this brand and I just wondered if anyone knew anything about them.

So what do stick sizes mean? I have these Zildjian 3A's which actually seem a little thinner than these Vic Firth 5A's that I just bought. The 3A's don't seem any heavier than the 5A's. I thought the 3A's would be fatter and heavier.