Ahead... "The World's Most Advanced Drumstick"

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AFXSguy

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OKay... so I have been breaking sticks like crazy lately. Anyways, I bought Ahead's Aluminum 5B-LTD stick for $45 (canadian). The shaft is skinnier for the most of the stick, and there is a plastic/wood composite cover that is replacable. It's good because now, the covers last longer, and they are only $3 a set. But the stick feels a little weird. I just need to get used to it.

What do you guys think of these aluminum sticks? ANy of you play with them?
 
Breaking sticks is just a part of the deal I guess, allthough it tends to be pretty costly on the long run.. The solution (well..) I found was quitting with the wooden sticks and step to carbon sticks.. These (black) sticks have prooven (for me at least) to last much, much longer than the wooden variant. The aluminium sticks I really do not like, the difference in feel and sound is jus too great and I do not trust them too much on my cymbals.. The carbon sticks last at least 5-10 times as long as normal sticks, and ar only (?) about 50% more expensive as the original variant. The do break though, so getting only one set to start with could best be followed up by getting at least one other pair if you like them.. Breaking one without having another pair is not really nice... I also lost one on stage due to the black colour, darkness and black carpet on stage.. it just disappeared..

Good luck.
 
these ones dont seem as hard on the cymbals as aluminum sticks because they have some carbon like sleeve that covers the stick. the purpose is that you always replace the carbon/plastic sleeves. i dont know if i like them yet either. they have a plastic tip, so they sound sound much different.
 
First I have to say, if a drummer breaks a lot of sticks he/she needs to work on technique. I can get plenty of energy out of the drum and I bet I break maybe 1 or 2 sticks a year - and I have done a lot of gigs (although I admit, when I was in my teens before I improved my technique I went through plenty of sticks).

Technique issues aside. I am not a fan of Ahead sticks. When I sold drums I saw (and heard of) many drummers who cracked cymbals and even damaged rims with Ahead sticks.

Sadly, I think part of the problem is, a drummer who's technique causes him to break sticks (meaning he/she is simply hitting the drums with too much tension - arm strength rather than wrist and hand technique) also hits the drums the same way with the metal sticks.
 
fair enough mikeh. thanks for your input. ideally i'd like to stick to my promark 5B sticks. but if im breaking them all the time then that's a lot of money i'm wasting. though i realize this has to be a technique thing. i've been playing drums for about 9 years and i never used to break sticks at all. for some reason it is just recently. poor technique
 
My drummer uses the Lars Ulrich Ahead sticks...
Not sure if you're talking about the same ones.
He likes them...
Though he even managed to break one of them.
 
AFSXguy,

If this is just recent, you may be able to figure out what is different (new band, new music, different kit configuration). Sometimes, a different kick pedal or different throne can have an effect on hand technique.

It is also possible that you got a bad batch of ProMark 5B's. If you bought a dozen pairs at the same time or several pairs from the same store during a short period of time this is a possibility.
 
I also played the Ahead Aluminium Sticks. I played around with them a few weeks, but then one of them broke. I went back to the music store & gave them back. I got a new pair, but a few weeks later a stick broke again, so I never used them again. After this experience I started to find a technique to use wood sticks, without destroying them...& now it's seems to work for me...I just need a pair for a year...
 
AFXSguy said:
fair enough mikeh. thanks for your input. ideally i'd like to stick to my promark 5B sticks. but if im breaking them all the time then that's a lot of money i'm wasting. though i realize this has to be a technique thing. i've been playing drums for about 9 years and i never used to break sticks at all. for some reason it is just recently. poor technique
Click to expand...

Try Vaters, I don't break them as much as pro marks. I think the promarks quality has gone down, I used to use them all the time and then suddenly started breaking them left and right.
 
I tried the Ahead sticks and I kept breaking them. The downside to them is when they break, there is a jagged piece of metal flying across the stage. Very dangerous.
 
In Kentucky we whittle our own sticks.
With our teeth.
Can't trust some factory to whittle a good stick for you, thats for sure. ;)
Actually, we have a competition here every year. All the drummers get together, and everyone gets two 24 inch long and 12 inch round logs, and whoever can whittle out a pair of stnadard sticks the fastest and play Moby Dick wins his own sister for a night.
 
I tried them when I was like 16 or 17, and I wanted to "beat the shit out of my drums as loud as I can", like everyone that age does.

After a few months of playing them, I realized they were spending more time in my stick bag than not. I realized also, that I bought a $30 pair of drumsticks, that I hated.

I much prefer natural wood. If you're killing off sticks that much, practice on a drum pad more often. Get your wrists stronger. The stronger your wrists, the harder you can play, without breaking sticks, because you're doing it the right way.
 
Yeah the ahead sticks suck... they feel too weird and sound crappy on the drums. I broke one of mine too, and it pissed me off like no other-those things arent cheap.

I think breaking sticks isn't poor technique, rather what style you're playing and doing. Lots of times when you want a fat crack you can play with only rim shots. For metal/hard rock this is very fitting and stick consuming.

I bought a bunch of those 12 pairs/10 bucks sticks and as they break much faster than regular sticks, it's cheaper in the long run than buying vic firth and stuff. Someone will probably give me crap for using them, but it's just way cheaper for me.

T
 
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