The drummer in the same band as my son just got new cymbals (Sabian B8s) and is quite pleased with the sound he gets from them. He prefers to use 7A sticks, his bandmates are insisting that he use larger sticks, 1A or larger (if there are larger.) My concern (and his) is will the larger sticks be more likely to damage the cymbals any faster than lighter sticks? I can hear a difference, mostly attack, when he uses larger sticks, but he has far better control when he uses the smaller sticks. He does like to place the cymbals a bit high and plays on the edges (sawdust all over the floor after a practice session) more than playing the tips on the surface area of the cymbals. Any comments from any seasoned drummers about the effect of heavy sticks vs light sticks on the life of cymbals might help to settle this issue, thanks in advance. By the way, these guys play mostly fairly hard core sort of music, not quite metal but pretty gritty stuff.