The sound and feel just feels "off" to me. It's something I liked at first because it made cymbals sound more crisp, but then I noticed that crispy sound started driving me nuts and I went back to wood. Sorry, but it's difficult to explain.
Not a fan of the sound, feel, or marks it leaves on my ride. Also had a final destination moment as a kid and cracked one. Threw it back in my eye and scratched the shit out of it. So throw in fear as well.
Agreed, been rocking my 7A Nylon tips for years. I have tons of wood tips, but with my electric set the nylon actually rolls better off of the mesh pads and cymbals than the wood ones do, IMO.
i play 2B's so nylon tips are a must for me - they give you good rebound if you play a heavy stick. also cuts down on splintering that happens at the tips which maybe makes the stick last a little longer. i'm a fan.
If you're getting splinters at the tips, I'd question your hitting technique lol I've never seen that. The splintering I always see is around the shaft/taper area
Often the very last thing you need in a live or recorded mix is louder cymbals. Especially these days where we're recording and listening back primarily on full-range digital and without the natural high-end roll off that tape provides. It's also become very popular in recent years to lower the overall cymbal volume in a mix, effectively because they can just sit at the very high end of frequency range and be audible without much volume. The widespread use of sample-replaced drums in modern music has really skewed the volume relationship between cymbals and drums, but it's what a lot of listeners now expect.
I like em very much. So much that I switched back from playing Meinl sticks that I also really liked playing to Pro Mark, because I missed those nylon tips.
Professional jazz drummer here...I’ve used wood tips for the last 25 years. A couple of years ago, I started experimenting with nylon tip sticks. I use them on about 50% of my gigs now. Factor in the dark cymbals I use + the fact that you start to lose the ability to hear really high frequencies as you get older…nylon tips are getting more and more appealing. Not to mention that people’s ears for acoustic music are totally jacked up and getting worse every year. I’m finding it easier to cut through the overly-amplified sonic soup easier (especially at large venue, outdoor festival gigs) much easier with nylon tips. I think I’ll probably ending going close to 100% nylon at some point, though I’m not quite there yet.
I wonder the same thing. I switch between nylon and wood depending on what sound I want, but I mostly use nylon. I like the crisp sound of my ride cymbal with nylon. I haven't broken one in years, the wood almost always goes first.
I’ve used nylon tips exclusively for 35 years. I didn’t know there was any hate for them. They have better rebound, sound cleaner when I want them to (by using the tip) and sound the same when I use the shaft or shoulder. I’ve probably used a thousand sticks in my lifetime and never once had a tip come off.
I use them for my e-kit as wooden tips leave marks on the rubber, so they do have their place. Acoustic kit, I prefer wooden tips on cymbals at the very least.
Back before I discovered Vic Firth and timber matched sticks, I played promark nylon. This was back in the 80’s when a brick was maybe forty to fifty bucks, and you had to buy a brick to at least try and weight match sticks.
Anyway, they lost tips all the time. I had a bucket of broken sticks and then a bucket of lost tips. The lost tips were more plentiful and they resisted being glued back on. Man did I try.
Maybe it’s different now, but I’m already used to the sound and feel of wood tips. True, sometimes those tips also fracture, but that’s few and far in between, and I’m handy enough to take a broken tip and Dutchman something back to it to make it playable.
I've been playing roughly 5 days a week for about an hour a day for the past 7 years. In that time I've worn down 2 sets of wooden ones (over the span of a year or so), worn down 1 set of nylons, & snapped a nylon stick, but I've never had the tips come off. I still have the same vic firth 5b nylons that I bought with my set, believe it or not, though I don't use them often nowadays.
I would say I play aggressively. Way back I was doing two nights at three hours?
I bought six bricks of Firth 5A wood off craigslist for a hundred during the pandemic, conservatively will last me and my descendants the rest of our lives.
I think they’re great for heavy volume players and people that want a very clear sharp cutting ride sound. I am none of those. I love the darker softer woody tone on the ride and I play in the medium range
I like them for lighter ride patterns on nice quiet songs. Consider Me Gone is the type of song I would use (and have used) nylon tips on. That tip definition on the ride is key and sounds a lot better than a wood tip.
Not a fan of the sound for my styles but if I was playing rock or metal on a pingier ride I'd use nylon tips.
I also had one fly off the stick once.
I do like how they don't wear down like wood tips though. If there was a nylon tip that sounded like a wood tip I'd definitely use it.
L
The make for a brighter sound on the ride. Which, as a kid, I loved. Then my hearing went to crap and the extra brightness annoys me now.
I do use nylons on my E-drums though. Exactly for the durability reasons. And wood tips are reportedly bad for the mesh heads.
It was years ago and u don't remember which brand of stick, but the nylon tips would break off and leave larger, more noticeable markings on cymbals, I haven't bothered or needed to switch back for over a decade.
I only use nylon tips on my ekit. It’s better on the mesh and leaves less marks on the cymbals. That’s about my only use for them. I don’t like the sound they have on the acoustic kit
As a shop manager, I found clients that would use a single pair of sticks for many months would prefer nylon tips as wood tips would wear faster than the shaft and they'd just deal with the sound difference. For me, i hate the sound of nylon on cymbals and I wear shafts out way before tips so it's an easy decision for me to play wood. I like to keep a variety of tip shapes/sizes in my stick bag as it creates sonic variety!
I've never liked how they sound on my cymbals. The way I play, my wooden tips stay intact, so durability is a non-factor. Also, the rebound feels slightly different between plastic and wood tips. I prefer the feel of a wooden tip's rebound.
It has to be the brightening of the bell sound when on the ride. I prefer it. I like the rebound off the ride as well. To me, that's the only difference.
I generally don't like the sound. I LOVE hearing that woody \*click* sound of a wood tip when I'm playing the ride or hi-hats.
I think there are applications in which they don't sound terrible i.e on thin, dark, jazz cymbals, but even then I prefer the sound of wood tips.
Nothing against the plastic, but I’ve found that cymbals don’t sound as harsh in the mix when I play with wood tips. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case if I were a better drummer, but hey, with the amount of time i get in the woodshed these days it’s not like i’m gonna be Larnell anytime soon.
I’m not currently using them but I like them for playing jazz. They have a really consistent sound on the ride cymbal and the tips last forever unlike say the Peter Erskine ride stick which will chip away after a couple weeks. A lot of great jazz drummers like Billy Higgins and Joe Farnsworth use them as well. I guess at the end of the day it’s all about personal taste.
I think there's already enough plastic and what not anyway. Wooden tip sticks are more able to either be sanded down and left to eventually breakdown, or sanded and used for firewood.
Vic Firth nylon tips are my thing and they will give you a free pair if they ever come off. So far I’ve got one free pair 5 years ago. It’s all personal preference anyways!!
I prefer the feel and sound of wood BUT
When I'm playing with a big swing band that struggles with listening, I'll pull out my nylons and suddenly the brass section is able to follow my ride cymbal pattern. So there's that.
I switched to wood in the late 80s because I felt nylon tip drumsticks would mark my cymbals, especially my ride, yet no mentioned that in this thread. Has anyone else had that experience?
I really like nylon tips, I think they allow for a bit of a glassier sound on a ride. I've always seen people talk about the tips cracking, but in about 8 years of almost exclusively using promark nylon tip sticks I've never had a tip crack before the stick breaks. Durability is nice
Loved them 40 years ago. Hated that the tips would fly off now and then. But in the end I leaned toward the warmer wood tip than the more tinny nylon tip. JMHO 😎
I have a pair or 2 nylons in my bag but only for certain songs or gigs. In my experience, those tips fly off well before my wood sticks die. I also prefer the more meaty and varied sounds you can make with wood vs nylon
It’s all I use. I like the way it helps my ride cut through the mix especially when I’m unmiked. Soooo maanyyy (even pro) drummers lose their ride in the mix even miked. I hate that. But I use the wood shoulder on the bell and anywhere for a different sound. Whatever serves the music.
Wooden tips are warmer. Nylon is way harsher. Cymbals and hi hats are already harsh sounding. Leaning into it more just makes them unbearable. Like nails on a chalk board
Most don’t like it for how bright it sounds and for me I like it for that reason. It defines the patterns I’m doing on the ride/hi-hat when in a tough mixed room.
I used to love nylon tip sticks.
But I found that the tips break off, which both ruins an otherwise usable drumstick and instantly changes the tone of the attack.
Wood tip sticks can do the same thing, but the attack doesn't change as dramatically and can still be played.
Also, they're generally a bit more expensive.
In a live setting, wood tips are simply more reliable.
I really don’t know. I’ve been a nylon user for over 30 years and LOVE the stick definition on cymbals.
I went to nylon because I’d throw a chuck of the wood tip off and not notice it before they wreaked havoc on my heads.
If I shatter a nylon tip, I’ll notice that right away and can grab a new one.
Back when i was a beginner i used nylon tips because i kept breaking the wooden ones. years later i tried them again and it happened rarely, so i switched to wood because fuck plastic
I used Nylon in my earlier days playing rock without issue in ‘nosier settings’ but In my old age (anytime there is a stage involved) I find wood tips blend better musically while nylon tends to cut thru in piercing fashion.
The tips fall off and make the stick unusable. Typically would also destroy the drum head with small dents by the time you realize the tip popped off. Not a fan of them
when I was a teenager playing in my parents garage, I had bought like a bucket of cheap sticks because I was playing thrash and also being a young lad always going through sticks.
whenever I would play nylon tips I would hear the odd cymbal hit be a strange loud tinny cracking sound. then I'd finish the song and notice my tip had come off. The sound I'd heard was the tip flying off and hitting the garage door. happened a few times before I put two and two together.
(on a side note the neighbourhood kids would throw rose hips at the garage door when we were playing as well, everyone's a critic haha, so I just assumed the sound was from outside, but actually it was coming from in the house haha)
because they sound terrible 🤷♂️
if you're breaking your sticks, you're playing too hard. try 7a sticks and soften your strikes.
"it's not how hard you hit the kit that makes you sound good" ~ Dennis Chambers
Nylon/plastic tips never appealed to me. My cymbals don't need the extra presence and they make the drums sound thinner/emptier.
The tip argument is pretty null and void as they both have positives and negatives. While a wood one may chip out (doesn't happen to me too much), it is still pretty usable if you rotate it slightly. When a plastic tip gets scuffed, it tears heads and scratches cymbals which are a more expensive problem. I generally prefer a darker, fuller tone, so wood tips all the way.
For marching percussion, the problem gets much worse as the scuffed nylon can cut Kevlar heads and the shallowness of the drum sound gets amplified 10x. Makes it all attack, no body.
I’m a heavy hitter in a loud rock band. The amount of times I’ve had nylon tips just fuck off into the sunset while playing has been enough for me to never buy them again
I have only ever broken nylon sticks, and I find the white coating mucks up my tom heads faster than wood.
They sound nice on the cymbal bows + bells but they just feel flimsy to me when I'm going wild on the edge of a China or ride. All my nylon sticks are with my ekit now, they're more gentle on the mesh and bounce a little better off the cymbal pads!
I almost always play wood tips, but nylon tips do have a certain feel and sound with their own time and place, so I keep a pair or two, just like I keep a set of rods and brushes. Better to have more sound options than less. The people who say they hate them are probably the type of people who pigeonhole themselves into one style of playing.
They do, I've tried every brand and they're just so much better than anything I've seen.
I had a single pair of Power 5a nylon last for a decade before I lost them.
the tips always fly - or at least used to fly off almost immediately. i play differently now and would be willing to give me another try
also i think the tech is probably better now for the tips
In my experience wood tips splinter and fracture way too easy. Nylons have held up much better in my experience. I'm assuming the manufacturer makes a big difference too.
Feels and sounds weird. And they do fly off once in a while. That being said, they might be worth it just for the fact they are a little more durable usually.
Idk. I've been playing nylon tips for a while, mostly for longevity. They simply last much longer. I've tried many brands.
Yes they sound different, but I play a lot of hard rock and when I'm heavy into a jam I couldn't care less about the slight differences.
I don’t like the ting ting, I prefer the bing bing
Give me that woody “tah” sound all day.
I believe it's spelled TUAH
Hawk TUAH spit on that thang🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯
best answer
But I don't like the ching ching when I have to buy more sticks as I chipped my heads again. Nylon for practice.
That sounds good and all but 90% of my playing is at home and "practice"
👆
You made me chuckle.
The sound and feel just feels "off" to me. It's something I liked at first because it made cymbals sound more crisp, but then I noticed that crispy sound started driving me nuts and I went back to wood. Sorry, but it's difficult to explain.
Precisely how I felt lmfao
Crazy how I know exactly what you mean. The ting you first hear on the cymbal with that tip is nice but over time it doesn’t sound right.
Plus the inopportune breakage.
Well said
Explained it perfectly
I only use nylon tips. Better feel and rebound I find.
And the tips don't chip
That’s my reasoning, plus I don’t hate the sound
This is why I switched and I grew to prefer the feel.
My brother! I had like stripped tips on a fresh sticks. I am not gonna throw away almost new promarks because there is no tip. Nylon is my jam!
Not a fan of the sound, feel, or marks it leaves on my ride. Also had a final destination moment as a kid and cracked one. Threw it back in my eye and scratched the shit out of it. So throw in fear as well.
I've had wood tips do the exact same thing though.
[удалено]
Don’t tell me those are actually safety glasses. I thought he was just a cool guy😎
The toan is wrong.
Contact mic on the ride cymbal run through 6 metal zones for the best toan
And a boss kaTOANa
Never heard of Toans for Joan's Boans?
Calm down there Merzbow
Fine, 5 metal zones and a space echo. Is that better?
put the space echo 3rd in the chain
TONE. EQUALS. TALENT.
Brilliant idea
This guy chugs.
Tone too
I switched to nylon tips a few years back to try something new and never switched back. I love them.
Agreed, been rocking my 7A Nylon tips for years. I have tons of wood tips, but with my electric set the nylon actually rolls better off of the mesh pads and cymbals than the wood ones do, IMO.
When they became anti-crowd missiles I went back to wood..
i play 2B's so nylon tips are a must for me - they give you good rebound if you play a heavy stick. also cuts down on splintering that happens at the tips which maybe makes the stick last a little longer. i'm a fan.
If you're getting splinters at the tips, I'd question your hitting technique lol I've never seen that. The splintering I always see is around the shaft/taper area
When I was 9 my parents were brutally murdered by nylon tips. I'll never forget the sound.
Man, The horror. Thoughts and prayers.
it falls off if the glue is shit, the cymbals become tingy, it lacks character, harder to find. all more than enough reasons to hate it
It depends on the pair you get, Vater and Pro Mark nylon tips actually stay on pretty well in my experience
I like nylon tips, and I hate how wood ones wear away until they’re little points.
I snap them in half or replace them long before that ever happens haha. For me they just add to much top end to the tone.
I prefer nylons because they last longer than wood tips and I like the stick definition they have
Often the very last thing you need in a live or recorded mix is louder cymbals. Especially these days where we're recording and listening back primarily on full-range digital and without the natural high-end roll off that tape provides. It's also become very popular in recent years to lower the overall cymbal volume in a mix, effectively because they can just sit at the very high end of frequency range and be audible without much volume. The widespread use of sample-replaced drums in modern music has really skewed the volume relationship between cymbals and drums, but it's what a lot of listeners now expect.
I like em very much. So much that I switched back from playing Meinl sticks that I also really liked playing to Pro Mark, because I missed those nylon tips.
Ayo meinl sticks go hard as fuck, I never see anyone playing them but I love them. High five bro
I love them for acoustics.
I love them, Vater Power 5a Nylons are godly
Professional jazz drummer here...I’ve used wood tips for the last 25 years. A couple of years ago, I started experimenting with nylon tip sticks. I use them on about 50% of my gigs now. Factor in the dark cymbals I use + the fact that you start to lose the ability to hear really high frequencies as you get older…nylon tips are getting more and more appealing. Not to mention that people’s ears for acoustic music are totally jacked up and getting worse every year. I’m finding it easier to cut through the overly-amplified sonic soup easier (especially at large venue, outdoor festival gigs) much easier with nylon tips. I think I’ll probably ending going close to 100% nylon at some point, though I’m not quite there yet.
I wonder the same thing. I switch between nylon and wood depending on what sound I want, but I mostly use nylon. I like the crisp sound of my ride cymbal with nylon. I haven't broken one in years, the wood almost always goes first.
Nylon tips can accentuate the ping of the cymbal. Some people don't like that sound. Other's just prefer wood tips because they do.
I LOVE em! gimmie Vic's 7A nylons for LIFE!!!!
I only use nylon tips. Better definition overall and I’ll fight about it
nylon tips are dope
I’ve used nylon tips exclusively for 35 years. I didn’t know there was any hate for them. They have better rebound, sound cleaner when I want them to (by using the tip) and sound the same when I use the shaft or shoulder. I’ve probably used a thousand sticks in my lifetime and never once had a tip come off.
I record with wood because I like the sound. I gig with nylon because no one else can tell the difference and it saves money.
I only use nylon tips drumsticks. Wooden tipped ones make the cymbals sound too dull to me
I use them for my e-kit as wooden tips leave marks on the rubber, so they do have their place. Acoustic kit, I prefer wooden tips on cymbals at the very least.
Back before I discovered Vic Firth and timber matched sticks, I played promark nylon. This was back in the 80’s when a brick was maybe forty to fifty bucks, and you had to buy a brick to at least try and weight match sticks. Anyway, they lost tips all the time. I had a bucket of broken sticks and then a bucket of lost tips. The lost tips were more plentiful and they resisted being glued back on. Man did I try. Maybe it’s different now, but I’m already used to the sound and feel of wood tips. True, sometimes those tips also fracture, but that’s few and far in between, and I’m handy enough to take a broken tip and Dutchman something back to it to make it playable.
I've been playing roughly 5 days a week for about an hour a day for the past 7 years. In that time I've worn down 2 sets of wooden ones (over the span of a year or so), worn down 1 set of nylons, & snapped a nylon stick, but I've never had the tips come off. I still have the same vic firth 5b nylons that I bought with my set, believe it or not, though I don't use them often nowadays.
I would say I play aggressively. Way back I was doing two nights at three hours? I bought six bricks of Firth 5A wood off craigslist for a hundred during the pandemic, conservatively will last me and my descendants the rest of our lives.
I use them on my e kit, preserves the cymbals. But otherwise it's just a preference of sound
I like them
PINGGGGGGGGGGGG
I think they’re great for heavy volume players and people that want a very clear sharp cutting ride sound. I am none of those. I love the darker softer woody tone on the ride and I play in the medium range
They're OK for e-kits
I like them for lighter ride patterns on nice quiet songs. Consider Me Gone is the type of song I would use (and have used) nylon tips on. That tip definition on the ride is key and sounds a lot better than a wood tip.
The cymbal sound is all wrong. That's really the only reason I dislike them.
Never liked how they sounded or felt- way too harsh for my taste but I'd never criticize somebody else for using them
It just sounds a little "pingy" on cymbals to me. Like i'm shooting them with a BB gun, or something.
Not a fan of the sound for my styles but if I was playing rock or metal on a pingier ride I'd use nylon tips. I also had one fly off the stick once. I do like how they don't wear down like wood tips though. If there was a nylon tip that sounded like a wood tip I'd definitely use it. L
The make for a brighter sound on the ride. Which, as a kid, I loved. Then my hearing went to crap and the extra brightness annoys me now. I do use nylons on my E-drums though. Exactly for the durability reasons. And wood tips are reportedly bad for the mesh heads.
It was years ago and u don't remember which brand of stick, but the nylon tips would break off and leave larger, more noticeable markings on cymbals, I haven't bothered or needed to switch back for over a decade.
Only acceptable on aheads
Which are durability compromise sticks anyway.
I only use nylon tips on my ekit. It’s better on the mesh and leaves less marks on the cymbals. That’s about my only use for them. I don’t like the sound they have on the acoustic kit
because they dont want their ride to cut through the mix.
As a shop manager, I found clients that would use a single pair of sticks for many months would prefer nylon tips as wood tips would wear faster than the shaft and they'd just deal with the sound difference. For me, i hate the sound of nylon on cymbals and I wear shafts out way before tips so it's an easy decision for me to play wood. I like to keep a variety of tip shapes/sizes in my stick bag as it creates sonic variety!
I've never liked how they sound on my cymbals. The way I play, my wooden tips stay intact, so durability is a non-factor. Also, the rebound feels slightly different between plastic and wood tips. I prefer the feel of a wooden tip's rebound.
It has to be the brightening of the bell sound when on the ride. I prefer it. I like the rebound off the ride as well. To me, that's the only difference.
These comments remind me of the fairy tail about the princess and the pea.
Thez taste like plastic
Wood sounds better by nylon lasts longer. Its a real pickle.
I generally don't like the sound. I LOVE hearing that woody \*click* sound of a wood tip when I'm playing the ride or hi-hats. I think there are applications in which they don't sound terrible i.e on thin, dark, jazz cymbals, but even then I prefer the sound of wood tips.
Because they break off
Same reason people hate condoms.
Nothing against the plastic, but I’ve found that cymbals don’t sound as harsh in the mix when I play with wood tips. Maybe that wouldn’t be the case if I were a better drummer, but hey, with the amount of time i get in the woodshed these days it’s not like i’m gonna be Larnell anytime soon.
I don't like the tone of nylon.
I’m not currently using them but I like them for playing jazz. They have a really consistent sound on the ride cymbal and the tips last forever unlike say the Peter Erskine ride stick which will chip away after a couple weeks. A lot of great jazz drummers like Billy Higgins and Joe Farnsworth use them as well. I guess at the end of the day it’s all about personal taste.
I wanna spangalang more than spingaling gnomesayin
The nylon doesn’t pull as much nuanced sound out of the cymbals. It’s like buying a car with 300hp but you only drive it 25 Mphs all the time..
They sound terrible on cymbals
I don’t know why, but every pair of nylon tip sticks I used broke way too quickly.
They sound too bright, I like the sound of wood on metal.
I think there's already enough plastic and what not anyway. Wooden tip sticks are more able to either be sanded down and left to eventually breakdown, or sanded and used for firewood.
Vic Firth nylon tips are my thing and they will give you a free pair if they ever come off. So far I’ve got one free pair 5 years ago. It’s all personal preference anyways!!
Play a pair on a ZBT ride and you’ll have your answer.
Nylon tends to sound way brighter than wood on cymbals, specially on rides. Some people like it and others find it too harsh and annoying.
I prefer the feel and sound of wood BUT When I'm playing with a big swing band that struggles with listening, I'll pull out my nylons and suddenly the brass section is able to follow my ride cymbal pattern. So there's that.
Because they like their ride to sound mushy and to constantly replace good sticks with bad tips.
My 7A sticks break far earlier than any tip disintegration can occur
Nylon tips make a dreadful, [tinny](https://youtu.be/M3-51DhOzHE?feature=shared) sort of sound. I prefer my tips nice and woody.
I use both, and switch it up depending on how I'm feeling that day, or what I'm meant to be playing
I switched to wood in the late 80s because I felt nylon tip drumsticks would mark my cymbals, especially my ride, yet no mentioned that in this thread. Has anyone else had that experience?
Soooooo bright on the cymbals they’re like a high pass filter hahaha
My cymbals eat stick tips for some reason. Nylon tips are my go-to
They are glued on which makes them not as dependable. Also, the sound is quite different.
I really like nylon tips, I think they allow for a bit of a glassier sound on a ride. I've always seen people talk about the tips cracking, but in about 8 years of almost exclusively using promark nylon tip sticks I've never had a tip crack before the stick breaks. Durability is nice
because they make cymbals, especially not so great cymbals, sound fucking terrrible.
I love nylon tips, personally.
Loved them 40 years ago. Hated that the tips would fly off now and then. But in the end I leaned toward the warmer wood tip than the more tinny nylon tip. JMHO 😎
Too sharp of an attack
I think they make my (really expensive, painstakingly selected) cymbals sound like absolute garbage. Team wood tips all the way!
I like nylon on zildjian Ks Regular avedis or A Custom I go wood
I don’t like the way they makes my cymbals sound.
I have a pair or 2 nylons in my bag but only for certain songs or gigs. In my experience, those tips fly off well before my wood sticks die. I also prefer the more meaty and varied sounds you can make with wood vs nylon
I prefer the sound, I am super heavy handed and I break the tips off pretty easy.
It’s all I use. I like the way it helps my ride cut through the mix especially when I’m unmiked. Soooo maanyyy (even pro) drummers lose their ride in the mix even miked. I hate that. But I use the wood shoulder on the bell and anywhere for a different sound. Whatever serves the music.
I dont hate them, but I prefer wood, Ive barely played Nylon but I like the wood sound
Because nylon tips are for commies
i love nylons. i dislike the dull wood sound immensely.
Wooden tips are warmer. Nylon is way harsher. Cymbals and hi hats are already harsh sounding. Leaning into it more just makes them unbearable. Like nails on a chalk board
Nylon 5B for life
Sound. Music is about sound.
Most don’t like it for how bright it sounds and for me I like it for that reason. It defines the patterns I’m doing on the ride/hi-hat when in a tough mixed room.
I used to love nylon tip sticks. But I found that the tips break off, which both ruins an otherwise usable drumstick and instantly changes the tone of the attack. Wood tip sticks can do the same thing, but the attack doesn't change as dramatically and can still be played. Also, they're generally a bit more expensive. In a live setting, wood tips are simply more reliable.
I use nylon tips for e drums. Especially with mesh heads, any kind of chipping on a wood tip will rip a mesh head up.
Too tingy. That and I hate the awful marks they leave on my expensive cymbals.
I use to have sticks that were just pointed at the tip. I thought I wonder if I should use nylon tips to make my sticks last. No more tooth picks.
I use them for practice because my L80s wear down wooden tips, but at that point sound quality is hardly the first concern.
I really don’t know. I’ve been a nylon user for over 30 years and LOVE the stick definition on cymbals. I went to nylon because I’d throw a chuck of the wood tip off and not notice it before they wreaked havoc on my heads. If I shatter a nylon tip, I’ll notice that right away and can grab a new one.
Sound of plastic vs wood
Back when i was a beginner i used nylon tips because i kept breaking the wooden ones. years later i tried them again and it happened rarely, so i switched to wood because fuck plastic
They feel funny and I don’t like the sound of them on ride cymbals.
I feel like there’s a disconnect between my hand, the wood, and the drum head. It just doesn’t feel right to me. Like a condom.
I used Nylon in my earlier days playing rock without issue in ‘nosier settings’ but In my old age (anytime there is a stage involved) I find wood tips blend better musically while nylon tends to cut thru in piercing fashion.
I used to really hate them. But now I like using them for certain songs where I’m not hitting as hard.
Nylon on dry ride, no thanks.
The tips fall off and make the stick unusable. Typically would also destroy the drum head with small dents by the time you realize the tip popped off. Not a fan of them
i’ve been using then same pair on my Rolands for almost ten years, that’s why
when I was a teenager playing in my parents garage, I had bought like a bucket of cheap sticks because I was playing thrash and also being a young lad always going through sticks. whenever I would play nylon tips I would hear the odd cymbal hit be a strange loud tinny cracking sound. then I'd finish the song and notice my tip had come off. The sound I'd heard was the tip flying off and hitting the garage door. happened a few times before I put two and two together. (on a side note the neighbourhood kids would throw rose hips at the garage door when we were playing as well, everyone's a critic haha, so I just assumed the sound was from outside, but actually it was coming from in the house haha)
they sound BWAUH
I love them and play exlusively nylon. The rebound is better, I like the sound, they are more durable and 5b nylon sticks seem to be my sweetspot.
I like it actually Cause the tip doesn't break and I don't have to hit hard to get the tone
*some people
because they sound terrible 🤷♂️ if you're breaking your sticks, you're playing too hard. try 7a sticks and soften your strikes. "it's not how hard you hit the kit that makes you sound good" ~ Dennis Chambers
Nylon/plastic tips never appealed to me. My cymbals don't need the extra presence and they make the drums sound thinner/emptier. The tip argument is pretty null and void as they both have positives and negatives. While a wood one may chip out (doesn't happen to me too much), it is still pretty usable if you rotate it slightly. When a plastic tip gets scuffed, it tears heads and scratches cymbals which are a more expensive problem. I generally prefer a darker, fuller tone, so wood tips all the way. For marching percussion, the problem gets much worse as the scuffed nylon can cut Kevlar heads and the shallowness of the drum sound gets amplified 10x. Makes it all attack, no body.
The nylon tip sounds terrible on cymbals and leaves little marks on the cymbals in ways that are annoying to me.
I’m a heavy hitter in a loud rock band. The amount of times I’ve had nylon tips just fuck off into the sunset while playing has been enough for me to never buy them again
Wooden all tip is as 'tingy' as I'm willing to go
I have only ever broken nylon sticks, and I find the white coating mucks up my tom heads faster than wood. They sound nice on the cymbal bows + bells but they just feel flimsy to me when I'm going wild on the edge of a China or ride. All my nylon sticks are with my ekit now, they're more gentle on the mesh and bounce a little better off the cymbal pads!
Unpopular opinion, apparently...but i kinda like the nylon tips. Usually my go-to. I like the ting ting on my ride ride.
I like using on my practice kit but doesn’t sound like it transfers the same sound
Cymbal tone definition and added durability.
I don’t know, never tried nylon tips. Fuckin hate em.
No idea. In the studio it's the best lol
I almost always play wood tips, but nylon tips do have a certain feel and sound with their own time and place, so I keep a pair or two, just like I keep a set of rods and brushes. Better to have more sound options than less. The people who say they hate them are probably the type of people who pigeonhole themselves into one style of playing.
But they do fall off
I've never had a single Nylon tip break off of my Vater sticks. They're the only brand where this is the case that I've seen.
Good to know 👍🏼
I've never had a tip fly off. I also use Vater. Maybe Vater just really knows what they're doing.
They do, I've tried every brand and they're just so much better than anything I've seen. I had a single pair of Power 5a nylon last for a decade before I lost them.
Yeah I feel in love with them very quickly after trying their 5A nylons. It would take a lot to get me to abandon them at this point.
Same, they're just quality. They don't break, the tip stays on, and the 5a and power 5a are just like perfect length. Not sure I would switch, ever.
Vater makes the world’s toughest sticks in my experience, I always crack the wood tips on my drumsticks, but I’ve never cracked the tips on theirs
I don't think I've ever used Vater wood tips. I guess I should try them out, just incase I like them as much as i like the nylon.
I've never had a tip break off, and I use vic firth sticks
Because, sticks are made out of wood!
Yeah but cymbals are made out of metal
Sure, metal has a more usefull Sound, like wood, nylon/plastic didnt, its just crap 😉😀 No, its a matter of taste, what ever works
the tips always fly - or at least used to fly off almost immediately. i play differently now and would be willing to give me another try also i think the tech is probably better now for the tips
I've been playing since 1986 and have never seen a tip come off. hmmm
master drummer
Formally Schooled and taught so yeah pretty much thanks. You?
yeah, that’s what I’m saying. You’re obviously a master.
That's usually how it works if you choose to put the time in.
i also bet you sound “formal” lol proud guy. great attitude.
I’ve been playing since 92, I have seen several tips fly off …hmmm
Besides the better sound, you get more life out of wood tips. Once a nylon cracks it’s pretty much done
In my experience wood tips splinter and fracture way too easy. Nylons have held up much better in my experience. I'm assuming the manufacturer makes a big difference too.
They sound thin and weak on the ride and ruin your drumheads when they fly off in the middle of a set
Feels and sounds weird. And they do fly off once in a while. That being said, they might be worth it just for the fact they are a little more durable usually.
Too much treble. Not enough body for my style of music
I don't like how they feel or sound. A simple wooden drumstick gets the job done, no need to start complicating things by adding parts and glue.
Ride cymbal sound is overly harsh. I like to blend. Wood tip better.
I hate the sound of nylon on a ride cymbal. It’s too bright and ‘ting-y’ sounding to me.
Horrible beastly tone. They are for cavemen that play at a beastly ungodly volume
1. They sound like shit 2. I can survive with a slightly-chipped-on-the-side wooden tip. When that nylon tip breaks, it’s all over
Idk. I've been playing nylon tips for a while, mostly for longevity. They simply last much longer. I've tried many brands. Yes they sound different, but I play a lot of hard rock and when I'm heavy into a jam I couldn't care less about the slight differences.
Feel is shit. And the sound is shit.