NAMM 2014

[electrizer]

Just drop it, guys... Let´s go back at how Yamaha moved to China and Vinnie is loose with no endorsements...

Watching that Yamaha promo vid was actually quite funny to me

"Handcrafted since 1967" - WOW
"Yamaha Absolute" - WOW
"Hybrid Maple" - WOW
"Made in China" -

[Rod]

Some random thoughts / observations of NAMM:

1) Didn't know these 3 switched over (from Yamaha, no less) until I saw their faces on the Sakae endorser wall - just as Rodge is pictured in: Ndugu Chancler, Kirk Covington, and Gary Novak.

2) Zach Danziger, and the Kerope line of Zildjians that he helped develop, sounded great demoing at the Zildjian booth.

3) Every year the Bass Bash held on Thursday and Friday at JT Schmidt's probably showcase some of the better drum performances of NAMM. Highlights for me this year were Stanley Randolph with bassist Ethan Farmer, Ron Bruner Jr. with Hadrien Feraud, and Robert 'Sput' Searight with Snarky Puppy.

4) Saturday afternoon I just happen to be walking past the Kala instrument booth which features the U-Bass, that mini-scaled bass guitar. There was a guy 'trying out' an electric solid body model, pretty much shredding that thing up and down. I stopped to watch and listen for a minute because he sounded great. It wasn't until he was done and got up to leave that I caught his name on his badge - it was Gergo Borlai.

Could anyone who attended give some commentary / reviews of the Bonham Tribute show and / or the Tama Drums Anniversary show?

[Paul Marangoni]

Did you even read my post?

Yes, and I watched the video. I don't understand what was so terrible about his diction or enunciation. You feel that Sonor should have someone who speaks English better. I think he has excellent command of the English language (which has its roots in Germany). Much better than my German, that's for sure.

[Christopher]

Not drums, but holy $hit this is cool…

[Odd-Arne Oseberg]

I'm quite worried about the new Vinnie stick.

You poor baby!

Baldness and general plumpness would support that claim, however age and height does not.

If he hadn't changed brand they'd probably kept making two versions.

However, I this is a good time as any to venture into making my own.

Only improvement I could ever see with that stick is no finish what so ever(though I don't mind this one too much) and making the exact same stick in all types of different woods. I changed for a new pair just yesterday which was on the heavier side and I love it. Just phenomenal. I have some AC 2Bs that I use for certain types of wrist based pad work, but that's it.

It's just my personal taste. There are no rules that say you have to agree.

I'm just as annoyed by the local farm where I could great raw cheese and butter closing shop, and if I could I would get myself a couple of cows and goats to make up for that.

On further inspection it seems they just added 1/16th instead of 1/2 inch which I heard. That might be a good thing, so maye with a touch os sandpaper or steel wool I'll be fine.

[amoergosum]

Not drums, but holy $hit this is cool…

Wow...very impressive!

[Julián Fernández]

Go grab a couple of bricks just to be safe... You can´t go wrong stocking sticks (or cymbal, snares, heads... hahaha)

[Paul Marangoni]

It's just my personal taste. There are no rules that say you have to agree.

I was just taken with your "worried" statement. There must be a thousand different makes and models of sticks available. You owe it to yourself to experiment with some different sticks to see which ones feel good to you. You'd be surprised what you can feel comfortable with after only a week or two.

Every two or three years I buy a couple pairs of about five or six different models, from a few different companies (ProMark, Vater, Vic Firth, Regal) and see if anything feels better than what I'm using at the time.

[bstocky]

I do the same thing with drum heads, just to see if there's anything "better".

[Matthijs Ament]

I've always been trying different sticks. And I've found trough the years that my liking changes and also depends on the current musical style I'm playing. There are a few models I keep coming back too: Regaltip 9A [funk/soul/latin] Vic Firth SD4 combo [ultra soft music] Vic Firth Weckl 2 [e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.] Vic Firth SD10 swinger [big band/orchestra] and my fav of them all the Zildjian Vinnie Colaiuta. Together with the Weckl stick an all-round workhorse that wants to be 'Gruberized' and provides for GREAT sound. Forget the shells and lugs, STICKS are half the sound. So, Odd-Arne is not a baby. I'm with him for 100% Zildjian sticks are a total different animal then VF sticks. I'd say that VF uses a different kind of hickory [similar to Regaltip] with a lot of 'flex' and 'give'. The shock when hitting hard with the Zildjian VC stick though, is almost half the impact compared to the VF 5B. Also, I find the Zildjian stick to be 'faster' then the VF 5B which might have to do with the shorter overall length [approx 4 mill metric] The sound is also different due to the [I think] higher density of the wood used by Zildjian. The sticks also 'chip' differently. I started playing 7 years ago with the Vinnie Stick, and by now I even dare to play Jazz with it. It actually helped/forced me to get a better stick control. I'm also worried that VF is gonna turn this baby into something with a tad less attack and a little more hand break. But, the weight ratio's will be top notch :-]