5 best drumsticks for metal drumming

Throughout my many years playing drums, I’ve tried a lot of different drumsticks. While I haven’t always played metal, I always leaned towards rock at the very least, sometimes jazz. I know that I personally have gone through a lot of issues trying to find the right stick for me, and so I’m writing this to give some perspective on some popular (and not as popular) drumsticks. Keep in mind that this is how I personally feel about these stick types, and everyone is different! That being said, I still think that my write up here can help people playing metal make a good decision on sticks.

Bottom Line

First of all, I wanted to make one important thing very clear: Don’t use metal drumsticks if you care about your cymbals. I guess you could argue that metal drumsticks last a super long time without breaking, but also they’re the worst. Additionally, if you’re not a very experienced drummer, there’s a good chance your technique when hitting the cymbals is going to make you more likely to break them with metal sticks. Let me clarify that while this article is about drumsticks for metal, I am specifically talking about the blanket genre of music and not about metal the material, but now when I say don’t get metal drumsticks I’m talking about the material being used to make the sticks of drumming. Cool I hope I cleared that up for anyone who was confused. Also if you’ve never seen a cymbal hit slowed down before, check out this video so you can really understand what you’re doing when you strike your cymbals:

There are several reasons why drumsticks are made out of wood, and the ones that I think are most important are tone and vibration dampening. The first of these is best explained by experiencing it for yourself, but basically metal and plastic drumsticks just don’t sound the same as wood drumsticks. Wood sticks produce a much brighter tone out of drums and cymbals, and since wood has been the go-to medium for sticks a long time, most drums and cymbals are designed to be hit by wood drumsticks.

The more important factor here is definitely the vibration dampening, though. When you hit a cymbal with a lot of force, that energy has to go somewhere. Some of it is transferred (obviously) to the cymbal, which vibrates and creates the sound that you’re after. Left over energy comes back into your hands, wrists, and worst of all, your elbows. However, some of this is mitigated by using wood drumsticks, more so than it would be by aluminum sticks. The explanation behind this is that molecules in metal are much more densely packed together and thus transfer energy much more efficiently. Anyway, now that I have elegantly convinced you that wood sticks are the way to go, let’s get into the specific pairs. If you’re confused about how drumstick numbering works, then check out this article that explains the numbering system in detail.

Vic Firth American Classic 5B

First up is the tried and true 5B. The 5B is one of the most popular drumsticks, and many drummers start out playing either these or the 5As. I’m just going to come out and say that while 5As are great beginner sticks, they’re not really great for metal, and the tips break way to easily. Back when I was really starting to play behind a kit all the time, I demolished 5As (and honestly 5Bs too). Much of this had to do with playing style and inexperience, but I still think I would have been better off with some thicker 5Bs from the start.

The 5B is around 15mm in diameter with a 16″ length (I know I’m mixing units just go with it). This puts it at a great middle-ground for both thickness and length. I think these sticks are great for metal, but mainly for beginners who are probably not going to want one of the super heavy sticks like the 2B, and also don’t want to get something super expensive if they’re breaking sticks due to technique. I originally started this article with the intent to hit one stick from 4 different major manufacturers, but I have now decided I want to include some info about a few other Vic Firth models before I move on.

American Classic Rock Drumsticks

The Vic Firth rock drumsticks are actually super nice to play with, and suit a lot of more heavy-handed styles. These sticks are based off of the thicker 2B stick, and so they come in at 16mm in diameter and 16.625″ in length. This makes them a bit thicker than the 5B and also a bit longer, so you can hit all 60 of your cymbals on your massive Neil Peart-style (it’s pronounced “peert” btw) wrap-around kit.

I’ve met a lot of drummers over the years who really like these, yet I have never tried them so I can’t say I actually have a personal opinion about them. I’m sure they are great sticks if the amazing Craig Reynolds (not the Lions player) uses them.

American Classic Metal Drumsticks

Now if you were reading the last bit about the American Classic Rock sticks and thought to yourself, “what if they were just slightly longer?” Then I have some great news for you: The American Classic Metal sticks are just slightly longer than the rocks, clocking in at 17″ (they’re also .1mm thicker, allegedly). I have also never used these sticks but they’re basically a super long 2B, so if that’s what you’re looing for then great.

I’d also like to add that the tips are basically the same on both of these sticks, they have oval-shaped tips whereas the 5Bs have more tear drop-shaped tips. I can only imagine that some metal drummer went to a rep at Vic Firth and was like “Hey I really like the rock sticks but I feel like I need something just a little bit more hardcore because I play metal” and they just made the stick half an inch longer and called it a day.

ProMark Matt Halpern Signature

I personally have never liked any of ProMarks’ sticks. Even growing up, I always thought they felt too thin or the wood was grainy and weird to hold. That’s not to say that ProMark doesn’t make good sticks, I’m fairly confident that every big stick manufacturer out there makes some decent stuff, otherwise they wouldn’t be popular, they just weren’t for me. Until the Matt Halpern signature stick came out.

The tagline for these sticks is; “Size of a 2B, but plays like a 5B.” The sticks upon first look seem absolutely massive, and the tip is much larger than the usual 5B tip. If you listen to Matt’s own commentary about the stick, he explains that he wanted to make a product that FOR himself in order to be the best product for what he does. He intentionally made a stick that hits hard and makes an impression, so it has a shorter taper and larger tip for doing just that.

I believe these sticks are some of the best ones you can use for metal right now, mostly because they’re so unique. There’s something to be said for the classics, but this stick is meant to feel very natural and add a sort of “follow-through” to each hit.

Vater Fatback 3A

Onto the final stick…. the vater fatback is my favorite stick to play, and I’ve been using them ever since I was introduced to them by another drummer in high school. Vater was never as big of a brand among drummers I knew, and I had always played VIc Firth up to this point. But man, I loved these sticks the second I held them in my hands.

Let’s keep in mind that all of this is super subjective, and everyone has different preference, especially for something like a drumstick. The 3A is really sick because it’s a bit thicker and longer than the 5A/5B. The taper is also shorter, similarly to Matt’s signature stick, and because of that you get really great attack on tom hits. Because of the thickness, you get a lot more out of your cymbals, and if you’re hitting with good technique, you won’t break them. I personally went from breaking sticks every week to almost never breaking sticks until I played a pair of 3As so much that the tips wore down. I also felt like the rimshots that you can get with these sticks are so much nicer than with a thinner stick, for the same reason marching snare sticks are so incredibly thick.

If you have a stick that you like better than these for metal drums, leave a comment below and we can discuss!

Honorable mention goes to the Tama Anup Sastry/Alex Rüdinger stick. I haven’t played any Tama sticks before but I’ve always wanted to pick up these and try, mostly because of the sweet barrel-shaped tip, but also because I love both of these drummers. Check out this video below: