Ahead Drumsticks

[drummer_mp3]

Ahead Drumsticks are probably something every drummer has heard about or seen. If not I'll explain what they are. They're a three peice synthetic drumstick. The three peices are the rod, the sleeve, and a tip. The rod is pouder-coated black aluminium and is filled with a shock absorbant material. The sleeve and tip are made of ABS plastic.

First off I have to say, I own a pair of these. They have lasted me a good four months, with only one change of sleeves. I paid fifty dollars Canadian for them. I'd have to say that for price to durability ratio, this beats any drumstick which lasts and average of two weeks or so for ten Canadian. The sleeves cost five.

Another thing to note is that they supposedly reduce wrist fatigue by absorbing shocks. This is true but they also reduce bounce from the skin. It also feels awkwards the first few times you strike a cymbal. I prefer wood sticks for this point.

Also the Ahead sticks are slightly heavier. It may seem disadvantageous but in reality it isn't. They don't change weight with use, unlike wood sticks. Ahead sticks are always weight balanced, even after several months.

One thing though, the tip is very solid making for a very loud sounding stick. It is very hard to play quietly with these sticks. If you play soft jazz there is no way you can play lightly unless you barely hit your drums. By barely I mean skin or knick. Thank god I play metal.

Overall these sticks are worth a try. Altough they are heavy and absorb the bounce from the skin, they last long and don't change weight or shape. I recommend these to rock drummers and drummers who dont want to spend ten dollars every two weeks. Give them a try. 7/10

[Seafroggys]

One thing though, the tip is very solid making for a very loud sounding stick. It is very hard to play quietly with these sticks. If you play soft jazz there is no way you can play lightly unless you barely hit your drums. By barely I mean skin or knick. Thank god I play metal.

And what's wrong with playing jazz?

If D&P finds out about this, you're a dead man.

[chaseharrell]

I think he means it as thank god he plays rock, or the sticks would be rather useless to him. I don't think he really ment it as anything is wrong with Jazz.

[SonorKen]

You have to be honest when posting this review. Aheads are notorious for destroying cymbals. So, ya can buy drum sticks at 10 bucks a pop, or you can replace a few cymbals every year at 100 to 200 bucks a piece.

I'll buy wood sticks.....

[Half Life]

I'm with Ken. Sticks for me. Aheads can eat my feses.

/by the way, great user title ken :lol:

[Seafroggys]

And whats with destroying sticks every week? I maybe crack a stick every four months at least. I had one pair that lasted me 30 months!

[drummer_mp3]

SonorKen,

I have to say that I've heard stories about such things happening. To me thats not really a problem since my cymbals aren't level (strait or whatever you call it). Plus I don't worry about my cymbals, my skins are what worry me. These sticks can fly through almost anything.

And Seafroggys, I meant they're (the sticks) impossible to play jazz with. I love jazz music. Also breaking wood sticks is as easy as snapping your fingers (I guess my hihat has a problem). I broke two new pairs in a week. How do you makeyours last so **** long. I also have to mention that where I live, our basement is kind of cold so wood does become fragile.

[Dummer'n'Drummer]

I think I'll stick with my Vics...

[Seafroggys]

Maybe because I don't play metal all the time is the reason why my sticks last so long.

I play a slew of rock, funk, jazz, and rudimental drumming (and I mean real swing big band jazz, I've seen people say they're playing jazz when its just light rock beats) and my sticks last about four months. I also play in a heavy metal band. If you want your drums to be louder, instead of hittin gwith all arms, maybe get single ply heads, tune them up, and watch how loud they are, unless you already do that, in which case the reason why you're playing so loud is that you need to overpower 400 watt Marshall stacks or something.

Also I got good technique, which IMO is probably the bigger reason.

[isojoe420]

Well, this review convinced me. I will now buy some AHEADS and rock out. They must be the best sticks ever. WOOOOO!!

[puppet.master]

ill stick to wood

the only pair ive ever broken was the pair that came with the kit

[ionscorp]

From What I hear.. Ahead blows.. It causes the drum kit to screw up more often.. Ill stay with wood..

[MXboy]

I like my Vic's

[davo_guitarman]

i really dont like Ahead sticks, they kill cymbals, i tried some out in a store once and no offence threadstarter but THEY SUCKED, they were too heavy, and way to strong for a nice K custom Crash, i felt so guilty of hitting that cymbal with these beastly cymbal killers, so yeah thats about all i can say...........

[Brokensticks]

All i can say for advice to all drummers Don't use aheads..

[Rayne264]

if you break your wood tip sticks too often you should try the plastic tip, a pair lasts me months

[Dummer'n'Drummer]

plastic tips break even faster guy...

[alphamonkey]

I bought my friend Lars Ulrich Signitures by Ahead and he thinks they are excellent. I've used them and i think they feel really nice. He only uses other sticks for drum class in school. Oh, and not single part of them broke yet....and he's had them for a long while.

[bobby__johnny]

i just bought my first pair of sticks since april....no need for Aheads

[KKKKKocaine]

I've broken 2 pairs of Aheads :upset: mebbe it was just subconcious hatred and I decided to destroy some other drummers sticks?

[puppet.master]

I bought my friend Lars Ulrich Signitures by Ahead and he thinks they are excellent. I've used them and i think they feel really nice. He only uses other sticks for drum class in school. Oh, and not single part of them broke yet....and he's had them for a long while.


i feel the pain of his cymbals

[Chester]

my philosophy with aheads is, id rather risk breaking a stick rather than a cymbal...

[dumbassdrummer]

"I've broken 2 pairs of Aheads mebbe it was just subconcious hatred and I decided to destroy some other drummers sticks?"

How?

Seriously, I have no idea how you could break 2 pairs of Aheads... ever.

[KKKKKocaine]

"I've broken 2 pairs of Aheads mebbe it was just subconcious hatred and I decided to destroy some other drummers sticks?"

How?

Seriously, I have no idea how you could break 2 pairs of Aheads... ever.

I'm a very angry boy.

Dunno really, I'd get on the drummers kit to play around. (I do play drums, I'm not one of these guitarist people who go on peoples kit and smash it up :)) play some stuff, nothing really extreme. And then the drummer would be complaining about big cracks in the aheads :confused:
I don't see the need for them really, I've had my Vic Firth Metal N's for almost a year now and they're invincible.

[Der Meister]

"I've broken 2 pairs of Aheads mebbe it was just subconcious hatred and I decided to destroy some other drummers sticks?"

How?

Seriously, I have no idea how you could break 2 pairs of Aheads... ever.

rimshots break aheads, just another reason why they suck

[drummerboi91]

i like my Vater sticks.

[alphamonkey]

i feel the pain of his cymbals
Actually he hasn't had a single cymbol crack in his life....

[Seafroggys]

Yeah, but I bet his CYMBALS have...

haha j/k but I had to say it

[Jezen]

Your not supposed to use rimshots, or your ride bell. This alone makes Aheads pointless. But I gotta say, congrats to the threadstarter for actually writing a review of his opinion, and not "Yesh I luB JoEI JrDiSUN COz He UsEss AhiDs!"

[Brokensticks]

Aheads are a way for the company to make a lot of money. They don't care if it wrecks your cymbAls they advertise that they dont break and its true that the shouldnt if you dont use the ride bell/rimshots. But can somone tell me why people still buy them?? They kill cymbAls?

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

Dude people are just dumb if they wanna waste the cash on replacing cymbals thats their hard luck not ours we know better

[HitHardDrums55]

aheads feel like crap, they sound like crap i cringe at the sound of a snare drum hit with an Ahead drumstick (but thats just my opinion), they destroy heads and cymbals, theyre 30-40 bucks US dollars...you can get all wood sticks for 5-7 USD and not have to replace em that much....wood is the way to go...i dont even reccomend nylon tips because if that ever cracks you're doomed unless you have backup sticks...wood tips can crack and you can still play them!

however, if you play electronic drums i guess Ahead sticks could be alright...but whats the point if you could easily spend 5-7 bucks on normal sticks and just get stick weights that you can take on and off...its definately more convenient

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

I was chattin to my mate tha works in a music shop and he says the only reason he stocks them is coz he kept gettin loads of requests for them of rly sad metallica fans a nu metal kids so he got them in and he now sells loads of them and loads of new cymbals its just silly

[Pleaseme]

I have AAX cymbals and two thin splashes, and I have never had a problem with using Ahead sticks on them. I use wood mostly, but I use the aheads as backups if my wooden ones break. Never have I broken a skin or cymbal by using Aheads, even after prolonged use. However, I still don't like them, because of the problems mentioned earlier: No rimshots, no ride bell, and bad sound b/c of weight and the tips. I don't understand how I havent broken anything by using them.

[HitHardDrums55]

I have AAX cymbals and two thin splashes, and I have never had a problem with using Ahead sticks on them. I use wood mostly, but I use the aheads as backups if my wooden ones break. Never have I broken a skin or cymbal by using Aheads, even after prolonged use. However, I still don't like them, because of the problems mentioned earlier: No rimshots, no ride bell, and bad sound b/c of weight and the tips. I don't understand how I havent broken anything by using them.
how can you use AHEAD sticks to replace WOOD sticks? ESPECIALLY if you're playing a gig!?!?!? it will incredibly alter the sound of your drums!

[Loyton]

Your not supposed to use rimshots, or your ride bell. This alone makes Aheads pointless. But I gotta say, congrats to the threadstarter for actually writing a review of his opinion, and not "Yesh I luB JoEI JrDiSUN COz He UsEss AhiDs!"


No. More like, "y35H i luV ah3adz because they use jo3y!"

[slickrick1688]

Id just like to say this in response to your pair of aheads lasting you 4 months. I have a pair of steve gadd signiture sticks that have lasted me just as long and are still going strong.

[drumass04]

A few things I noticed when I tried my friends AHEADS:

1. Stupid plastic round thing between the rod and sleeve, this really does rub your fingers up the wrong way. It is worse than wearing no undies, and wearing wet skin tight jeans.

2. What is the point in a drum stick that can't play rimshots and can't be played lightly? Dynamics are your friends.

3. If you were breaking a pair of wood sticks every two weeks or so, you seriously need to take a look at your technique. I've never broken a drumstick in my life. Ok, I put them into retirement after about 3 months, This means I'm paying maybe £30 a year on sticks. You are paying £50 just for the first time. Then you have to pay an extra £5-10 for the sleeve each time the sleeve cracks.

[davo_guitarman]

im better off sticking with my millenium II's so light yet so strong havent broken after 8-10 months of heavy metal/rock/jazz playing

[Ming-a-Ling]

I was chattin to my mate tha works in a music shop and he says the only reason he stocks them is coz he kept gettin loads of requests for them of rly sad metallica fans a nu metal kids so he got them in and he now sells loads of them and loads of new cymbals its just silly

Yeah, I know if I owned a music store I would definetly stock them. Not only are you going to be getting $30+ for a pair of drumsticks, you'll be making money on extra cymbal sales too. That's business savy :D

[derryk]

im better off sticking with my millenium II's so light yet so strong havent broken after 8-10 months of heavy metal/rock/jazz playing
i find promark lasts a long time (especially the millenium II's..go figure).. the feel isn't right for me, but it's not terrible. i prefer vaters or firths i think.

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

Yeah i dont see why people say aheads are so good coz they last if you play properly wood sticks can last ages

[rishjo15]

my wood sticks last long enough

truth of the matter is...the less dense your sticks are, the longer the cymbals last and vice versa

[Brokensticks]

The length of your cymbal life and your stick life is also determined by technique. A cymbal should not break.

[Aaron]

if you break your wood tip sticks too often you should try the plastic tip, a pair lasts me months
if you break sticks, get a teacher and learn technique.

[taman4life]

i agree with aaron

[Oliver1]

wood > ahead

[taman4life]

i had ahead sticks b4 they suck wood sticks are way better aheads

[Zildjian]

Aheads broke my 10in A splash and a 20in ZBT ride......Stupid buy on my part. It didn't cost me anythting becaue i had a warrenty but still aheads are a peice of crap