Ahead Drumsticks 5B

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

Don't waste your money or your time, brethren. Wood sticks last 3 TIMES AS LONG as the sleeves, at least for my style of play. I'd rather spend my energy dusting off drums than spending countless minutes and hours messing with supergluing tips and baking/blowdrying sleeves, IF the sticks themselves happen to survive. I went back to my Pro Mark All American Hickory 2B's and haven't looked back. While the idea of an unbreakable stick is innovative, some massively better quality control is needed to justify the cost per-pair.
So I bought a pair of 5B's, thinking that my days of constantly cleaning sawdust off my beautiful DWs and shelling out $$ to replace broken sticks were over. Boy was I dead wrong. Snapped right in two at the collar (with the sleeve still pristine) after about 2 weeks of playing. LIKE AN IDIOT, I shelled out another $$ on 2B's to replace them. Thinking it was just bad luck. SNAP, same thing after 3 weeks. The only good feature about these is they don't leave sawdust all over everything. Hence the "2" rating.
The shafts are hollow aluminum, folks. NOT durable at all, especially if you play a lot of rimshots (which I do). The tips fly off at any given moment, poking holes in all but the strongest of heads. Sure, you can superglue them, but that makes replacing the sleeves a tad difficult. They probably would be better suited to less aggressive styles of music than hard rock or metal, but sadly that's the demographic Ahead markets toward.
No value at all. The sleeves wear out rather quickly (if you don't break the shaft anyway) so you'll still be constantly buying replacement sleeves, new heads after the tips fly off and break them, and lots of cymbal polish to remove the scuff marks the tips leave before they fly off. The grip absolutely sucks so you have to spend even more on grip tape or gloves just to hold on to the things. I ate $$ on two pairs of sticks and replacement sleeves over the span of just over a month. which is TWICE as much as I spend on wood sticks in the same timeframe.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I've liked the feel and balance with stick wrap on them. I've used many pairs over the years. Different sizes. I am a light player. Country and some light jazz. Great for carpall tunnel users and heavy hitters. (for shock) They just don't last long and too costly and LIMITED Warranty. They are thin walled hollow aluminum with plastic sleeves. The big guys get endorsed with them naturally. Advertisement is everything.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

You could compare the Ahead aluminum stick to wooden sticks like an aluminum baseball bat compares to a wooden one. There may be advantages, the big disadvantage being how jarring the aluminum is.

Benefits include that the sticks never warp, and the expense if offset by replaceable tips and tapers. They are heavier than regular drum sticks, and I don't care for the way they feel.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

The math adds up to buy these but the headache isn't worth it. I play in a worship band twice a week and break these every two months, while when I play with $10 wooden sticks I break a pair a week. So it might be more economically friendly to buy these but after going through all the pain of replacing the $4 sleeves every week (which includes heating them up with haird dryer, baking them, or boiling them) new tips, and grip tape, it's just not worth it. Especially since they make your cymbals sound dull, and toms sound dead. After three pairs of the speed metal sticks and all 6 of them breaking at the base of the stick were the sleeve was never worn, I might as well spend the extra money on something that doesn't destroy the sound of my drums and cause me to worry about them breaking without notice.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

The sticks feel un balanced. My opinion is they are very tip heavy.

I bought them because I was told they reduced vibration, but I cannot tell the difference between hollow aluminum or solid wood

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

don't buy wooden sticks. they are unreliable, and ultimately WILL break. these sticks are light enough to accomplish any style/genre crossover.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I played in a band for several years and halfway through I got my hands on a pair of these. Very reliable, I didn't have an issue with going through sleeves, though the aluminum shaft did eventually meet it's match with me.

The sounds they generate are consistent, however particularly on cymbals they have a distinct difference from wood, even nylon tipped wood.

That being said, practice how you preform, don't go switching to these for all of your practice and then expect everything to sound the same going back to wood for shows. Always have a backup too, if these break you can't just use the broken shaft like with wood.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I have played with these sticks for the past 10 years. I have found they hold up well and occasionally need the tips replaced. In 10 years I have went through 4 pairs with about one set of replacement tips per set. I don't change the sleeves because they are a pain and find that just buying a new set works better. Well worth the money.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I have had 3 pairs of the 5B's for a few years now. I used them for months every day and after cracking two Zildjian A Custom Crashes and a hybrid I stopped for about a year. I am a powerful player... I play a few hours a day so wooden sticks leave my drums and carpet covered with shavings and wood dust. I can't deal with that all over my Masterworks kit so I went back to these. The grip is good but it wears out after a few months. The tips come loose so you'll have to put lock tight blue or teflon tape on the threads. The plastic sheaths crack after a few months and they are tough to find. The price is double what these should be but for me it's worth it to not have to spend 10 hours cleaning on and around by beautiful kit... Even with some expensive cracked cymbals. I'm older now and I have money... take your risks accordingly with these...

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I like that both ends are made of the same material because I play with a matched grip and my left hand plays with the butt end of the stick. They also last a very long time before "splitting" without leaving splinters on my drum heads.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

The price and the fact that I did crack a cymbal pretty bad while using these loses a couple of points. Still a good product. I may have bad technique, and I can accept that, but if I have been using wooden sticks in the studio last week, not only would I have broken at least a couple of sticks in the middle of all those takes, but I would have littered the place with wood chips. These kept me from losing a take to a broken stick and making a fool of myself by opening a saw mill in the middle os someone's studio.
These things are a great product. They are designed to do exactly what they say: they don't break.
They seemed produced well. I did crack a cymbal while playing with these, but there was also a small crack on the edge of the cymbal already. I don't know that the cymbal wouldn't have cracked using wooden sticks.
I can't help but wish that they were cheaper, but I also know that they will outlast numerous pairs or wooden sticks, so they effectively pay for themselves.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

Finally decided to buy a set of 5A's and wow. I was very pleased. They are very lightweight and add quite a bit of speed to you playing. I also noticed when hittin the cymbals they add a brighter louder tone to them and also deeper darker tones from your toms. I am very pleased with these sticks. my opinion, do it, go buy.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I love my Ahead drum sticks, I am in a hard rock band and always been a hard hitter. I found with these sticks I didn't have to hit as hard to my sound I wanted. the anti-vibe really helped. The "Sweet spots" Last a lot longer than wood sticks. and its a minimal cost to replace the nylon sleeves and they're recyclable.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

If you're playing hard, linear grooves, like ac/dc or metallica, you will love these sticks. The power they generate is spectacular. However, for more jazzy, gracenote-filled stuff I'm more comfortable with wood sticks. For me, wood is also better for punk stuff as well. The flex the sticks create can act as your enemy if you're playing 8th notes above 170bpm. But it's that flex that lets them kill on slower, heavier rock grooves. It's all in what you're playing (Not having to replace these every few practices, like you would with wood sticks, will save you a bundle as well).I don't think it's a coincidence that the drummers who endorse these tend to fit a certain style of playing. If you play music like Lars or Phil Rudd do, you'll love the sticks. If you're doing rimshots and double-stroke rolls in the middle of complex grooves, the stick flex will take the fun out of your playing.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I wasnt sure if $30 for a pair of sticks was worth it, but after going through $28 worth of Pro-Mark 747B Super Rock sticks in four shows, it seemed time. I bought these at a Sam Ash and the guy said he has a pair and loves them, I have to say the same thing, however I need some grip tape or gloves. I still use my 747's as back ups in case these break. 2 months and tons of shows and still holding up! great job ahead for making a great product.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

I have been using these drumsticks for a while now and i needed to get new one finally. I got some more of the 5a and they broke within a week of getting them. The old ahead were made so much better then the ones they have now don't waste your money on expensive sticks that break very easy.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

You might think they are good quality but they aren't. Sure they "never break" but think why. They are made of metal and to prevent metal to metal contact on cymbals that have plastic sleeves. The sleeves have a shorter life span then traditional oak or hickory drum sticks. And for those who don't know, nylon tips make your cymbals look dirty and unattractive. And if you've got nice expensive Paiste cymbals or any cymbals for that matter, then your going to be forking over dollars upon dollars in sleeves and cymbal shiner. I know. I used them. They are a waste. I suggest Neil Peart 747 series by Promark. Those are light and long lasting

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

These are GREAT sticks !! Bought my first pair about 6 mos. ago. I play them all the time, except when I need mallets or brushes for a soft part or song. The're a little heavier than wood, but they will not break. The handle is a little slick, but I wrapped them with stick tape; hav'nt dropped 'em yet. Definitely a solid investment.

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

Always use wood, the sound is unique and unique and not comparable to anything ...
The sensation isn't like the wood...
They break very easily when you are using the technique of rim shot...
Very expensie...

Comments about Ahead Drumsticks:

Great stick to use. Very confortable on the joints. Friendly to the drum kit. Love them!!