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This article is all about the best drumsticks you can find in 2025 and what makes them so good. There are many drumstick reviews out there but none will go into as much detail and information on the target customer’s needs.
For example, beginners and hobbyists often just want cheaper drumsticks whereas professionals are usually willing to pay more for quality, durability and balance. As we’ll see, there are different types of drumsticks which are better suited to you, depending on the instrument and the style of music you play, from rock to pop to jazz and beyond.
We’ll discuss which sticks are better suited to electronic drums as opposed to acoustic drum sets and cymbals. In certain cases we’ve awarded drumsticks with individual titles if we feel that they excel over other brands.
Also, if durability is an issue with you, and you find that wooden drumsticks just don’t last, we have some alternate material suggestions which may work better. Plus there’s a handy guide at the end of this article in which we talk about the makeup of a drumstick, including wood, metal and other synthetic materials.
Here are the best drumsticks 2025:
- Zildjian 5B
- Vic Firth American Classic 7A
- Promark Classic 5A
- Vater 5B Nylon
- Ahead Lars Ulrich
- Vic Firth Kidsticks
- Promark Hot Rods
- Vic Firth Jazz Brushes
- Promark Multi-Purpose Felt Mallet
- Fleor Aluminium Drumsticks
1. Zildjian 5B
Best overall drumstick
Zildjian are best known for their cymbals. They have generations of experience manufacturing cymbals and are favored by many drumming professionals all over the world.
Their 5B drumstick is a cheap and affordable stick which is keenly balanced and is available in either a wooden tip or a nylon tip. When it comes to wooden 5B drumsticks, this offering from Zildjian represents some of the best value for money. Currently a pair will set you back just under $10.
Image credit: Zildjian
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Zildjian 5B’s are a pleasure to play with as they are so well balanced and are made from quality strips of wood. Each stick has a comfortable glossy coat which is enough to provide extra durability but not so much that it affects grip.
These sticks are available in other sizes, such as 7A, 5A and 2B, so if you prefer a different size, do check them out. These drumsticks provide the perfect contrast between weight, balance and shape which is paramount for an enjoyable drumming experience.
2. Vic Firth American Classic 7A
Runner-up drumstick
Vic Firth is one of the heavyweights when it comes to drumstick manufacturing. They have been around a long time and have a great reputation for producing quality drumsticks.
Their American Classic series is one of their most popular and best-selling lines of products. This 7A is a nice light stick which is perfect for jazz or even electronic drumming.
Image credit: Vic Firth
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The 7A is a good beginner size drumstick, especially for kids of ages 7 and over. You’ll find 7A available in most brands. Vic Firth produce quality sticks and, as with most drumstick manufacturers, it comes down to their individual take on the weight, balance and shape of each stick size.
3. Promark Classic 5A
Promark are a popular brand of drumstick and have endorsees from all over the drumming community. Their Hickory series has sticks of all sizes, including 5A, 5B, 7A and 2B.
Promark drumsticks feel slightly bigger than the equivalent in other brands. So, for example, their 5B size has a bigger feel, yet a lighter weight than the same stick made by Zildjian. This may or may not suit your playing style – it’s really up to the individual.
Image credit: Promark
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Promark sticks are comfortable to use and are balanced in such a way that there is slightly more weight at the tip of the stick than other brands of drumsticks. This makes it easier to produce strong double strokes as there is plenty of weight to work with. It can take a bit of getting used to though.
4. Vater 5B Nylon
Vater is a drumstick company which hasn’t been around as long as either Vic Firth, Promark or even Zildjian. They have, however, managed to establish themselves as one of the best around, offering professional level drumsticks at affordable entry-level prices.
You can purchase a pair of their standard drumsticks for less than $8. This makes them over 20% cheaper than other major brands.
Image credit: Vater
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Vater make great drumsticks and it’s no wonder they have professional endorsements from drumming giants such as Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Their sticks are cheap and affordable to drummers on a tighter budget. The build of the stick is similar to Vic Firth’s American Classic range, and like the American Classic’s, these sticks are available in all sizes. They’re very durable sticks too, so you should get a lot of longevity for your buck.
5. Ahead Lars Ulrich
Most durable drumsticks
Speaking of durable sticks, this pair really stands out. If you’re the type of drummer that finds him or herself chewing through wooden drumsticks when you play, then perhaps another material is the solution.
If you find that another size of stick doesn’t help, then maybe these carbon fiber drumsticks are for you. Carbon fiber is a man-made material which is extremely strong and performs well under duress. That makes it a perfect material for making drumsticks with.
These Ahead drumsticks are the most expensive drumsticks on our list. They are priced around $30, or three times the price of a regular pair, but aim to last you much longer. If you like playing with nylon tip drumsticks and don’t mind the feel of synthetic drumsticks, then these could be the answer.
So are they unbreakable drumsticks? Well, sort of. It’s true, they can be broken, but only with excessive and sustained force. Most drummers will get years of use out of one pair without any issues.
Image credit: Ahead
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As the name suggests, these sticks have been endorsed by legendary drummer, Lars Ulrich, of the rock metal band Metallica.
These sticks are all about durability and they will live up to that, within reason. The first thing to go is likely the tip, but that should only be after a lot of use and abuse.
The fact that they are made from carbon fiber means that each stick can be mechanically produced to be the exact same weight. This is something which is hard to do with organic wooden sticks.
6. Vic Firth Kidsticks
Best drumsticks for children
If you’re on the search for a good set of drumsticks for younger drummers, then the chances are that some of the professional level options we’ve mentioned up to now won’t suit. That’s why we’re looking at the Kidsticks by Vic Firth.
These drumsticks are shorter and lighter than normal adult-sized drumsticks. They’re perfectly suited to young drummers of the ages from 3 to 8 approximately. This is just a rough guide. Some kids will graduate onto adult-sized drumsticks earlier than others. They’re available in two colors, blue or pink, and come with wooden tips.
Image credit: Vic Firth
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These drumsticks are only 13 inches in length, which makes them around 3 inches shorter than an average drumstick. They’re light enough for a small child to play effortlessly, but not too light as to have trouble triggering the sensors on electronic drum sets.
Price-wise they’re cheap and cheerful. They’ll set you back just around $7 for a set of blue drumsticks, currently. That’s not a bad price. Young beginners will love these sticks, although eventually all drummers will grow out of them.
7. Promark Hot Rods
Hot Rods are a cool and unique tool for drummers, especially on acoustic drum sets. Hot Rods are like an alternative to the stereotypical drumstick. Instead of being carved from just one piece of wood, Hot Rods consist of multiple smaller strips of wood which are bound together to make a stick for drumming with.
The sound of Hot Rods on drums is very distinct. It’s somewhere between a regular drumstick and a jazz brush. Overall sound is quieter but more full sounding, as there are multiple stick attacks happening with the many rod strips.
Image credit: Promark
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Every drummer should have a pair of Hot Rods in their stick bag as you never know when you might need them. They’re great for other percussion instruments such as congas and cajons too.
8. Vic Firth Jazz Brushes
If you’re into other world music, such as jazz and blues, then you might want to get yourself a pair of jazz brushes. Playing jazz brushes is an old art form which likely started at the turn of last century.
Some say the original jazz brush was a fly swatter. Whatever the case may be, jazz brushes have a totally unique sound on drums, cymbals and yes, even, certain high-end electronic drum sets.
Image credit: Vic Firth
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There’s no doubt that jazz brush playing is a craft which takes time, patience and taste. It’s also a great way to improve your inner clock as it requires you to develop an exquisite sense of timing.
9. Promark MT3 Multi-Purpose Felt Mallet
Another type of drumstick which has been around for centuries is the mallet. Mallets were traditionally played on larger drums in the likes of an orchestra. You’ll often see mallets being played on timpani and also pitched percussion such as marimba and xylophones.
On the drum set mallets can also be used. Mallets are great for creating cymbal swells. They have soft felt tips which produce little or no attack, depending on how you strike the cymbal.
Image credit: Promark
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Mallets are another tool a drummer can have in his or her arsenal which may help in a musical scenario. They produce a sound which is unique and unlike any other form of drumstick or drum brush.
10. Fleor Aluminium Drumsticks
Best practice drumsticks
This next product is an interesting and innovative practice tool for drummers. Playing with Fleor Aluminium Drumsticks is similar to doing weight training. These sticks are around 2 to 3 times the weight of an average pair of wooden drumsticks. Naturally that makes playing with these drumsticks a lot more difficult.
The point here is to build speed and strength in the arms and wrists. This method has been known to work and works on all muscle groups, from forearms to fingers.
Image credit: Fleor
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Fleor Aluminium Drumsticks come in one size, which is 5A. Perhaps the makers felt that any bigger would mean a stick which is too heavy and cumbersome. These sticks retail over twice the price of an average pair of hickory drum sticks but they have different purposes.
Fleor drumsticks are designed to be played on practice pads and not acoustic or electronic drum sets. Stick to practice pads as these sticks could do untold damage to drum heads and cymbals.
So do they work? If used daily and with care – yes. Many reviewers have reported increases in speed, power and endurance after a month of working with this type of drumstick. So, that’s good news indeed.
Choosing the Right Drumstick
Finding the right drumstick means catering to your physiology. It’s important to choose a drumstick which compliments your body size. A drumstick should act as a natural extension of the arm. It’s possible to sustain injuries when playing with a drumstick which is either too big or too small.
A stick which is too small means that to get a greater volume you will need to exert more energy. The danger here is that smaller sticks absorb less vibration, and vibration can be harmful if you grip the stick too tightly.
With a heavier stick, it can naturally be harder to play with speed. The increased weight requires more energy to move it freely about the drum set. It’s for this reason that you can purchase deliberately weighted drumsticks to practice with.
The heavier stick is good for building muscle and technique. You must be careful with heavier sticks too, though. Bad technique can lead to injury. You will want to avoid any lateral wrist motion as this can lead to damage of the tendons or ligaments. You’ll find that there is a perfectly weight stick to suit you. See our size guide for more info.
Size Guide
Drumsticks can largely be reduced to 3 main categories. There are light, medium and heavy gauges of drumstick. Beginning with light drumsticks, 7A is a typical example. This is a good drumstick for jazz and also is a great drumstick for kids as it’s on the smaller size.
The length of a 7A is not much smaller than a regular drumstick although it is considerably thinner, which reduces the weight dramatically. 7A are also good drumsticks for electronic drums as they pose less risk of head damage and, being light, produce less pad noise.
In the medium weight category, there are two popular drumsticks. 5A is a common size and considered a good drumstick for rock and pop. Of course, you can play any type of music with any size stick, but 5A is larger than 7A and so this makes it easier to play at higher volumes.
5B is a step up in size again. 5B drumsticks are larger than 5A. They are roughly the same length, although 5B is a fatter stick with more weight.
When it comes to heavy drumsticks, you will often find them in use with drum corps. 2B is a large stick size and is perfect for this application. There are lots of different brands of drum corp sticks available, but on the whole they tend to be much larger and heavier than drum set drumsticks.
With that said, certain drum kit players like to use heavier sticks like 2B on the drum set. Many drummers claim that 2B makes for the best drumsticks for metal as opposed to rock or pop.
While 2B is a larger drumstick and will take more abuse, making it more durable, the added weight means that if you’re not careful it’s easier to damage drum heads and crack cymbals.
It’s also important to note that each drumstick manufacturer has their own designs on what makes up the individual sizes. So, a 5A made by Vic Firth will be different from a 5A made by Promark. This is because these companies protect their individual stick designs to avoid being copied. So size labels such as 5A and 5B tend to be approximations across the brands.
Materials
99% of drumsticks are made from wood. Yes there are other materials and more nowadays than in the past, but still wood is by far the most common material.
Hickory tends to be used more often, as it’s strong, durable and a good weight for playing with. Other wood types such as maple and oak are sometimes used too. These have similar properties as hickory but in some cases they are a little bit more expensive.
Carbon fiber is a man-made material which is perfect for making drumsticks with. This material is extremely durable so these sticks are popular with heavy hitters on the instrument. The weight is similar to normal hickory drumsticks although all tips on carbon fiber sticks tend to be nylon.
Drumstick Tip Types
There are numerous different drumstick tip types. The tip plays a crucial role in the tone produced on acoustic drums and cymbals. The tip is sometimes called the bead. Some tip shapes include round, oval, pointed, teardrop, barrel and acorn.
Different tips create different sized contact areas on the drum or cymbal. With electronic drums this is not so important, but with acoustic drums it makes a difference.
Some tips are larger than others which affects the stick bounce. With most drumsticks, the tips are often wood or nylon. There are other materials, such as acetal, which has been used to create drumsticks with different rebound and tonal qualities.
Drumstick Accessories
You can customize your drumsticks in a few different ways. One popular choice for increasing grip on the stick is to use drummer gloves. Gloves keep the grip secure and eliminate sweaty palm syndrome.
If you’re not a fan of gloves, you can opt for using a wrap which covers the butt of the stick. Promark Stick Rapp is one such product. You can choose how much of the stick to cover, so this could be 50% of the entire shaft or just a small amount around the gripping point or fulcrum.
If you’re a bit of a show-off you may like stick twirlers. This relatively new invention fastens over the drumstick and your finger to allow you to spin the stick without any fear of dropping it. This could make for a nice novelty gift for the drummer in your life.
Cost
Thankfully most good standard drumsticks don’t cost a lot of money. You can buy a good brand of drumstick for anything from $10 to $15. If you’re paying more than this then it’s likely a specialist brand, an unusual material (mahogany/carbon fiber), a drumstick with a wrap included, or some other type of novelty such as light-up sticks or anti-vibe sticks.
Anti-vibe sticks aim to reduce the vibrations in the drumstick when struck. While they do work, and are noticeably less resonant, they do have a more deadened feel, and this means that the stick rebound is not as strong.
Many of the top-rated and best-selling drumsticks on the market are relatively affordable and will suit the average budget. You don’t need to spend a lot to get high-quality when it comes to drumsticks.
A lot of drumsticks under $10 tend to be a mixed bag. You can find the odd decent pair of drumsticks for under $10 but in general they are poorly balanced and cheaply made. Playing with unbalanced, cheap drumsticks is not fun and not recommended.
In order to check the balance you can weigh each stick in your hand for an approximate judgement. Also, tapping the stick to hear it resonate will let you know how equal the sticks are balanced. Try it yourself with any pair of sticks and see if you can hear a difference in tone from the stick when tapped.
Conclusion
We’ve discussed in depth all you need to know about drumsticks, from the build and size to individual brand strengths and weaknesses. A good drumstick will feel natural in your hands and allow you to play to your strengths.
Many drumsticks for beginners are cheap and badly balanced. This is fine for starting out but as you progress on the drums you will want to improve your technique, and in order to do that it’s a good idea to invest in a set of professional drumsticks.