Anyone else notice the cost of sticks getting ridiculous

konaboy

Pioneer Member
Stopped at Guitar Center today to pick up a couple pair of sticks and get a Y cable. Clerk rang me up and I thought huh how can it be that much, how much were the sticks. $9.99 a pair for promark 5A Hickory wood tip. Thank god I'm not chewing sticks up ridiculously fast. Bought some sticks a a few months ago and they were like $8.49 which still seems high. Man I miss the days of $3-$4 for this exact stick!
 
I bought my last batch on eBay. Two pair of Vic Firth for 15.00 shipped. I also shop Amazon.
 
They're $7. on Amazon. You just don't get to roll them or tap them on your skull, but it's convenient and if you have to shop at a corporate store, you might as well go with the cheapest.
 
I recently ordered some sticks from Amazon. I'll probably never do that again. They put the sticks in a shipping bag that was too small for the sticks. The tips were sticking out of a gaping hole in the package. Though you can find very good prices at times, I've had terrible problems with Amazon and their horrible packaging.
 
that is strange. The last two pair I got were in a box big enough for 10 pair and stuffed with packing paper. Most of the stuff Amazon sends me is in a box way to big.
 
that is strange. The last two pair I got were in a box big enough for 10m pair and stuffed with packing paper. Most of the stuff Amazon sends me is in a box way to big.

Same here, most stuff arrives in huge boxes.

I never even thought about Amazon for sticks honestly. I have prime and order a lot from them, just never thought of sticks. Will from now on!
 
I got sticks from Straightsticks and the quality was great. 3 bucks a pair.
 
Yeah....especially when I remember the price I paid when I was playing for money back in the bay area '66--'74. 90 cents a pair. I flipped when they got over a buck!!!
I now buy them by the brick and usually get them for about $50 a dozen.
 
Yeah... My favourite stick at my local Long & McQuade is $13 bucks a pair. Just a Pro Mark Shira Kashi oak 747 w/nylon tip.
 
Last time I bought sticks I bought a brick of Vic Firth 5A's from the Guitar Center. It was a 12-pair brick and it cost me $85. That was roughly $7 a pair. Granted, it's not $3 or $4 a pair, but considering the last time I bought sticks at $4 a pair it was 1980, the price increase over time doesn't seem that bad.
 
I've only got two pairs of 5As. One I can't recall how much they were and the other came free with my drum kit.
 
I really have very limited sympathy. This is like when guys from America complain about the price of petrol.

13 years ago when I started, sticks were around £8 here. They're around £11 a pair from shops and about £10 from Internet stores. The price variation is large but your prices over there would be exceptionally cheap here. So sorry, you can whinge all you like but you're the lucky ones.
 
I keep waiting for somebody to make sticks on their lathe and sell them on ebay. There has to be some money in the drum stick business.
 
I keep waiting for somebody to make sticks on their lathe and sell them on ebay. There has to be some money in the drum stick business.

Unless they are mass produced not going to be much money in it. If the person making them that way truly charged for their time it wouldn't be close to cost effective and would probably be double or triple the cost. My dad was an avid wood worker and we had conversations many times about stuff he made and why he didn't start selling and that was why, just couldn't charge what it was actually worth for the time he invested.
 
Yes, if you think sticks are expensive in USA you should come to the UK, the price is crazy, some stores charging the equivalent of 16 USD for a bog std zildjian 5B or vf 5an - nuts.

I am sooooo glad I did a massive bulk buy when quality sticks were hugely discounted this has saved me a huge amount, but seemed a bit over the top/gamble at the time. Obviously you can only do this if you know you will be using the same stick size years ahead. Having said that you can't really go wrong with 5b or 5a. and yes if I am playing a lot it's possible to get through a pair a week, so the cost does add up.

I am a medium hitter but have never understood how posters say they make one pair last a year. At home on an e kit maybe, but in a giging situation nahhhh.

So one pair a weekat £10.00 is £520, this is why even as a non-pro it's important to get paid real money for gigs. Ware and general drumming consumables costs are real.
 
Guitar Center price matches. If you see the sticks for $7 on amazon, just show them on your phone and they will match it. I got some Hosa splitter cables from GC that were listed as $10 each for $2.50 because they price matched. Ended up getting 4 sets of splitters for the price of 1 at regular price. I had to pay tax, but that's not too big of a deal on $10.
 
Yes, if you think sticks are expensive in USA you should come to the UK, the price is crazy, some stores charging the equivalent of 16 USD for a bog std zildjian 5B or vf 5an - nuts.

I am sooooo glad I did a massive bulk buy when quality sticks were hugely discounted this has saved me a huge amount, but seemed a bit over the top/gamble at the time. Obviously you can only do this if you know you will be using the same stick size years ahead. Having said that you can't really go wrong with 5b or 5a. and yes if I am playing a lot it's possible to get through a pair a week, so the cost does add up.

I am a medium hitter but have never understood how posters say they make one pair last a year. At home on an e kit maybe, but in a giging situation nahhhh.

So one pair a weekat £10.00 is £520, this is why even as a non-pro it's important to get paid real money for gigs. Ware and general drumming consumables costs are real.

That sucks. But isn't it relative? People in the UK generally make more money to compensate the higher prices they pay on everything, no?
 
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