After 7 shows in 7 days, and about 10 hours of wear split among a pair of B.O.D.s and 3 pairs of BopMaster sticks, what did I find?

Well, first off, I took 6 pairs of Bopmasters with me and I could have made it through the week with just one pair! I like to have a few pairs around the kit in case I drop a stick so that’s why I ended up cycling through 3 pairs but the other pairs never even came out of the sleeves. Now the Bopmasters are a little thinner than what I normally use (Bopmasters are .515 and I usually use more like a .555) and I do reverse one stick to use the butt end for my snare backbeats so I worked out these sticks on both ends and they held up great. So, in this case “Hit Harder. Lasts Longer.” isn’t just marketing, I’d say it’s true. In fact, I’m so impressed wiith the sticks that I’m going to keep using these sticks for my upcoming shows in August and see how long it takes before they chip, crack or break.

Regarding the B.O.D.s, I love the idea of combining mallets and rods and I was extremely pleased with the sound of both the rod side (fat and sharp, not thin like some other company’s rods) and the mallet side (great weight for tom and cymbal work and not too hard or too soft).

From a durability standpoint, I think I would have liked them to last a little longer. Maybe treat the dowels with the same finish as the sticks or add a reinforcing strip of the same rubber used on the grip side to the end of the rod side? I do think my next Silverfox rod experiment will be to try the Clawstix which is a wood/plastic hybrid.

Bottom line? I’m excited to try more sticks rods and brushes from SilverFox and I may have found myself a new stick company.

🙂

(Hey SilverFox, want to make me a batch of Clawstix with a mallet on the end? hehe)

July 30 – Private Show, Williamsburg, KS

Drove 10 hours straight to play this show for pre-teens and teens at a summer camp outside of KC. Enthusiastic crowd to say the least. 🙂

Before:

After:

(had to drop the B.O.D.s quickly for a song changeover – one fell off of the riser and under the stage so I had to crawl down and get it haha)

July 29- The Loft, Colorado Springs, CO

Ahhh, back indoors and cool A/C. This was more of a listening room so I leaned heavily on the B.O.D.s for this 80 minute set.

Before:

After:

Tried to get a solo shot of the B.O.D.s so you can see how they’re holding up. And again, the sticks are great.

July 27 & 28, 2012 – Oyster Ridge Music Festival, Kemmerer, WY

Our Saturday set was from 6-8pm so a little cooler and with more of an evening vibe.

I forgot to take a before pic but here’s the after. B.O.D.s held up today and the sticks are openly mocking me with their strength and durability.

July 27 & 28, 2012 – Oyster Ridge Music Festival, Kemmerer, WY

We love to play this festival and always have a blast. We did two 90 minute sets, one on Friday and the other on Saturday.

Before (Friday – it was hot and dry so the Gatorade was a necessity!):

After (Friday):

OK, the B.O.D.s are taking a beating. I use them mostly on shuffles but we do one tune that’s 15 minutes long, pretty fast and goes from pp to fff. Rimshots are going to do some damage. And not to sound like a broken record but the sticks are showing very little signs of wear other than a little denting. Still no wood chips, splinters or cracks. Also, the finish on the sticks seemed to help me hold on to the sticks when the hands got sweaty. Haven’t dropped a stick all week actually.
🙂

July 26: The Walnut Room, Denver CO.

We’ve played here a few times now and one thing we know is that the stage is very dry – curtains and carpet mean sound doesn’t carry so much on this stage but it’s best not to overplay. We just let the PA do its job.

Before:

After:

I did lose another rod on the B.O.D.s but the sticks are holding up really well. No chips or cracks anywhere to be seen.

July 25, 2012 – Sidedoor Lounge, Omaha NE

Here’s pics from day 2

Before:

And after :

The sticks are still holding up very well and no chips or cracks whatsoever. The B.O.D.s are holding up pretty well. I did crack off one of the rods but in their defense we played a shuffle heavy set yesterday and I was really working them out on the snare. Also, everyone in the band commented on how great they sound.

Tonight we’re in Denver at the Walnut Room – it’s a very dry stage so I’ll no doubt be hitting a little bit harder… 🙂

July 24 2012: CSPS – Cedar Rapids, IA

This is what I started out with for show #1:

And this is after a 1 hour and 15 minute set:

So far so good. No broken sticks, a few dimples and the mallets gave up a little dust on the cymbals but overall it was a good day one. Also, it was a very hot show and the finish on the sticks made it easy to keep them in my sweaty hands – no drops!