Every now and then I see some old rosewood sticks or even ebony sticks. I can't imagine they were for anything other than display, though. Can you imagine the shock that type of hardwood would transfer to your hands? WOW! But man oh man do they look good.

No but I can tell by looking at them they cool sticks and Oak.

I have a nice collection of vintage sticks as well! .. but .. typically for me, they are ALL Buddy Rich models. Cool thing is they are all NOS .. and .. from a 30 year period covering the models he used/played in that time. These cover from 1950 to 1980. I’ll attach a pic!

Tommyp

Hi Tommyp!

A great collection of BR sticks! The Ludwig sticks have a very interesting bead and taper.

-Mark

Hey Mark!

Ya! ... the Ludwig BR/15A comes in at a .550 diameter with an .027 taper to the tip, which is called a be-bop tip. It was a unique stick at the time, and made specifically for Buddy. It was available to the general public too of course! This is the model I have been playing for a few years now actually. I had them made to the Ludwig specs. Actually, I sent a stick to the guy so he could replicate it, which he did! I will say that the actual Ludwig stick is substantially LIGHTER in weight than a stick made today .. but .. a lot of that has to do with the wood actually drying out over the decades, as otherwise everything else is equal. Once BR split with Ludwig for the last time in 1982, they kept the stick in their catalog, but it was now named a 5A with Buddy's name no longer on it. Interesting stuff!

Tommyp

Do they still have that 5A today,....I want some ?

OB!

No ... haven’t been available from Ludwig for decades! Today, you would have to have them custom made as I mentioned. I’ve been playing that model for the past few years. There are MANY custom stick makers out there today though .. so .. you could commission a dozen if you were really interested, and especially so as I gave the dimensions in my post. 😀 It is indeed a nice stick!, and a little quirky in looks, which is also neat. Then of course there’s the BR connection too!

Tommyp

That sucks cus I'm down to a pair of Vic's from Blue Man Group painted fluorescent yellow !! My Wife bought them off one of the guys. I guess they sell them after the show. If they break soon I wont have any.

I know a few guys with wood lathes, Are they 3/4" x 16" ? He can do the rest. I have a snare, hats and FT out now.

OB!

Ya ... I guess the length would he helpful! DOH!!! Anyway, here are the dimensions of the stick/model:

Length ... 15.75" ... diameter ... .550 ... taper down at the tip ... .027 . I want to mention that this is a "light" use stick, primarily a jazz model, made all the more so by that very pronounced taper to the tip. These "can be" prone to lots of breakage IF one is playing heavier style stuff and/or is a heavier hitter, simply because of that taper. So ... you "could" have your friend make the taper a bit thicker to the tip and still retain that BR/15A vibe, which would possibly increase your mileage some! Just a thought!

Tommyp

I like the 5b from Ludwig these days.

Pretty decent stick.

I remember Premier sticks that were made out of lancewood.

Colaiuta had a couple of pairs and I remember him using them at the MidEast music conference stage band contest (we lost)

Wish I could find a copy of that record.

We played Buddy Rich's Hello I love You ,Ruth,Woody Herman's Better Get it in Your Soul and Stan Kenton's Malaguena.

They couldn't figure out who to pick as a winner and so the two top bands ended in a tie.