If you want to dive right in, our best choice is the Donner Drumsticks set. It offers durability through its corrosion-resistant surfaces and comfort with its ergonomic handles.
Electronic drums offer different and more modern sounds than acoustic versions. And drumsticks are responsible for the accuracy and richness of this sound.
But, which pair of drumsticks should you choose?
And how can you tell a good pair from a bad one?
That’s where we step in, and our research shows these as the best drumsticks for electronic drums:
- Donner Drumsticks
- Promark ActiveGrip Forward Drumsticks
- K212M Nylon Drumsticks
- Ahead Alloy Drumsticks
Check our detailed reviews below, and then work your way through the buyer’s guide to see the important features.
Reviews of the Best Drumsticks for Electronic Drums
These Donner teardrop drumsticks are made from maple wood and have a corrosion-resistant coating, promoting durability. This combination also ensures a consistent performance after prolonged use.
Not only do they come in a variety of colors for a visual flair, but they’re also appropriately sized at 16 inches and are in a 5A weight/diameter category. This ensures that those with average-sized hands will find them comfortable. The weight class ensures the pair isn’t too heavy, even for kids!
Donner drumsticks are for the environmentally-conscious customer. The products use sustainably sourced wood and are odorless, featuring non-toxic materials. These make the pair healthy and suitable to give to young children.
You also get two pairs of drumsticks with a single purchase. This provides excellent value for money. Two pairs of drumsticks also ensure you always have a spare set to carry on travels or use if you lose your first.
Your purchase is also risk-free due to the included 30-day money-back guarantee.
Despite all its benefits, customers mention how easily the paint rubs off. This makes them look unprofessional after a little while.
Also, watch out for the paint causing the surface to be slippery. Customers with soft hands reported how easily the drumsticks slip through their fingers.
PROS
- Corrosion-resistant coating.
- Consistent sound from teardrop shape and maple wood.
- Ergonomic handle.
CONS
- Paint rubs off easily.
- Paint coating creates a slippery surface.
The Promark ActiveGrip Forward Drumsticks’ standout feature is the heat-activated grip. This coating gets rougher as your body temperature increases. This creates a tight and firm grip when you play on electronic drums. The result is you remaining in control of your drum sticks even if you sweat often.
For electronic drums, the forward balance model is best. “Forward balance” refers to the short 2.25-inch taper on the stick that optimizes power and speed.
Also, the hickory wood makes the pair responsive and gives an impressive shock-absorbing performance. This makes it suitable for hard-hitting when you want to test your electronic drum kit’s limits.
Even so, customers find them lacking in robustness, despite the manufacturer using durable hickory wood.
This has also led to their second complaint: you only get one pair with your purchase. So, value for money is in question.
PROS
- Heat-activated grip.
- Grip doesn’t increase weight.
- Feels very natural.
CONS
- Can easily break.
- Only one pair.
These nylon drumsticks are particularly durable, making them an excellent option for kids.
They’re also great for kids due to the attractive blue and green colors, inspiring creativity and sparking interest. This is great for children as they respond emotionally to color.
In addition, the purchase comes with five pairs. This further improves the likelihood of this product lasting you or your children a very long time. Not to mention making your money go further straight away.
This product is also extremely lightweight, with each stick weighing 0.28 pounds. This is great for children who don’t have the strength to use heavy drumsticks.
Also, we all know how frustrating it can be when drumsticks slip when you’re playing. This is especially annoying when learning since it can hinder progress. Fortunately, these sticks have an anti-slip coating to avoid this.
Even so, one drawback is that many customers reported burrs on the sticks. These are small pieces of material that remain after construction or modification. This isn’t a major problem because you can fix it by using a little sandpaper.
PROS
- Anti-slip handle.
- Suitable for children.
- Made from durable nylon.
- Incredibly light.
CONS
- Customers report burrs.
The Ahead Alloy Drumsticks have an aluminum core with nylon tips and polyurethane cover. The metal alloy core is responsible for the durability and shock-absorbing properties. Ahead claims that its drum sticks absorb 50% more shock than wooden drumsticks. This allows you to drum more comfortably during long practice sessions or shows.
In addition, the core also offers great flexibility. The manufacturer claims 5% more rebound than wooden sticks. Better rebound offers richer sound production.
On top of this, the polyurethane cover prevents the drumsticks from slipping through your fingers. It also protects them if you drop them or if they get wet.
Note that the manufacturer has engineered the nylon tip to produce the rich and authentic sound that wooden tips do. This prevents it from sounding like most rubber drum sticks. Rubber drum sticks produce sound that isn’t as genuine and bright as that found on wooden sticks.
With all the engineering invested in the drum sticks, it comes as no surprise that the product comes premiumly priced. This is the most expensive product on our list, which isn’t a problem in itself since they’re premium, but note that you only get one pair.
Be aware that customers report how heavy the drum sticks feel on the wrist. This is despite the manufacturer claiming the metal alloy core distributes the weight.
PROS
- Ergonomic handle.
- Shock-absorbing system.
- Durable construction with polyurethane cover.
- 60-day warranty.
CONS
- Need grip tape
- Heavy on the wrists.
How to Choose the Best Drumsticks for Electronic Drums
From our extensive reviews, you can tell there’s a lot that’s taken into consideration when choosing the best drumsticks for electronic drums.
To help you determine what makes a good purchase, below is a guide on what to focus on when purchasing your next set of drumsticks.
Weight and Diameter
A drumstick’s weight and height are indicated by a code featuring a number and letter. While the length of drumsticks ranges from 15 to 17 inches, the weight and diameter classifications vary considerably.
Let’s take the Donner Drumsticks as an example. Its code is 5A, which is broken up as:
- Number: Weight class.
- Letter: Diameter.
Weight Class
While the rating goes from 1 to 9, the common weight classes and their best use are:
- 7: Used in jazz and marching bands.
- 5: Most common and best for electronic drums because of their balanced weight.
- 2: Very heavy and are best for heavy metal and hard-hitting drummers.
The higher the numerical value of the class, the lighter the drumstick. So, the Donner Drumsticks have a midrange weight. This means it’s light enough to not strain the wrists while heavy enough for professional drumming.
Diameter
Popular drumstick diameters are classified with letters in alphabetical order. The lower the letter is in the alphabet, the larger the diameter.
- B sticks are thicker than A sticks
- BN sticks are thicker than AN sticks—the N refers to sticks with nylon tips instead of wooden ones.
The Donner Drumsticks have an A rating, making them very thin drumsticks.
Material
The most common material used in drumsticks is wood, but many products are made of plastic, carbon fiber or even aluminum, like the Ahead Alloy Drumsticks.
In addition to providing more reflex and rebound, these unconventional materials’ main benefits are durability and robustness. These sticks last longer than wooden ones because they’re more resistant to breaking or corrosion.
Despite these advantages, purists remain convinced that wooden sticks are best.
With wood, different types of wood provide different weights, rebound, texture and resonance. The most common wood types are maple and hickory, followed by oak, birch, rosewood and ebony.
Maple
Maple is lighter than hickory wood, making it better for jazz or soft music. That’s because you can make larger drumsticks without increasing the weight by a great deal.
Maple also has a fine grain texture, giving it impressive flexibility and rebound, like that found in the Donner Drumsticks.
But, this performance comes at the expense of durability: maple sticks are likely to wear and break much faster than other wood types.
Hickory
Hickory wood sticks are robust and responsive. They absorb a good amount of shock, making this type suitable for heavy metal. This is evident in products like the Promark ActiveGrip Forward Drumsticks, which offer a good response.
Hard-hitting drummers are unlikely to break the sticks from this type of wood.
Oak
Oak is incredibly dense and heavy.
This makes oak sticks very durable, giving drummers the ability to play loudly without trying too hard.
Even so, oak isn’t great at absorbing shock, which is why many prefer either maple or hickory.
Nylon
Being a polymer, nylon has a higher tensile strength than wood, meaning it doesn’t break as easily. It’s also cheaper to make than more durable materials, like carbon fiber or metal alloy.
It’s good to have nylon drumsticks for electronic drums because they won’t break when you drop them. And, children are likely to drop their drum sticks as they learn, making nylon drumsticks an excellent choice for kids.
From our reviews, check out the K212M Nylon Drumsticks for a decent nylon pair.
Drumstick Tip
Often, the drumstick tip is the only part that hits the drum skin. Because of this, the tip’s shape and material are of great importance:
- Round: Sound is more consistent as the tip strikes the drums’ surface with the same rounded shape despite the impact angle, making them the best for beginners.
- Diamond: Quite new and have less of the stick hitting the surface. Produces a very sharp sound on drums.
- Teardrop: Provide focused, low-end sound that’s also great for beginners.
- Acorn: Pointier than round-shaped tips and produce sounds of varying pitch.
- Arrow: Long, flat surface and produces a very acoustic sound.
- Barrel: Very large and heavy, making them best for heavy metal.
Material is also important in the tip, with the most common ones being:
- Wood: Provide a very pure sound on drums but aren’t as durable as the other materials.
- Plastic: Harder than wood, so you get a much cleaner and harder tone.
- Nylon: Last the longest of the three. Are most likely to produce bright sounds when used on the cymbals.
Conclusion
By focusing on weight, diameter, drumstick tip and material used in the drumstick, you’ll find the perfect drumsticks for you.
Our winner is the Donner Drumsticks. It’s a premium and durable product that produces very accurate sound. In our electronic drumsticks review, there was no better product.
Alternatively, the Promark ActiveGrip Forward Drumstick stands out for its impressive grip and rebound. And, the Ahead Alloy Drumsticks have a robust metal alloy construction but a nylon tip for authentic sound on drums.
