How often should you replace drum sticks?

When it comes to replacing drum sticks, there’s no fix frequency at which you should replace your drumsticks. It depends on your drumming style, music genre you play, how often you drum and material and quality of your drumsticks. Some drummers (looking at you punk rock and heavy metal folks) change sticks every show, others only need to change sticks a few times a year.

In general, you should replace your drum sticks when: – it is broken – it is fraying badly and have sharp splinters when you run your fingers over it (this can damage your drum kit!) – it doesn’t feel balanced or when your left and right sticks no longer seem to rebound equally – it looks out of shape (if your sticks look like they’ve been starving and have a really thin neck, yea it’s time.)

If you’re a beginner or aspiring drummer who wants to know more, We share more below:

Do drumsticks wear out?

The constant impact between your drum sticks and drum heads or cymbals will definitely wear out your drumsticks. If you love your rim shots, you may find yourself breaking drumsticks more often than others as well. Also if you tend to hit the sides of your cymbals or hi-hat when you drum, you’ll tend to notice that your drum sticks would start fraying.

How long do drum sticks last?

If you’re a beginner, it’s important to replace your drumsticks every 2 to 5 months.

The lifespan of drumsticks depends on how often you practice, but generally wooden drumsticks tend to last between 3 to 5 months for most beginners who are clocking in weekly practice on an acoustic drum set. This is a rough gauge based on 5A hickory drum sticks.

If you’re practicing on an electronic drum kit, your sticks would tend to last longer between 5 to 12 months. Also, thicker drum sticks tend to last a little longer.

How do I know if I should change my drum sticks?

In general, you should be able to feel a difference as your drumstick wears out over time. As mentioned above, in general it’s time to replace drum sticks when:

Either side is broken

Don’t continue drumming with a broken drum stick, it will damage your drum kit and also open you to the risk of having splinters landing in your eyes.

Likewise, change your drumsticks if you feel any sharp splinters or edges along them. It’s cheaper (and easier) to change your sticks then to have to replace your drum head.

They no longer feel balanced

If your sticks are not balanced, you will have to adjust them by heating them up or adding weights to the ends.