Wincent hickory 5B natural drumsticks (in white)
It’s been ages since I’ve checked out any drumsticks and while it may seem a little strange to be reviewing just one model of stick, in the spirit of checking out something I’ve never come across before, I’m going to do it anyway.
This was my first introduction to Wincent. Of course, I’ve known of the Swedish brand for a long time but I’ve somehow managed to not try any of their sticks until now. Upon reflection, that’s my loss it seems.
These sticks are the 5B (W-5BCW) model in white. They’ve got a length of 406mm/16″ and a diameter of 15mm/0.591″, with a big acorn tip.
Wincent says this type produces a full bodied cymbal sound and I have to agree with that. The sound produced on the hihats and ride were clear and defined and the bell sound was using the front heavy part of the stick was quite powerful.
Now, I don’t have the biggest hands in the world and normally I wouldn’t entertain a 5B size as my normal stick as historically this is somewhere around a 7A. That said, I figured the extra width and weight offered by these might be beneficial.
I spent a good few hours with these sticks at a rehearsal playing as I would at a gig and the sticks were solid throughout. The centre of the sticks, which normally gets the most damage through rimshots, had no real visible damage.
The finish/colour, whilst it did obviously chipped a bit, wasn’t nearly as chewed up at the end of the night as other coloured sticks I’ve tried. In fact, looking at them again whilst writing this, saying ‘chewed up’ is probably doing them an injustice; they don’t really look like they’re had a few hours put on them. In addition, I found the finish to be quite dry in the hands which led them to be quite easy to hold.
Despite these being a few sizes larger than my regular model, I found these to be really comfortable. In some ways, it felt the 16” length was almost too short. They are nicely weighted throughout and felt quite balanced.
One thing that I’ve never come across before – and it may only be my sticking to certain brands – but the ‘5B’ on the butt end of each stick is a nice touch I thought.
So in closing, I want to just say that I bought these sticks myself, they weren’t supplied by the company for review. I also want to add that I liked them so much, I went back and bought a whole load more of them afterwards.
More over at – https://www.wincent.se
David Bateman
September 2023
