Wincent Selection – More goodies from Wincent.
I recently looked at some of Wincent’s 5B sticks, and you can find that here – http://mikedolbear.com/reviews/wincent-hickory-5b-natural-drumsticks/
The selection I have looked at this time around consisted of some sticks, mallets and nylon brushes.
sticks – All of the models here are made from hickory.
7AXL 
My primary stick for most of my playing over the last 30 years has been based around a 7A. Since I don’t have the largest hands, that size has always felt comfortable to me. However, the slight downside of a smaller diameter stick is that they’re usually also shorter in length too. That’s something I’ve always found a bit annoying. The 7AXL here is about half an inch longer than what I have generally always used. Whilst it’s not the biggest increase, it is still noticeable all the same. I found it made things just a little easier for me. The 7AXL is 16” long and 0.535” thick, with a standard taper and acorn tip. It is front heavy and designed to give a ‘good punch’.
I used these for a couple of gigs and found them to be solid with no issues of breaking or splitting. I have to also note that I tried these on one of my ride cymbals and found these [smaller] sticks actually had a deeper pitch (and arguably better sound) than a 5XL model from another brand.
https://www.wincent.se/products/7a-series/7axl/
5AXL & 5AXL Precision
Whilst these other three models are all 5A’s and have acorn tip, they’re all slightly different. The 5AXL & 5AXL Precision share the same length of 16.5″ and the same diameter, 0.563″. The difference between the two models is the taper; the regular model features a standard taper like the 7AXL, designed to be front heavy with punch, while the other model has a ‘Precision’ taper that gives a balanced feel and god rebound.
Both models felt very comfortable to me, and much in line with the 7AXL, provided a good solid performance on both drums and cymbals.
https://www.wincent.se/products/5a-series/5axl/
https://www.wincent.se/products/5a-series/5axl-precision/
5A Jazz
Although it’s still a 5A at 0.563” diameter, the Jazz model is actually slightly shorter than the previous two sticks, coming in at 16”. It’s designed to provide a full bodied cymbal sound with great rebound, and is back heavy. In all honesty, I’ve found that all the Wincent sticks I’ve tried provide a good cymbal sound, so by design or not, I’m not going to single that out as such.
It’s a nice feeling stick in hand and while subtle, you can feel the back weighting.
https://www.wincent.se/products/5a-series/5a-jazz/
12LN nylon brush 
I’ll preface this part by saying I’m not a brush or mallet expert, nor do I use either on a regular basis. That said, I’ve had plenty of both over the years and although I don’t use either probably quite as intended, I do know what I like. The 12LN features 1.2mm wires and a 15.8mm handle, which Wincent notes can be used for rim clicks as well. It certainly is thick enough to give a clear sound in that regard.
The sound the wires produces on cymbals is soft and on a coated head, the brush moves smoothly.
The spread of the wires is more tightly contained compared to a more traditional metal wire brush which affects the sound they produce.
I found that playing a train beat on a snare, the sound was clear, full and defined. I also found that either loosely or adjusted (with the rollable ring on the wires), the 12LN produced a good clean and defined tone on the toms. I’d say this was quieter than a stick but possibly louder than the aforementioned metal brush. As it is possible to adjust the amount of flex between the wires, these also make pretty good rods as well.
https://www.wincent.se/products/brushes/12ln-nylonbrush/
SS Swoosh Soft
These are – in easily described terms – drumsticks with a soft square mallet head on the end, being a medium weight design with a 5A stick. It’s possibly the most comfortable in the hand mallet I’ve tried to date, which I think comes from the fact it’s more of a drumstick design than a more normal/thinner stick. It certainly felt more sturdy in my hand on that basis.
The sound the mallets produce on cymbals is soft and allow for good subtle rolls. On drums, something I don’t normally do, the mallets produce a thick deep tone providing lots of power. I liked that due to the more drumstick type of design, you can also get a great rim click sound as well. If you’re into playing drums with mallets, I’d say these might be a good option.
https://www.wincent.se/products/cymbal-mallets/swooshsoft/
I’m continuing to really enjoy what I see from Wincent and it makes me wonder why it’s taken me so long to check them out.
The quality of the wood used is really high and long-lasting, something someone else mentioned to me in passing too. After several hours’ use – i.e. a couple of gigs – the sticks really didn’t show that much damage and remained very usable afterwards.
More over at https://www.wincent.se/
David Bateman
December 2023
