My snare line has always used stick tape on the full length of the stick, but we're considering just taping half the stick. What are the advantages/disadvantages, and is there any awkward feel with left hand traditional?

What I tend to do, along with most of the guys up here with me at UNT, is tape the sticks up to where the fulcrum is on both sides of the stick, that way there's a little room for the hands to actually grip the sticks. It's more of a cosmetic thing though, it's not really that big of a deal for us.

My lines use a full stick with a spiral wrap. I like the spiral wrap with the wrap meeting just at the other overlay, this creates a flat surface with no wrap bumps. The spiral gives somewhat of a grip, if you have sweaty hands the twist seems to channel it.

Really I don't see an advantage of any taping style, it just personal preference in my mind. It boils down to tradition, what you instructor or BD wants or what ever you want.

I'm not a huge fan of the half tape. Honestly, I think it's more in my head than anything, but, I feel like drumstick companies go to great lengths to balance the weight of the stick front to back. If you slap a lot of tape on the front of the stick, you're changing that balance and effecting the performance of the stick. This isn't really big deal, I'm just crazy about things like that. Do what looks and feels best for you.

That's a good point and I'm very thankful the sick company's put in so much QC, but it is a common practice among many lines to load their stick and re-balance it for themselves. ( SCV in the 70s and 80s )

So yes you can un-balance a stick by just slapping tape on a stick. But I think you can also change the sticks characteristics for the better. The japanese will load the front end of the stick so spinning through you fingers is easier ( look up pen spinning on YouTube). The habitual snare solo guys load there stick quite often, no different that a baseball star and his bat. I'm just saying....

From my experience, it depends on why you're tapping the stick; to protect it from rim-shots, to give the line a uniform look, or for the "feel" of it?

I've been on lines that wrap the entire stick so that they all look uniform (all black, all white, etc.), and it doubles as saving the stick some when you rimshot.

Another line I played with only tapped the first 4" of the stick so they all hit ping rimshots in the same place.

A different line I played on tapped half the stick, for a uniform look and rimshot protection, but left the back end bare to keep the feel of gripping the wood the same.

Finally, the last and more recent line I was with tapped all the way to the fulcrum, left 4" bare to grip, and tapped from there to the butt end.


Each case is a matter of personal preference and the function of tapping. Most lines I was with tapped it however the section leader/caption head preferred. No matter how you tape your sticks, as long as you do a decent enough job they should feel uniform from hand to hand, as long as you tape them the same (i.e., half way down on both, not 4" down on one, and the entire way on the other). My current personal preference is tapping half of the stick since I'm playing with Promarks, and I like the plain wood feel. However, when I was playing with VF I prefer all tape instead of the paint/coating they have on them.

Lots of things to consider, but it usually boils down to personal preference and the function the tape serves.

Good luck, Happy Drumming!

Try different methods. see what the general consensus is. I prefer to double layer the front part, leave a 2-3" gap for fulcrum ( sanded if its a laminated stick) then single layer the back portion for a uniform look. you don't notice the game because its blocked by fingers and hands.

You'd actually be surprised how common the gap method is.

In any case you need to at least tape the main impact area of rimshots, whether you use a ping, halfey , or gok. it will more than double the life of the stick.