Vic Firth vs Promark vs Vater | Which sticks?

Walk into any drum shop and three names take up most of the stick wall: Vic Firth, Promark and Vater. All three sell American hickory, all three make their sticks in the USA, and a standard pair from each costs about the same.

So is there actually a difference, or is it just the logo? There is one, and it is mostly in the shapes each brand has settled on, the finishes it offers and the story it tells about its wood.

One thing up front. This is a comparison of what the three makers publish, not a lab test: we have not weighed a hundred pairs of each. Where something below is the brand’s own claim, we say so. Let’s find out what separates them.

The short answer

Buy Vic Firth if you want the default. It was the easiest of the three to find in our 5A comparison, the American Classic 5A is what Vic Firth itself calls the world’s most played drumstick, and on paper its 5A sits between the other two.

Buy Promark if you want choice in how a stick is weighted and finished. It sells the same sizes front-weighted (Forward) or rear-weighted (Rebound), heat-tempered (FireGrain), and in Japanese Shira Kashi oak as well as hickory and maple.

Buy Vater if you like a slightly fuller stick. Its 5A and 5B are a touch thicker than Vic Firth’s on paper, and Vater says it deliberately leaves more moisture in the wood for strength.

If you only want to know which 5A to buy, that is a different page: our best 5A drumsticks head-to-head.

Spec	Vic Firthper pair, standard hickory	Promarkper pair, standard hickory	Vaterper pair, standard hickory	Our take
Price band	🇬🇧 UK: £11–£14🇺🇸 US: $12–$16🇪🇺 EU: €12–€15	🇬🇧 UK: £11–£14🇺🇸 US: $13–$17🇪🇺 EU: €12–€15	🇬🇧 UK: £11–£14🇺🇸 US: $12–$16🇪🇺 EU: €12–€15	Street prices, new, at the time of writing. They move; the links below are live.
Who owns it	Part of the Zildjian family of brands since a 2010 merger	Owned by D’Addario since 2011, alongside Evans heads	Independent; run by the Vater family	Two belong to bigger music companies and one is still a family firm. It does not change the stick, but some drummers care.
Where made	Maine, USA	Texas, USA	USA; the company is based in Holbrook, Massachusetts	All American-made, by each maker’s own account. A draw.
Woods	Hickory from the Tennessee valley, plus maple (American Heritage)	✓Hickory, maple and Japanese Shira Kashi oak	Hickory (85 per cent of production) and sugar maple (15 per cent)	Promark is the oak specialist; the other two concentrate on hickory and maple.
Pairing claim	Pitch paired and weight matched	Weight sorted, weight matched and pitch matched	Tone and weight matched by computer analysis	The same promise in three sets of words. None of the pages we read puts a number on the tolerance.
A standard 5A	0.565 in × 16 in, tear drop tip, medium taper	0.551 in × 16 in, oval tip, short front-weighted taper	0.570 in × 16 in, acorn tip, “heavier toward the tip”	Promark slimmest, Vater fullest, Vic Firth between them. The 5A page has the full model-by-model table.
Finish options	Lacquer as standard; DoubleGlaze (extra coat), PureGrit (no lacquer), Vic Grip, painted	Lacquer as standard; FireGrain, ActiveGrip, Raw, painted	Finished as standard; Nude (no lacquer), Eternal Black stain, Color Wrap	Every brand will sell you a tackier stick and a bare one. Sweaty hands are covered whichever you pick.
Durability pitch	Hickory, chosen for its shock resistance; no special treatment on the standard stick	FireGrain: heat-tempered hickory sold on durability	Higher moisture content (10–12 per cent, Vater says); Extended Play with a reinforced rimshot area	Promark and Vater both sell a tougher stick outright. These are claims, and nobody publishes an independent test.
Balance options	By model; the American Classic 5A has a medium taper	✓A labelled choice: Forward (front-weighted) or Rebound (rear-weighted) in the same sizes	By model; the Los Angeles 5A is weighted toward the tip	Promark is the one that makes balance a labelled choice: pick the size first, then where the weight sits.
Finding them	✓Everywhere	Almost everywhere	Most places	The same result as on our 5A page. Vic Firth is the one you will find in any shop.
Where to buy	Guitar Center 🇺🇸Gear4music 🇬🇧Thomann 🇪🇺Reverb · used	Guitar Center 🇺🇸Gear4music 🇬🇧Thomann 🇪🇺Reverb · used	Guitar Center 🇺🇸Gear4music 🇬🇧Thomann 🇪🇺Reverb · used	Affiliate links to the shop for your region; buying through them costs you nothing extra.
Rows won	1 of 9	2 of 9	0 of 9	A count, not a verdict: the rows that matter to you are the ones to weigh.

✓ marks the row's winner. Prices are bands, not quotes: 🇬🇧 UK · 🇺🇸 US · 🇪🇺 EU.

Where does the wood come from?

Hickory, for the most part, and all of it American. Vater’s catalogue points out that hickory only grows in the United States, which is why every serious stick maker ends up buying from the same part of the world.

Vic Firth says its hickory comes from the Tennessee valley. It is sawn into boards, then into one-inch squares, and kiln-dried before it is turned at the company’s Maine factory.

Vater is the most talkative about drying. Its catalogue describes a slow two-and-a-half-week kiln cycle and a dowel moisture content of 10 to 12 per cent, against the 6 to 8 per cent it says some competitors use. The argument is simple: more water left in the wood, stronger wood. It also means a slightly heavier stick.

Promark is the one with a third wood. It was the first company to bring Japanese Shira Kashi white oak to the American market, and oak is still a Promark calling card. Our drumstick wood guide explains how hickory, maple and oak differ in the hand.

Are the pairs really matched?

All three say so. Vic Firth describes its sticks as pitch paired and weight matched. Promark describes pairs as weight sorted, weight matched and matched for pitch. Vater says every stick is tone and weight matched by computer analysis, and guarantees its sticks to be straighter and more consistent than its rivals’.

That last line is marketing, and you should read it as such. The honest position is that all three make the same promise and none of the pages we read gives a tolerance in grams.

So do what drummers have always done. Roll the pair on the shop counter, tap them together, and buy the pair that matches.

What about finish and grip?

Plain lacquer is the standard at Vic Firth and Promark, and each brand builds its grip options from there.

Vic Firth’s DoubleGlaze adds an extra coat of lacquer for a tackier feel, and PureGrit goes the other way with no lacquer at all. Promark’s ActiveGrip is a heat-activated coating that gets tackier as your hands warm up, and it sells Raw hickory versions of its main models too. Vater’s Nude series is described in its catalogue as sticks with no finish or lacquer.

Is one better? No. Finish is the most personal thing about a stick, and it costs one pair to find out.

Is a Promark 747 just a 5A?

Very nearly. D’Addario lists the Classic Forward 747 at 0.551 inches in diameter and 16 1/4 inches long. The Classic Forward 5A is the same 0.551 inches and 16 inches long. Same hickory, same oval tip, same short taper.

So the 747 is a 5A with a quarter of an inch more reach, which on paper puts a little more weight out in front of your hand. It is also the model behind Neil Peart’s signature stick, which Promark makes in Shira Kashi oak.

Length matters more than you would think. Vic Firth’s American Concept Freestyle line is built around the same idea, and our drumstick size guide covers what the numbers and letters mean.

Signature sticks and the wider range

All three have deep artist catalogues, so if your favourite drummer has a signature model, that may make the decision for you. Chad Smith is a Vater player with his own model, and we have covered Vater’s Jay Weinberg 908 and Promark’s limited Anika Nilles set.

The brand hubs list who plays what: Vic Firth, Promark and Vater.

There is one thing to mention on price. At the time of writing, Vic Firth’s own shop lists an American Classic 5A at $14.99, and US retailers list a Promark Classic Forward 5A at $16.99. Shop prices move around, and nobody should choose a stick over two dollars.

Who should buy which

• A beginner, or anyone who does not know. Vic Firth. It is the middle of the road, and the easiest to replace anywhere.
• Someone who likes a slim stick. Promark. Its 5A is the narrowest of the three.
• Someone who likes a fuller stick in the same size. Vater. A little more diameter in the 5A and 5B.
• Someone who wants to tune the balance. Promark. Forward or Rebound in the same size is a genuinely useful choice.
• Someone who wants oak. Promark, and read the wood guide first.
• Someone who would rather buy from a family firm. Vater.
• Someone choosing a 5A today. Read the best 5A drumsticks comparison, then buy one pair of each.

A pair of sticks is the cheapest experiment in drumming. Buy three, give each a week on a practice pad with the rudiment trainer, and your hands will settle it. Everything else we have on sticks lives in the drumsticks section.