Playing fast is no problem, and that's why the qb gave them the nickname, "weasels." Feel free to use the nickname at will.

Yea, It has a fatter part at the end, like the grip on a mallet. In my opinion it looks like an aluminum mallet, made of wood. (No way!) Except for the taper at the end, that reminds me of a vega. It's like, an alloy mallet, made of wood, with a vega taper, and a mallet head. I'm not to hot on it for the looks part, But I hear it plays amazing.

I tend to use the vega's now, simply because I've noticed a lot of corps recently have been using tenor sticks. I personally like mallets a bit better, but If I'm going into corp, and they use tenor sticks, I'm gonna have to use sticks.

We use vegas as our sticks, and the MT1A mallets as our, well, mallets. I don't see how you think the vegas are "long." in relation to your mallets, i'm sure they are, but for a tenor stick, i find them a very comfortable length.

To find a medium, the cadets, i believe, to the Hannum tenor hybrid; one side mallet, other side stick. I have no idea the performance or specs of it, but you may want to at least check them out.

We use vegas as our sticks, and the MT1A mallets as our, well, mallets. I don't see how you think the vegas are "long." in relation to your mallets, i'm sure they are, but for a tenor stick, i find them a very comfortable length.

To find a medium, the cadets, i believe, to the Hannum tenor hybrid; one side mallet, other side stick. I have no idea the performance or specs of it, but you may want to at least check them out.

I wouldn't call it one part mallet one part stick. It's more like a stick with a mallet head at the end and some tapers up the shaft. I think of the swizzles when one says "one part mallet one part stick"

alright good point. You marched cadets this year? how did you like those hybrids

our school uses these really crappy encore wooden sticks that are impossible to do clean scrapes with and because they have wooden heads we should be on a new pair but b/c we cant be spending money every 2 weeks (yess the heads turn square after 2 weeks of just playing on heads) we just have to deal with it. our sticks are basically shorter thicker version of the Ralph Hardimon tenor stick with a round head.

...
And since I've been stuck with those and little spending money, I can choose either the Encore sticks or Vic Firth MT1As. I'd most likely go with Vic Firth even though I went through the MT1A's like candy.

Sometimes a bad pair can ruin a stick for you. Were they marked as "heavies" on the sleeve?

BHSQuint: If you're frequently killing aluminum shafted mallets you maaayyyy be playing too hard. Height = volume. Extra force is unnecessary.

Anyway, gniknus11, comparing tenor stick prices at Steve Weiss it looks like you can get the ProMark Stevens or Vega sticks for the same price as the Encore (8.95), the ProMark TS5 for less (6.75), and Inovative TS1 for 8.25 or TS2 for 10.50. VF Hybrids are 13.25. Of course, at your local shop the Encore junk may be 5 bucks. Still, for the about the same price (or less) *far* superior tenor sticks are available. If your BD is buying these, you may want to mention this. (Haven't I seen Encore sticks in department stores? That just can't be a good sign for a musical instrument product.) Apparently Encore should stick with keyboard mallets, etc. or rethink their stab at marching equipment. (To be fair, their bass mallets seem to be OK.)

I do wish BDs would stop trying to save money with cheap sticks -- I remember in my sophomore year our BD got the snares cheap-o generic sticks (the school bought you the first pair, you replaced them out of your own pocket the rest of the season) and by the end of the first football game they were down to *one* pair among the four of them, including extras the BD had brought. The next week they were given rather better name-brand sticks. Lesson learned: you can buy seconds and you can buy no-names but if you go bargain-basement you get what you pay for = crud. Also, if it's frequently found on sale 50% off (*cough* Encore *cough*) it's also probably crud.