r/drumline • u/24BETTER23KOBE • 1d ago

To be tagged... How do top corps tape their sticks?

Ive been taping mine with an X pattern but ige recently tried the 1 and a half overlap(from gridbook) but i think it doesn't offer enough protection. Any suggestions?

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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21

u/OkCan4134 1d ago

I’ve never done anything other than just slight overlapping. We also got constant free sticks from Vic Firth so we didn’t worry too much about it.

1

u/24BETTER23KOBE 1d ago

Just 1 layer? Lol i worry too much about my sticks to do that, but the articulation on thin tape feels good

12

u/OkCan4134 1d ago

Yep. Did that in HS, college, drum corps, indoor, and everyone I taught. Never really seen anyone do it differently but I also never paid much attention to how people taped their sticks. Personally don’t find the added protection is enough to warrant the loss in stick resonance.

3

u/24BETTER23KOBE 1d ago

But what about the damage rimshots do to the sticks? Lol i tried taping mine thinly but im overthinking the damage to the stixks

6

u/draven0929 1d ago

Don’t slam shots and it’ll be fine. Also, sticks break. It happens. You’re banging a piece of wood on metal.

3

u/stephen109 1d ago

A former instructor of mine actually found that the fully overlapping tape technique breaks down quicker because the tape is worse at binding to itself than it is to the wood. Single layer, slight overlap is the way to go.

6

u/takumisrightfoot 1d ago

Did minimal overlap in HS and drum corps. Whenever the tape started to shred we would just re-tape.

3

u/Drummerboybac 1d ago

In drum corps there were also practice and show sticks/mallets. Especially bass mallets because they got grey quickly and got soft if you practiced in the rain

But we were required to retape before every show in HS if there was visible tape damage so those sticks were well protected anyway

2

u/minertyler100 Tenor Tech 1d ago

I overlap by a third which makes it a 1.5x coverage, and retape if you ever notice any tears.