I´m leanding this thread a bit...hope it is ok guys.
I´m doing some tryouts with different wands and have a question to you guys who uses a taped drumstick "gazzostyle" as a wand.
Are you sawing off the "grapething" in the end or are you just taping it over with electrial tape as it is?

//Will

My favorite other than the fine wands given to me as a gift is still a plain oak dowel with rounded ends.

Bruce

Grapething? You talking about the tip? Gazzo uses Timbale sticks. They have no tips. In other words,they look the same at both ends with no modifying required.



One of his tips for tape wrapping is to start about two inches from the end, wrap to the end and then back down the length of the stick to the other end, reverse directions again and do a second wrap until you reach your original starting point.

What you end up with is a stick with all the cut ends covered except for one, and it's buried about two inches short of the end where it blends in and doesn't show. If you're careful with your spacing it makes a "diamond" pattern in the tape.

Oh, thanks alot for that quick answer Dave. Will check with my local musicstore if they have timbalesticks.

Select your wand like you would select your shoes. They both say a lot about you as a person.

Well, I guess I'm in extreme minority.
I'm an exclusivity whore, and salivate at the thought of owning a piece of art that nobody else has.
I currently have 75 wands in my collection, and although it might be purely psychological, I'm most attracted to the ones that cost the most, particularly those by Thomas Wayne and Joe Porper.

In fact, my all time favorite is a Porper.  It's a unique color, smooth finish, and feels very solid in my hand.

BTW, I think that "Feel" should have been one of the categories in the poll.  Some wands just feel right...

That´s a impressive collection of wands Ruben *thumbs up*
Would be nice to see some pics of them.

//Will

me too a tape wrapped stick.

I noticed that some have mentioned "spins well" as a criterion.

Most wands are made of a single piece of wood or metal. Unless there is some kind of really weird off-center weight in the wand, it will be balanced at the center.

Almost any wand that is a good length will spin well. If a wand is too long, though, it will hit you when you spin it.

Bill,

I find that a little weight at the end helps some.  Some wands I have are made of a lighter wood so ends caps or bands (or some which have pins to fit the tips) can help it feel more stable.

Bri

In your honest opinion Bill, what is a good length for a wand? Does it depend on the length of one's forearm or something?

Cupsamagically,
Dom     

The best way I know of to determine a good wand length for you is to take one of those cardboard pieces that are used on coathangers and see if you can trim it to a length that spins well for you.

Back when I was making the GoldenRod wands, the large ones were 14" long. I had a custom order for a 16" wand. I warned the purchaser that it would hit him when he tried to spin it. It did.

Twelve to fourteen inches is a good length.

So the buyer didn't listen to your advice Bill.

Nothing changes. 

Actually, he mentioned it on the cafe. He learned from his mistake.