Hot Rods Tipper

I had a wonderful opportunity this past week to visit with one of the top bodhrán players in the world, Martin O'Neill. He had with him an interesting-looking tipper, which I asked about. He explained that it was a modified ProMark Hot Rods drumstick. So, taking more inspiration from Mr. O'Neill, I picked up my own set of hot rods and set about an imitation hotrod-tipper of my own.

The unaltered Hot Rods drumstick is far too long for regular bodhrán playing. It was a simple bit of sawing to get the stick to the desired length.

A short amount of time with some 320-grit sandpaper was all it took to smooth off the rough end and make the stick easy on the goatskin.

And, that's it. The tipper sounds great. It's a bit heavier than some of my other tippers, which along with the rounded edges produces a nice warm bass thump. The nineteen birch rods make a nice click as well. Many thanks to Mr. O'Neill for the tip(per). :o)