These sticks are great for jazz (funny old thing) as they are light, fast and have good definition on a ride or hi hat. However, I bought a pair of 8A Vater Sugar Maples at the same time. They have a barrel rather than round tip, so have even better definition still, plus they are slightly thicker, lighter and faster (and less easy to drop). They are also cheaper. But if you really want a bargain, get Millennium 7A maple sticks, which, if they had a barrel tip rather than oval, would be almost identical to the Vaters. I will be buying a stack of Milleniums for my students! All sound the same on toms.