Vic Firth

Vic Firth is an American drum stick and drum mallet manufacturer founded in 1963, "by accident" according to its founder Vic Firth, a drummer/percussionist. [ [http://www.vicfirth.com/features/vic_firth_company_history.html] ]

History

The company began to take form when Vic Firth, who at the time had been performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 12 years, was asked to perform pieces which he felt required a higher quality drumstick than those that were currently being manufactured. Firth decided to design a set of his own sticks. [http://www.vicfirth.com/features/vic_firth_company_history.html]

Firth hand-whittled the first sticks himself from bulkier sticks and sent these prototypes to a wood turner in Montreal. The two prototypes that he sent would become the SD1 and SD2, the first two models of sticks ever made by Vic Firth. As Vic Firth himself states: "It came out of necessity not of imagination or my ability to start a company." Although the sticks were initially intended for Firth's personal use, the sticks gained popularity among his students, and were eventually carried be retailers.

Today, Vic Firth has gone from the SD1 and SD2 to having around 300 products in its catalog and manufacturing 12 million sticks a year. [http://www.vicfirth.com/features/vic_firth_company_history.html]

Signature Artists

Vic Firth endorses many percussionists around the world. Artists that design sticks or mallets exclusively for Vic Firth are known as signature artists. Some of the most notable include the following.

*Ted Atkatz
*Gary Burton
*Billy Cobham
*Steve Gadd
*Tom Gauger
*Tim Genis
*Buddy Rich
*Robert Van Sice
*Ivan Busic
*Dave Weckl
*Terry Bozzio
*Nicko McBrainA more comprehensive list of signature artists can be found at http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/roster.php

References