Zack Grooves came to Meinl Stick & Brush with a goal to find a drumstick that would feel like an extension of his hands and respond as needed regardless of the situation he found himself in. Together, we have designed a stick that features a unique combination of weight, diameter and length. To start off, we select our heaviest hickory dowels and then mill them down to a medium-thin diameter of 0.550". The dowels are then cut to 16.5" in length and given a long taper to counter the heavy weight. This produces an overall balanced feel, and the final result is a fast stick that plays light enough for small and intimate rooms but has the weight to project when needed and withstand the punishment of louder gigs too. To top off the flexibility, Zack chose an oval tip for its balanced response and wide variety of tones and attack that you can generate on cymbals, giving him total control over his final sound