Slightly over a 5A in the grip. Long taper to a small teardrop tip for a great ride cymbal sound, response and definition. American Hickory dowels have to meet very strict quality characteristics to be made into a Vater drumstick. Vater's Hickory is stress released which is done by slowly raising the temperature at the end of the drying cycle for 8 hours. This relieves the stress in the wood and produces straight sticks that stay straight.