Roosebeck Tipper, Rattan

Really nice for a softer tone

Very good tipper. Well made, no sharp edges. I got the 8". Before buying, I read comments that this rattan tipper is heavy. How anyone can say this thing is heavy is beyond me. It is light, light, light. Barely any weight at all. The plastic banding is shaped in a way that your fingers fit between them to prevent slipping. Great value. Delivered in plastic bag barely bigger than the tipper.

Updating my review to clarify that the replacement they sent was the same thing I received the first time, which is completely different from what is pictured in the product listing. Which means this is straight-up false advertising.The picture in the product listing shows a very precisely bound tipper with a woven wrap for a grip. I instead received a haphazardly thrown together bundle of sticks with essentially some inner tubes and a rubber band around them. As you can see in my picture, many of the individual rods are already cracked and/or frayed. There's visible text on the inner tubing from whatever other purpose it originally served. This tipper is an entirely different and obviously inferior product than what was advertised.Hopefully, this is just a counterfeit batch that got mixed in. After chatting with Amazon support, I got them to commit to a visual inspection of the replacement they're shipping out, to ensure that it's actually as pictured in the listing. We'll see if the replacement is correct, and I'll update my review accordingly.

The tipper is light and easy to hold. The top bands that keep the rattan together are, it seems, cut from old inner tubes. They provide a comfortable grip, but they let the rattan rods slide easily. Some better brush tippers have ridges in the tape at top for a more controlled grip. These do not. The red rubber band does not hold them together well either. I added gaffers tape wrapped tightly close to the striking end and that improved them a great deal. The ends of the rods are relatively smooth and form a good striking surface once they are lined up (again, they slip a lot without additional taping.It is difficult to find good brush tippers in the US and these are usable as a stopgap until you can get better ones shipped from Ireland. For thee price, though, I expected something more carefully constructed.

Other tippers I’ve purchased are a much heavier weight, this one is light and produces a more gentle sound (as would be expected). Occasionally the sticks will slip out of place, but they can be slid back into place effortlessly

I am a beginning bodhran player. The tipper that came with my bodhran was made of wood, very heavy with big “bulbs” on the end. It hurt my hand and wrist to play with it and slowed my rythym. I noticed on the YouTube tutorial videos I am watching that many of the professional players use rattan tippers. Saw this one on Amazon and thought I would give it a try. I love it! It is light weight and has increased my speed of playing substantially. As other reviewers have said, it’s a good idea to put a little wood glue on the tip that strikes the drum to secure the wooden rattan “straws” and keep them from slipping or rotating. I did that and it not only stopped the straws from moving or rotating, it also smoothed their rough edges as well, preventing a slight scraping sound on the drum. I also added another rubber band just below the narrow band near the tip to secure the rattan straws. Easy fixes, really. Because I had to do a little work on it, I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. But I really like this tipper and at this price I can’t complain!

Much better for me, as an absolute beginner, than the ball-end tipper that came with my bodhran. I found it easier to play along with instructional videos using this.

This is very poorly made! Do not buy unless you want to scratch your drum. The O ring was falling apart and the sticks were loose and twisted wrong.