The rods work well and I get about a 10 dB reduction when using them compared to ordinary 5A sticks. However, the tape holding it together seems to be slowly breaking after a few rehearsals. It might hold for a long time still, but it could also fall apart after a few more uses. I added some tape to the top part to protect the sticks a bit, especially since they tend to show marks after a short use. My biggest problem is that playing on a ride loses a lot of definition with these compared to normal sticks. So you want a ride with a lot of ping when using them.