Until recently, I used the Vic Firth Rute hot rods of which these are practically a copy. Total length is identical, only the part with the rods is about 1 cm shorter. The balance is however OK, as is the sound quality, both comparable with Vic Firth. One big difference however: at a price that is almost half of the Vic Firth, I found the durability of these FY-1 rods to be much better. Vic Firth after a short while has big splinters of rods coming off, while the FY-1 after a number of gigs stil has all its rods present and accounted for. I'm glad to have made the switch.