Musser M235 Mallets

Hi,
I too have a great set of those old Musser Good Vibes Burton signature mallets. I've always loved the sound and the slightly heavier weight at the head.

A number of years ago Gary agreed to have Vic Firth make a new Burton signature mallet. The resulting product looked and sounded great. The rattan was superb and the sound was (to my ear at least) virtually indistinguishable from the original Good Vibes mallets that Gary used most, if not all the time. Unfortunately, the wrapping that was used wore out very quickly. But recently Vic Firth has switched to a much more durable yarn. The sound seems slightly softer than their first attempts, but they tend to pack down a bit after several months of use. I love those mallets. They have become my primary choice.

The original Good Vibes mallets were manufactured by an interesting fellow named Bill Marimba, if my memory serves. They came out in the early to mid 1970s and I still have 2 sets of those too.

I now mostly use the Vic Firth model of the Burton Signature.

The mallets are sold at many stores and can be ordered on the internet or by phone. I'm sure those stores ship world wide. I'm pretty sure "Lone Star Percussion" carries them, and possibly "Steve Weiss Music". Both stores have websites.

Good Luck
Ted.

I will also mention that Mike Balter is great at recreating mallets.

Don't feel ashamed! Your question is welcome. And in fact, answers you got might help others!
I hope you'll get satisfactory mallets soon! Keep us posted!
- Marie

I spent part of my 15th summer working at Good Vibes Malletworks for Bill Marimba. It was a raw vegan commune in Garrett Park, Maryland, and I took the Amtrak up from Florida. One of my tasks was check the hardness of the rubber cores with a durometer to insure consistency. It's doubtful Musser has that level of quality control. I also drilled holes in the rubber heads, trimmed rattan, embossed the logo on the handles, and sanded and painted the ends. Bill did all the winding and stitching; it was an artisanal operation and we could never keep up with demand. Gary Burton, Karl Berger, Bobby Hutcherson all used them and had models named after them. I've still got a set of the Burton model.

It was one of the most fascinating and meaningful summers I ever spent, just being on my own, thumbing into DC (Bill was only 18 and didn't drive) to see the Smithsonian, National Zoo, and all the other taxpayer-funded stuff. I still regale people with war stories about it, like participating in the Yippies' annual Impeach Nixon March and Smoke-In and going to my first bar, Lord Telford's Pub. Bill had a Norwalk juicer and bought carrots by the 50# bag. We subsisted mostly on mung bean sprouts and popcorn festooned with kelp powder. Bill advertised that the mallets were "made by vegetarian hands," so we had to sneak off for pizza or other more substantial fare. We lived in an old broken down house by the railroad tracks with an outhouse. And it was a union shop--I joined The Industrial Workers of the World and became a Wobbly! I've still got my commie red membership book with a single dues stamp pasted in it. Workers of the World, Unite! What a flashback...

I heard a bunch of years back that the old mallets used 100% nylon yarn. It was very durable and worked great for mallets, but it was highly flammable. That's why those old Burton mallets were/are special. Mallets on fire is one thing, having your Christmas jammies light up is another. I'm guessing there's better nonflammable yarns available these days vs. 20 years ago.

I have tried a recent set of Gary's Mallets and I think they are just a tiny bit softer than the goodvibes, but they are in the ballpark soundwise of the originals.

This thread started in 2011, now it is 2020 and it appears good vibes mallets are nowhere to be found. I have 2 different sets of them, m228, and m229, as well as a pair of David Samuels ones from when they were originally made. But you just can’t find them anywhere anymore. Anyone have any advice on a website or music shop that still has them? Or maybe you might have a set your willing to sell. Just curious. Also if anyone knows why they stopped being produced, my assumption is just that they weren’t making enough money from the production line. Thank you in advance.

I played in youth band and orchestra and became friends with Bill Marimba (not his original name) when he was developing Good Vibes mallets. I remember just the two of us hand-carrying giant/long/heavy bails of rattan several miles from the Drums Unlimited shop to his parents home because the rattan producer would not drop-ship to a residence. Later Bill moved to the Garret Park location where he essentially lived as a squatter and set up shop. The house had no running water, electricity or heat. Bill was the most radical of vegan hippies you can imagine with what were then wild ideas about recycling, kibbutz living, clean eating and making wheatgrass juice a dietary staple. I was among the privileged few who got to see the mallets being made. I own four near-mint sets of four wound models + one pair of unwound rosewood-head mallets. The wound sets of four include the royal blue GB model, light green Dave Pike, yellow DF, and red Julius Wechter. I no longer play mallet keyboards and would consider selling these to an accomplished player. No clue what they are worth so some ebay research may be called for.