Because of the lightness of the sticks for timbales you will miss out on the center skin tones, BUT you will get lovely light rimshots, also these sticks will be VERY light on bells and cross stick, could be ideal if you really need to keep the timbales a bit more quiet (small ensemble work) I really think they should be advertised as a repinique (lead samba drum) stick, they act as a great alternative to the nylon (whipy) sticks and normal drum sticks. The lightness allows the kind of freedom and speed you would get from nylon rods but gives you the tonal choices you would get from drum sticks or single repi sticks. Just keep it light with these babies although made from good tough wood they're still quite thin. These are definitely something you want in your stick bag.