Posted by PanjumbieJohn on November 17, 19100 at 01:17:59:
There have been requests for sources for rubber for sticks here from time to time.
One place frequented by many of the Brooklyn pan community is Canal Rubber, at 329 Canal Street in Manhattan. They have a wide selection of rubber sheet and tubing.
I've even met pan players there when I went to get some tubing to take to Trinidad for a friend.
They even have a web site, http://www.canalrubber.com/ their phone is 212-226-7339 or 1-800-444-6483.
They are a rubber store, not a music or pan store, so don't ask them for advice on what to buy, they won't be any help. If you want the tubing, what you want for a tenor stick is Natural Latex Tubing, otherwise known as surgical tubing, 1/4 " ID, 1/8 " wall thickness. They also usually have the same tubing in some colors, if all the pan players haven't depleted their stock. The stuff is inexpensive, less than a dollar a foot (for the natural color stuff), I have a feeling that their mailorder minimum order is fairly high, so unless you want a lot of sticks, you may have to go there in person...
John Schmidt