Recycling popcorn

Andy

Honorary Member
I made a drum for myself (for a change) today, but mostly out of parts that would ordinarily be scrapped. The 10" steam bent ash shell is from an experimental tom. I cut new bearing edges & snare beds, but used the existing drilling. The lugs are early chrome over solid brass In-Tense R&D lugs. They're shorter than the aluminium production ones, & had no centre bars, so I got my die set out & made some stainless steel bars to match the existing shell hole spacing. Even the M5 stainless steel tension screws are from an R&D drum (now scrapped).

Hoops are old ones I had lying around, but the strainer & butt are from new stock. All I need now is a set of 10" wires & I'm good to go. Even without wires, this little honey is sounding as lively & toneful as hell. Can't wait to get it on the left of my hats :)
 

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Not bad for a "parts" drum!
Really beautiful and I love Ash grain.
Thank you :) The shell is only 4mm thick, which is really thin for steam bent single ply. It was a bit too thin for a production tom (we always produce different thicknesses in R&D), but sings beautifully in the higher tuning range required of a popcorn snare. I did completely refinish the tom too, as it wasn't fully finished up. Fine sanding, 3 coats of shellac, followed by 4 coats of wax.

Super !!!!
Thanks Jim :) I'll get some audio up once it's in action!
 
If the drum sounds great, you have brought yourself some problems.

Customers will be requesting and ordering Guru snare drums made out of miscellaneous junk drums parts that you have laying around the shop. LOL :)



.
 
That's a nice little snare you got there. A one of a kind. Can't wait to hear it. I only use a side snare for a couple reggae songs and covers like Sympathy for the Devil. That thing I use is a metal Pulse POS though. Complete other end of the spectrum.
 
If the drum sounds great, you have brought yourself some problems.

Customers will be requesting and ordering Guru snare drums made out of miscellaneous junk drums parts that you have laying around the shop. LOL :)
Hahaha, you have a point Jim, but let's be clear here, there's junk parts, then there's Guru junk parts :) There's nothing wrong with any of the components, it's just that they'll never be used for customer's drums, & are therefore surplus to requirements.

That's a nice little snare you got there. A one of a kind. Can't wait to hear it. I only use a side snare for a couple reggae songs and covers like Sympathy for the Devil. That thing I use is a metal Pulse POS though. Complete other end of the spectrum.
TBH, I'm not sure what I'm going to use this little side snare for. Once I realised I had the parts to put this together (especially the ultra thin shell), I couldn't resist. My appetite was wetted after producing a little one off zebrano popcorn snare for the London drum show. It was an absolute honey of a snare, with way more character than you'd think likely in a 10" snare (usually all crack & no tone). That little snare sold in minutes, despite my best efforts to put people off buying it :( :( :( it went to a good home though :)
 
Lookes awesome! Not many people can say they built a drum on a whim out of some parts lying around...lol.

I'm envious...I can't even hang a shelf properly.
 
if you have any more "free" Guru stuff laying around...maybe a Bonham size kit, I would gladly pay shipping to my door....
 
Andy....your "parts" drum is leaps and bounds ahead of other peoples "production" drums.Nicely done...once again.Cheers:)

Steve B
 
Lookes awesome! Not many people can say they built a drum on a whim out of some parts lying around...lol.
I must admit, the job does have some perks - occasionally.

if you have any more "free" Guru stuff laying around...maybe a Bonham size kit, I would gladly pay shipping to my door....
That's incredibly generous of you! ;)

Andy....your "parts" drum is leaps and bounds ahead of other peoples "production" drums.Nicely done...once again.Cheers:)

Steve B
Thanks Steve :)

Due to stronger than expected interest, I'm taking a flyer & making another few 10" popcorn snares, probably in zebrano. I'm not sure how much demand there is, especially at the kind of cost we'd need to appropriate to the drum. Here's a couple of pictures of the last one we made :)
 

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Long live Guru. Way to go Andy. Go after that gangsta money lol.:p

The 10" snare looks like a ton of fun. Some of the new music really needs that sound. Pharrell Williams "Happy" for instance.
 
Long live Guru. Way to go Andy. Go after that gangsta money lol.:p

The 10" snare looks like a ton of fun. Some of the new music really needs that sound. Pharrell Williams "Happy" for instance.
Gangsta money???

Agreed, it's a certain sound, but I can think of many applications. TBH Larry, I've never had that much interest in 10" snares. I've played a few by others, & always found them to be all attack & no tone. When we built the little Zebrano, that really surprised me, & surprised everyone who played it too. I was beating them off with a shitty stick I tell ya! Such a pleasing & characterful tone. It makes the briefest appearance here with David on the ash kit http://youtu.be/0z1DdP4mKII?t=3m35s

As for "Gangsta money" price, I'm planning on doing a zebrano 10" x 7" (so slightly deeper) in the Tour series (12 lug), & I expect those to cost around £475 ($720). I know, a lot for a popcorn snare, but what a sound!!! :)
 
As for "Gangsta money" price, I'm planning on doing a zebrano 10" x 7" (so slightly deeper) in the Tour series (12 lug), & I expect those to cost around £475 ($720). I know, a lot for a popcorn snare, but what a sound!!! :)

hahaha I can see the look on my wifes face as I hold up a mini snare and tell her it was 720 bucks!!!
 
Due to stronger than expected interest, I'm taking a flyer & making another few 10" popcorn snares, probably in zebrano. I'm not sure how much demand there is, especially at the kind of cost we'd need to appropriate to the drum.

...beautiful snares...reminds me of the sonor trilok-series 10x5 snares that were released in the mid 90s and targeted to the south asian-style drumming community, amongst others...
 
hahaha I can see the look on my wifes face as I hold up a mini snare and tell her it was 720 bucks!!!
I had a great selection of size to value relationship context humorous nuggets to berate you with, but thought better of it ;)

...beautiful snares...reminds me of the sonor trilok-series 10x5 snares that were released in the mid 90s and targeted to the south asian-style drumming community, amongst others...
Yes, very much that vibe, but on steroids :) A small "effects" drum for "real snare" money is too much of a stretch for most, even if you have the money - until you play one that is :) Issue is, they cost nearly the same to make as a larger snare. The only appreciable saving is the number of lugs, & in exotic varieties, a percentage of wood cost.
 
Yea, gangsta money. Hip hop uses those 10" snares. (assumption) Hip hop is made because of gangsta money. Something like that. Nevermind lol.
 
A small "effects" drum for "real snare" money is too much of a stretch for most, even if you have the money - until you play one that is :) Issue is, they cost nearly the same to make as a larger snare. The only appreciable saving is the number of lugs, & in exotic varieties, a percentage of wood cost.

...someone recently posted pics/link to a special 10"x5" "Elvin Jones' 75th Birthday" snare drum that was produced/distributed by Yamaha to a select group of drumming luminaries at Elvin's private 75th celebration party...with respect, special effects drums are just that: special...and especially when produced in limited quantities/exotic woods/to the highest sonic specs...that's why premium prices are charged for small limited run sports cars as opposed to large battleship-sized pick-ups (no offense intended)...
 
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