Jeff's new Gurus!!

Jeff Almeyda

Senior Consultant
As many of you know, I recently bought a set of Guru drums. After a few weeks of playing them I'd like to share my impressions with you.

When I first laid out my requirements for the kit with Andy I let him know that I play mainly rock and metal. I told him I was not interested in the "vintage sound" but rather a modern approach. (At age 46, I'm vintage enough, thank you). He asked for a few sound files of my playing which right away struck me as being extremely caring. He came back to me and recommended the Performance Series. These drums are of a stave construction with S-Hoops and they are made of Padauk which is an extremely hard wood. He told me how the shorter note would suit my faster playing style best. Made sense to me, although I was a little concerned about how short of a note he was actually talking about. Turns out my concerns were unfounded.

When the drums finally arrived, my first impression was how beautiful they were. The rich red color was classy yet strong, if you know what I mean. My wife actually gasped as I pulled out the first drum. Her exact words were: "Oh my God, I have never seen such a beautiful drum in my life". I felt exactly the same way. They have a classy sheen, while avoiding any hint of tacky glossiness. OK, so far so good.

I'll be honest here. I LOVE playing the drums but I'm not a big fan of tuning them, setting them up, moving them or anything else other than playing them. So, unlike our dear friend Larry, I just set these bad boys up and started hitting them after just the most basic tuning.

I will give overall impressions then more specific ones:

These drums are the ultimate rock kit, they punch so hard that they made my Keller DW's sound wimpy by comparison. Yet the depth or richness of tone was not sacrificed for that aggressiveness. They speak at every dynamic, I could not get the drums to fail to respond at the lightest touch nor did they choke while I was slamming non-alternating flams, Cobham-style, down the toms.

The bass drum sounded like it had a subwoofer in it, I mean I did a double take when I heard it because it was such a surprise. I am currently playing it with both full heads with an Evans pad inside. For my upcoming Sunlord record (my metal project) I will have to port the front head just because stylistically that's more appropriate but this is the first double headed bass drum that I was able to play 210 BPM sixteenths on without it sounding like a total inarticulate mess. For my rock projects, the full front head is staying on. Tons of depth, rich tone with plenty of attack. It sounds like the bass drum in my head sounds like. Bonham would have flipped for this drum.

The 13 x 7 snare is a first for me. I have a few high-end 14" snares including two Brady's, A Noble & Cooley/Zildjian Brass and a purpleheart solid shell Longo so I decided to go nuts and get something different this time. I am so glad I did. The drum came with die-cast hoops (Which I decided upon after Andy meticulously explained how each hoop would affect the sound). This drum cracks like nobody's business yet it still sounds woody. The rim click is hands down the best I've ever heard. The drum is sensitive at every dynamic, again I could not get it to not speak no matter how I hit it. Rim shots will take your head off. Just a dream of a drum.

The 4 toms (10,12, 14, 16) are perfect for my playing style. I often do hand-foot combos and most drum sets just lacked a certain consistency that tended to make the kick more pronounced. I also want my hand foot combos to sound more rock/aggressive and less like fusion (Think Weckl, great sound but not mine). Now I understood what Andy was talking about when he said the stave construction gives a shorter fundamental but with plenty of tone. This results is hand foot combos that just explode when compared to my DW's. The kit sounds unified, like one instrument as opposed to an assortment of drums. That is a rarity, even with DW "Timbre-Matching".

What else can I say? I've been playing drums for over 30 years and have never played an acoustic kit that sounded like the one in my head until now. If you want the best drums in the world made by the most critical craftsmen around, you must get a set.

I want to thank Andy and Dean for caring. You guys have made the best drums in the world.
 
Give me a day or two and I will post a whole set of pics for you guys.
 
If they sounds half as good as they look,that would be like scoring the winning goal in the 89th minute of the world cup,or hitting a grand slam,score tied in the bottom of the 9th in game 7 of the world series.

You guys just do it right like nobody else,Andy.

Congrats Jeff,enjoy the new kit,and play em' till your hands bleed.:)

Steve B
 
Absolutely gorgeous...

1173720d1375227034-orient-curator-ffd0j004w0-i-want-feedback-homer-simpson-drooling-532.jpg
 
Beautiful, I love the finish :)
Perfect shade of reddish tint.
Must have sound samples. A YouTube video is in order.
 
Beautiful, I love the finish :)
Perfect shade of reddish tint.
Must have sound samples. A YouTube video is in order.

Over the next few months I plan on "coming out" onto YouTube with several vids. Being that I'm going to jam with Larry at his house in about a month with his Gurus, that may be the first of many to come out.
 
Beautiful! Can't wait for those vids.
 
that's awesome Jeff, congrats and way to go Andy on building him such an awesome kit.

Now about those pics Jeff........WE NEED MORE!!!!!!
 
Finally got an answer ;-) Congratulations, saw the pictures Andy posted earlier on another thread. Can't wait to see your pics and vids.

icon1.gif
Re: Anyone ever pull a gun at practice?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Almeyda
I'm surrounding my house with land-mines, motion detectors, flame-throwers, and laser sighted bazookas. My daughter will be safe then from all of the sickos here in New Jersey.

Quote:
Originally Posted by camcoman
Yeah, yeah sure we all know it's really about the Guru's :). Speaking of which are you planning on doing any reviews Jeff?
 
Last edited:
Congratulations, Jeff! Really happy for you, man.
 
Back
Top