It is a place for me to learn....I have learned from you as a matter of fact. good stuff...but it is also a place for me to state my opinion....and I did...and the marketing *was* happening...
This forum is a great place to learn about drums, drumming and drummers, there's no other drum forum like it, this forum IS the best...
Now, is everything always black or white? No it isn't, there's the whole shade of greys in between, it's never really white and it's never really black...
So shemp, you're here to learn? While you're entirely entitled to your opinion which is based upon your own judgement, I would like to make some suggestions/clarifications of the "alleged" marketing you're referring to...
I, like many others here, discovered Guru drums within this forum, but the first thing I noticed about Andy's threads? He was someone proud of his project, he loved it so much, he wanted to share it with his drummer friends, I'm not sure you have read
all the threads regarding Guru drums, it's no more than sharing you pride and joy on a public forum and discussing the eventual design and explaining the process of the construction.
Indeed, Andy's passion can be found on numerous threads in which he gives his enormous knowledge about drums without ever mentioning the name Guru, this has enable me to learn so much about drums in general, from the technical side of drum construction, what such and such do and what and what do to a drum, the difference between resonance and sustain, the effect of shell thickness, etc... and this info is also freely available in many of the Guru threads, to
our benefit if I may say so, I have become more knowledgeable about drums since I've read Andy's posts, in Guru and non-Guru threads.
I have also met Andy several times now, and to say he's very enthusiastic about drum making is an understatement, Andy lives the drums day in day out, it's only normal it wants to share it here on DW, among drummers, it's not malicious, it's not marketing, it's not promoting a brand, it's only love, pure and simple, like I said earlier, it's never black or white.
Now I have tried several times some Guru drums... and I'm going to get one one of these days, but it's not because of what Andy said about them, it's because I played them and I do trust my ears...
I'm not looking or trying to change your mind shemp, I just want you to see it as I see it, you have your opinion and I have mine.
I do hope to see some Guru's threads in the future...