Finally, High quality Guru prototype kit pictures.

So Andy, after all is said and done, a recap please.

The kick drum exceeded expectations, right?
The rack toms did not meet expectations, correct?
Would you say the racks still sound better than a standard tom? Worse?
What about the floor tom, better than standard, same as, or worse?

This is exactly what I wanted to know, because I'm sure even if things weren't exactly as planned that this kit still has to sound and play like an absolute dream...
 
So Andy, after all is said and done, a recap please.

The kick drum exceeded expectations, right?
The rack toms did not meet expectations, correct?
Would you say the racks still sound better than a standard tom? Worse?
What about the floor tom, better than standard, same as, or worse?
Thanks again for chiming in everyone. Nice to know that at least the aesthetic is pleasing.

Straight answers;

Bass drum: Couldn't be happier. The punch of a generic 20", the resolved voice of a deep bass drum without overtones, the boom (if you want it) of a bigger diameter, the low pitch that's a combination of the thin shells, the stave construction, & the natural lows of mahogany. If it's possible for a bass drum to sound "woody", this one does. I have added an Evans bass drum pillow at the bottom of the shell. It doesn't rest on either head, it just take the excess high resonances out of the mix. Those high resonances are typical of a deep smaller diameter bass drum, & are usually dealt with by muffling the heads. On this construction, not necessary. The big surprise, projection & volume. Not expected on such a thin shell, & I have no answer on that.

Toms: Sustain was a real struggle at first, but now largely solved. 8" is a little bugger to get a wholesome full sustaining sound, but I've never encountered an 8" that can deliver on that. 8" toms are an accent piece, regard them as such, & you'll be happy. That said, this is the most full & satisfying 8" I've ever played. Check out my Spaun driver's seat pov clip, & you'll see what I'm comparing it to. The 10", 12", & 14" toms are now singing beautifully. Very resonant, full of tone, & very deep in pitch for their size. I'm especially happy with the family voice of all four instruments. They will be improved again by a further modification to be performed next week. There is a slight choke when hitting them at super punishment level. Not a biggie, but needs sorting out. More prominent with clear heads.

Snare: The most standard drum in the set, in so much as it has lugs and a lovely thick stave shell. As you'd expect, the deep tone of mahogany, yet able to tune high without choking. I went for 7" deep (deeper than I usually go for) because the internal diameter of the drum is only 11.5" due to shell thickness. It's as lovely & woody as you'd expect it to be. The big surprise, it's a lively stallion of a drum. The different angle is the 3 throw symphonic strainer. This offers flavours that straddle the snare on/snare off divide. I've yet to really explore this drum, as it arrived 1 hour before the recording session.

There ya go. Enough typing. Hope that helps a bit. The video will be available in just under 2 weeks time. I hope it offers a representitive sound, as I've certainly gone to great lengths to faithfully & honestly capture the kit sound. Once you've heard it (good cans necessary, & try to look past the horrible Youtube compression + lousey bit rate), you can tell me if I'm blinded by a father's love.

TTFN, Andy.
 
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Awesome Andy! I never tire of looking at it , and trying to decipher it !!

Ha ha me too Gary! They look so.....masochistic or something. In a good way, they're bad to the bone! Gothic for sure. They look like they could be used as some form of torture device lol.
There's clearly something classic about them. I think they are exceptional, a real collectors piece if I ever saw one. I stand by that 100,000.
 
Thanks again for chiming in everyone. Nice to know that at least the aesthetic is pleasing.

Straight answers;

Bass drum: Couldn't be happier. The punch of a generic 20", the resolved voice of a deep bass drum without overtones, the boom (if you want it) of a bigger diameter, the low pitch that's a combination of the thin shells, the stave construction, & the natural lows of mahogany. If it's possible for a bass drum to sound "woody", this one does. I have added an Evans bass drum pillow at the bottom of the shell. It doesn't rest on either head, it just take the excess high resonances out of the mix. Those high resonances are typical of a deep smaller diameter bass drum, & are usually dealt with by muffling the heads. On this construction, not necessary. The big surprise, projection & volume. Not expected on such a thin shell, & I have no answer on that.

Toms: Sustain was a real struggle at first, but now largely solved. 8" is a little bugger to get a wholesome full sustaining sound, but I've never encountered an 8" that can deliver on that. 8" toms are an accent piece, regard them as such, & you'll be happy. That said, this is the most full & satisfying 8" I've ever played. Check out my Spaun driver's seat pov clip, & you'll see what I'm comparing it to. The 10", 12", & 14" toms are now singing beautifully. Very resonant, full of tone, & very deep in pitch for their size. I'm especially happy with the family voice of all four instruments. They will be improved again by a further modification to be performed next week. There is a slight choke when hitting them at super punishment level. Not a biggie, but needs sorting out. More prominent with clear heads.

Snare: The most standard drum in the set, in so much as it has lugs and a lovely thick stave shell. As you'd expect, the deep tone of mahogany, yet able to tune high without choking. I went for 7" deep (deeper than I usually go for) because the internal diameter of the drum is only 11.5" due to shell thickness. It's as lovely & woody as you'd expect it to be. The big surprise, it's a lively stallion of a drum. The different angle is the 3 throw symphonic strainer. This offers flavours that straddle the snare on/snare off divide. I've yet to really explore this drum, as it arrived 1 hour before the recording session.

There ya go. Enough typing. Hope that helps a bit. The video will be available in just under 2 weeks time. I hope it offers a representitive sound, as I've certainly gone to great lengths to faithfully & honestly capture the kit sound. Once you've heard it (good cans necessary, & try to look past the horrible Youtube compression + lousey bit rate), you can tell me if I'm blinded by a father's love.

TTFN, Andy.

Any chance you can upload some decent bitrate .mp3s or the .wav files for those of us who would like to hear everything in all its glory? :)

Since this project, even though it wasn't exactly as planned, seems to be such a huge success as far as sound goes (and if you scrap the metal chassis, although I think it looks cool I won't be bothered as the natural finishes of wood are the most beautiful things on a drum anyways), I think I may have to change my future idea of a thin-shelled stave kit to go Guru. by the time I'm out of school and saving money... that just might be a possibility.

Absolutely beautiful work, I cannot WAIT to hear them.
 
...

WTF? ( sorry, this is my 1st profanity demeanor on this website )

I have no words...this is art - Only Andy could have done this - Flintstone meets the Matrix. Y'all check out the snare strainers??

Andy, please tell me it sounds beautiful and you dont need a cargo plane to get this to a gig?

I absolutely love it!

...
 
Any chance you can upload some decent bitrate .mp3s or the .wav files for those of us who would like to hear everything in all its glory? :)

Since this project, even though it wasn't exactly as planned, seems to be such a huge success as far as sound goes (and if you scrap the metal chassis, although I think it looks cool I won't be bothered as the natural finishes of wood are the most beautiful things on a drum anyways), I think I may have to change my future idea of a thin-shelled stave kit to go Guru. by the time I'm out of school and saving money... that just might be a possibility.

Absolutely beautiful work, I cannot WAIT to hear them.
No problem. I'll upload the video to youtube, as well as provide a wav file. The sound clip is only short, so I should be able to get under the site upload limit on wav. That will be on a separate thread in the "drums" section.

malmondrummer said:
Hi just curious on something you said on your post about your custom kit earlier " 8" toms are an accent piece, regard them as such, & you'll be happy" just wondering what you mean by that exactly i'm goin to get a custom jarrah stave kit made (you've commentted on my earlier posts about it) and was goin to get a 8" tom mainly because i love how the size look i've got one atm but its a really cheap generic brand so the tone and sustain aren't the best and it doesnt sound great but not too bad so just wondering about your comment?
Cheers
Ben
I've taken the liberty of lifting this question from a PM that Ben sent me, because I think the answer has wider interest. 8" toms sound great, but often fall short of player's expectations of tone & sustain when compared to larger toms. The answer lies in simple physics. 8" toms don't posess either the internal volume or the diameter to "sing" in the same way as a larger construction. The diameter especially is key to the sustain part of the equation. 8" doesn't offer enough head surface area to get the head mass necessary for long sustain. Couple that with the higher frequency oscillation of the head, & you can't get to the meaningful head sustain ability of a larger drum. To be honest, I'm not sure you would want such a long sustaining high pitched tom, as I'd find that intrusive, & therefore, restricting. A progressive increase in sustain down the toms should be expected, just as you'd expect a progressively deepening pitch.

Apertaining to this point, but also as a general reference, here's an early clip of my Spaun toms. They are benefitting from the extended bottom end afforded by proximity to the ceiling of my drum loft, nevertheless, imo, this is a great sounding set of toms. The 8" especially impresses me. These are the toms I use as my primary A-B references in my tests, but also my answers on this thread. Good to hear where I'm coming from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyWG-eCo2uc

Andy.
 
...

WTF ??!! ( my 1st profanity misdemeanor on this website.. )

Flintstones meet the matrix.. only Andy could do this..

Instrument ? Installation art ? Play me? I'd love to just touch it.. stroke it.. with my fingers..


I love it, what can I say...

I just hope you dont need a cargo plane and insurance to take this kit to the gig.

...
 
.[/QUOTE] I've taken the liberty of lifting this question from a PM that Ben sent me, because I think the answer has wider interest. 8" toms sound great, but often fall short of player's expectations of tone & sustain when compared to larger toms. The answer lies in simple physics. 8" toms don't posess either the internal volume or the diameter to "sing" in the same way as a larger construction. The diameter especially is key to the sustain part of the equation. 8" doesn't offer enough head surface area to get the head mass necessary for long sustain. Couple that with the higher frequency oscillation of the head, & you can't get to the meaningful head sustain ability of a larger drum. To be honest, I'm not sure you would want such a long sustaining high pitched tom, as I'd find that intrusive, & therefore, restricting. A progressive increase in sustain down the toms should be expected, just as you'd expect a progressively deepening pitch.

Apertaining to this point, but also as a general reference, here's an early clip of my Spaun toms. They are benefitting from the extended bottom end afforded by proximity to the ceiling of my drum loft, nevertheless, imo, this is a great sounding set of toms. The 8" especially impresses me. These are the toms I use as my primary A-B references in my tests, but also my answers on this thread. Good to hear where I'm coming from. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyWG-eCo2uc

Andy .[/QUOTE]

Thtnks for that i think your 8" spaun tom is my favorite on the whole kit!! i'm so tempted to get two 10" toms at different depths but unsure what do you guys think? (sorry a little off topic i know)
 
...

WTF ??!! ( my 1st profanity misdemeanor on this website.. )

Flintstones meet the matrix.. only Andy could do this..

Instrument ? Installation art ? Play me? I'd love to just touch it.. stroke it.. with my fingers..


I love it, what can I say...

I just hope you dont need a cargo plane and insurance to take this kit to the gig.

...
Abe, I don't want to get you into trouble with Bernhard! Flintstones meets Matrix, I like that. I assume you're referring to the kit as a 6 piece with the rack? Have you seen the "Flintstones only" 4 piece setup at the start of the thread? A very different vibe. I did that because, as expected, the rack is a polarizing element. Glad you like it, as I know you've a good eye for stuff.

Wow ... I really love the look of that kit, Andy ... right up there with DMC's kit. Two of the sexiest kits since Chick Webb's amazing contraption.
Thanks for chiming in Pol. I know this is a rare excursion into the gear threads for you. & yes, DMC's kit is a beauty. Both these kits appeal to the mother earth tribal side of our visual tastebuds. That's mainly due to the celebration of woodiness, allowing the wood to take center stage if you like. If we're talking traditional though, that's where the ironwood kit scores. It would be difficult to get more traditional than DMC's kit (without going to rope tensioning that is), whereas mine is a whole ton of new construction methods & design elements wrapped up in a psudo retro package.

Oh, ps Pol, what's Chick Webb's amazing contraption? I must have missed something.
 
Just wanted to add that I had a great conversation with Steven Volpp yesterday. He's the original inventor of the radial pro design produced by Peavey. We discussed the next generation principals applied to such a design. Interestingly strange that both our ideas concur, even though we've never communicated before. He's a really nice guy & a perfect gentleman.
 
Hey KIS, wow, what a wonderful looking kit, truly unique and beautiful. It must be quite an incredible thing to have an idea and then turn it into a reality the way you have. I am in awe.

I have a question about the choice of wood; with so many options of wood and wood combinations what made you settle on mahogany? I'm guessing it must contain certain properties that you required for the sound you were after, but how so?

I can't wait to hear it.
 
Absolutely gorgeous. The term drum porn has never been more accurate.
 
the hoops look so cool, even the way the tension roads are inset is incredible
 
the hoops look so cool, even the way the tension roads are inset is incredible
Thanks Toddy! Of course, those hoops are much deeper than would be applied to standard drums, as they also hide the separate bearing edge/tensioning assembly. Interestingly, the bottom half of the hoop is only 3mm (1/8") thick.
 
So disappointed. I read "Finally, High quality Guru ..." in the menu page ... I could do with a good guru at the moment.

The rustic look is just great. If you weren't playing them you could pretty well use them as an ornament, especially if the stands were black or cymbal coloured.
 
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