S
SickRick
Guest
Hey folks,
I'm facing quite a tough decision and I could use some opinions. This should be interesting...
So here is the story:
As some of you may have heard a short time ago I decided to sell my Tama B/B and get a new set. At first I was looking into Sonor as that was something I always wanted to have. By now I have abandoned that idea though because I think that Sonor kits are a bit overpriced and frankly look like my grandmas cupboard.
And then Andy (KeepItSimple) comes along and offers me to come to England and try out some Guru drums which I did. We had two great days of messing with a ton of different drums all of which were spectacular good. I immediately fell in love with and bought one of Andys Guru snares but don't have it yet because we're still waiting for a strainer to arrive for that drum (I want to Trick strainer because I really like that one but it's hard to get in the color I want). As for the drums themselves we didn't have that many drums to choose from so we didn't find something that would fit my preferences 100%. However, Andy did watch me playing up close for quite a few hours and came up with a custom set that would be perfect for the way I play (stave set with rather thin shells, possibly steam bent rack toms though).
Then there is the other story about a few Apple- and Peartrees: My cousin just over a year ago cut down a few apple- and peartrees from my fathers old backyard to build furniture from them. These trees were approximately 150-200 years old which for these kind of trees is quite remarkable because usually they are cut down much much sooner than that. The wood quality of these trees was absolutely incredible according to my cousins carpenter (he said he never saw anything like it in his whole career). The thing is: we would have enough apple and pearwood left to built a drumset out of it. Of course I would have to drive to my cousin (which is about 6-8 hours one way) pick the wood, send it to Andy and Dean, they would have to check the wood, cure it and then built the drums out of it if they think it's good enough for an instrument.
Now here is the thing: As far as we know up until this point nobody has ever built a drumset out of apple or pearwood. Dean found one company that once built a snare out of applewood which according to them sounded fantastic but they never went on to built a whole drumset probably because they didn't have enough wood of good enough quality or because it would have been too expensive.
To wrap it up: I could get a drumset built made out of my own wood from my fathers childhood backyard. The risk is: Nobody could tell how it would sound like. It could either be epic or epic fail.
Well.... in the meantime I did check out some other drums (besides Sonor) and really fell in love with a set of Pork Pie Maple drums that I could get for a steal. The thing about these drums is that:
- I know how they sound like and they are absolutely perfect for me and my needs
- they are cheaper than the Gurus (although Andy offered me an incredible price but lets not talk about money here too much)
- I could pick them up immediately
- If something happens to these drums I could just drive to the store and get it fixed
- They fit on my old hardware, so I wouldn't have to get anything new besides the drums themselves
- They look fantastic
- I just like the company - Bill makes great stuff!!
- Easy to resell if I want to: Pork Pie is a well known company that many people around here would want.
On the other hand the Gurus:
- Truly special and personal set that nobody else own the planet has and will ever have
- Massive wood (either steambent or stave - no ply drums)
- My own wood
- I love the company!! Andy is the nicest guy in England and he said Dean is even nicer (and Dean builds incredible drums)
- High risk though because all of us don't know the outcome
- Long wait because the wood needs to be picked, shipped to England, cured, built into drums and then sent back to me
- If something happens to the drums the nearest guy who can fix it is about 1500km away.
- More expensive (also huge cost for driving and shipping) but of course incredible value in return.
My first plan is to compare two snares: I bought a Pork Pie and am waiting for the Guru. When I have both I'll do some heavy testing with both. Possibly I'll first send Andy enough wood to build one or two snares (stave and steam bent) just to try it out. Bad side is that this will make the process of getting a drumset even longer.
Opinions? Thoughts? Share them with me!
I'm facing quite a tough decision and I could use some opinions. This should be interesting...
So here is the story:
As some of you may have heard a short time ago I decided to sell my Tama B/B and get a new set. At first I was looking into Sonor as that was something I always wanted to have. By now I have abandoned that idea though because I think that Sonor kits are a bit overpriced and frankly look like my grandmas cupboard.
And then Andy (KeepItSimple) comes along and offers me to come to England and try out some Guru drums which I did. We had two great days of messing with a ton of different drums all of which were spectacular good. I immediately fell in love with and bought one of Andys Guru snares but don't have it yet because we're still waiting for a strainer to arrive for that drum (I want to Trick strainer because I really like that one but it's hard to get in the color I want). As for the drums themselves we didn't have that many drums to choose from so we didn't find something that would fit my preferences 100%. However, Andy did watch me playing up close for quite a few hours and came up with a custom set that would be perfect for the way I play (stave set with rather thin shells, possibly steam bent rack toms though).
Then there is the other story about a few Apple- and Peartrees: My cousin just over a year ago cut down a few apple- and peartrees from my fathers old backyard to build furniture from them. These trees were approximately 150-200 years old which for these kind of trees is quite remarkable because usually they are cut down much much sooner than that. The wood quality of these trees was absolutely incredible according to my cousins carpenter (he said he never saw anything like it in his whole career). The thing is: we would have enough apple and pearwood left to built a drumset out of it. Of course I would have to drive to my cousin (which is about 6-8 hours one way) pick the wood, send it to Andy and Dean, they would have to check the wood, cure it and then built the drums out of it if they think it's good enough for an instrument.
Now here is the thing: As far as we know up until this point nobody has ever built a drumset out of apple or pearwood. Dean found one company that once built a snare out of applewood which according to them sounded fantastic but they never went on to built a whole drumset probably because they didn't have enough wood of good enough quality or because it would have been too expensive.
To wrap it up: I could get a drumset built made out of my own wood from my fathers childhood backyard. The risk is: Nobody could tell how it would sound like. It could either be epic or epic fail.
Well.... in the meantime I did check out some other drums (besides Sonor) and really fell in love with a set of Pork Pie Maple drums that I could get for a steal. The thing about these drums is that:
- I know how they sound like and they are absolutely perfect for me and my needs
- they are cheaper than the Gurus (although Andy offered me an incredible price but lets not talk about money here too much)
- I could pick them up immediately
- If something happens to these drums I could just drive to the store and get it fixed
- They fit on my old hardware, so I wouldn't have to get anything new besides the drums themselves
- They look fantastic
- I just like the company - Bill makes great stuff!!
- Easy to resell if I want to: Pork Pie is a well known company that many people around here would want.
On the other hand the Gurus:
- Truly special and personal set that nobody else own the planet has and will ever have
- Massive wood (either steambent or stave - no ply drums)
- My own wood
- I love the company!! Andy is the nicest guy in England and he said Dean is even nicer (and Dean builds incredible drums)
- High risk though because all of us don't know the outcome
- Long wait because the wood needs to be picked, shipped to England, cured, built into drums and then sent back to me
- If something happens to the drums the nearest guy who can fix it is about 1500km away.
- More expensive (also huge cost for driving and shipping) but of course incredible value in return.
My first plan is to compare two snares: I bought a Pork Pie and am waiting for the Guru. When I have both I'll do some heavy testing with both. Possibly I'll first send Andy enough wood to build one or two snares (stave and steam bent) just to try it out. Bad side is that this will make the process of getting a drumset even longer.
Opinions? Thoughts? Share them with me!