Ebony stave snare by Guru Drumworks

Hi guys, I've put this up here because I think this snare is very unusual, if not unique. It's the first drum that Dean at Guru drumworks has made specifically for me (this is not part of our "out there" kit project). Everything about it's design was focussed on producing a pure backbeat rimshot crack machine. The ebony shell is ultra heavy as you'd expect, & I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful coffee streaked grain colouring. Dean blunted several of his cutters due to the hardness of the wood. Poor Dean, lol! The sound is stunning, breathtaking cut & woody crack. Sound file to follow.

Spec's:

14" x 5" x 16mm thick Guru Drumworks ebony stave shell
10 hole cast hoops
Batter bearing edge = 45 degree R3 with radius back cut washout.
Reso bearing edge = 45 degree R1 with radius back cut washout & 4" x 1.5mm beds.
Dunnett R4 strainer & butt
Unix style QR lugs fitted with Tightscrews top & bottom
20 strand Puresound blaster snare wires.
2 x vents at 180 degrees.

Well, hello beautiful... Gorgeous drum. I would love to hear some sound clips of that baby.

Good God man, Andy....This drum just reeks of mojo, ebony from deepest darkest Africa, nice thick staved shell for projection, rockhard wood for sonic crispness, gotta love the Unix lug design, I'm sure the edges are superior, diecast hoops (which I love on snares), even the badge is first class...Can't wait for some soundclips. I want to hear the snares on and off when you do the soundclips if it's not too much trouble...

This drum is like you Andy, classy to the core.

off-the-chart beautiful! make me wonder how a Ebony wood kit would sound in jazz sizes (18, 12, 14). i thought that maybe Sonor & DW makes one.

Looks a lot like the new UNIX lugs.

Chaos_Inferno said:

Well, hello beautiful... Gorgeous drum. I would love to hear some sound clips of that baby.

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Thanks, it's even better in the flesh. Some form of sound clip coming over the next few days. I'm gigging with this tomorrow night. I might try & capture something at the gig.

larryace said:

Good God man, Andy....This drum just reeks of mojo, ebony from deepest darkest Africa, nice thick staved shell for projection, rockhard wood for sonic crispness, gotta love the Unix lug design, I'm sure the edges are superior, diecast hoops (which I love on snares), even the badge is first class...Can't wait for some soundclips. I want to hear the snares on and off when you do the soundclips if it's not too much trouble...

This drum is like you Andy, classy to the core.

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Awe shuks Larry, you got me blushing. Seriously, the bearing edges are super accurate & with a glass like finish. Look at the last photo. End grain can be an issue with stave on bearing edges, but not with wood as dense as ebony. I'll be sure to drop the snares off for part of whatever clip I get up. I'm going to be messing with heads over the next few days. It's got a coated reverse dot on right now, & I do use those from time to time for a bit more centre head punch, but my default head is a coated G1.

double_G said:

off-the-chart beautiful! make me wonder how a Ebony wood kit would sound in jazz sizes (18, 12, 14). i thought that maybe Sonor & DW makes one.

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Cheers, glad you like the look of it. To be honest, I'm not aware of anyone who offers an ebony kit. It certainly wouldn't be cheap, & I'm not sure it would make a great tom & bass shell material, unless it was ultra thin. Anyways, I'd hate to be the guy who had to lug an ebony kit around!

Les Ismore said:

Looks a lot like the new UNIX lugs

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They may well be Unix. I know Francois & Dean are good friends, & Dean has taken some lugs from Unix, but he also has other sources of a wide variety of lugs. I used the word "style" because I'm not sure of the specific source on this occasion. Perhaps Dean will chime in & clarify. Either way, I love them, & using Tightscrews gets around the detuning issues often associated with short thread depth.

Sweet mother Mary that is a sweet looking snare :-o

They are Unix lugs in fact. Deano ask me the permission to use them as I said yes no problem.

OH MY! That is just absolutely, positively beautiful. Cannot wait to hear it! WOW!

Ah....how'd I miss this one Andy? Another snare? It's a disease I tells ya!! If you find a cure, be sure to send it my way.

That's one sweet looking drum my friend. I trust it sounds every bit as good as it looks.

Sweet mother of Jesus Christ the savior of all humankind!

That shell's thick. o.o

And it's thick because I used an emoticon to express my surprise.

Nice grain and wood, and I like how the Unix lugs look. I hope you enjoy the snare, KIS.

That drum puts the sex in sexy.

Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to hear some sound files!

-Jonathan

Unix said:

They are Unix lugs in fact. Deano ask me the permission to use them as I said yes no problem.

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And thanks for that Francois. The lugs work well, especially with the Tightscrews, & I love the low visual impact nature of their design. Less lug = more shell. I also like the fact that they celebrate their function, rather than hiding inside a casing of some sorts.

Pocket-full-of-gold said:

Ah....how'd I miss this one Andy? Another snare? It's a disease I tells ya!! If you find a cure, be sure to send it my way.

That's one sweet looking drum my friend. I trust it sounds every bit as good as it looks.

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Thanks Pocket. Sorry, no complete cure available, but I can package my wife & send her over to you. She's pretty good at looking skyward when a new snare arrives!

Pass.of.E.r.a. said:

That drum puts the sex in sexy.

Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to hear some sound files!

-Jonathan

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Thanks Jonathan, I'll get some form of recording up in the next few days.

Coldhardsteel said:

Sweet mother of Jesus Christ the savior of all humankind!

That shell's thick. o.o

And it's thick because I used an emoticon to express my surprise.

Nice grain and wood, and I like how the Unix lugs look. I hope you enjoy the snare, KIS.

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Cheers, already enjoying it. Used it at a great gig last night. It sounded really promising, but I need to swap out the reverse dot fitted, & replace it with a coated G1 (my default snare head). The reverse dot choked it just a little on the higher tunings, & I like a snare to really sing, especially live. G1's aren't very strong though (commonly used in a jazz setting), so if you're a heavy rimshot backbeat guy like me, you'd better gig with a spare snare to hand.

Beautiful snare Andy ! Looks like your in good hands with Guru ..

Hi,

Great looking drum! What kind of finish do you have on it? I would love to hear the sound

-A

WOW Andy, just another beautiful work of art there!

That's just crazy. :-0

In good way of course.

Do I need to sell my car to afford one? How about a ball park figure on the price.

Andy, have you got the best job in the world?

Davo

GRUNTERSDAD said:

Do I need to sell my car to afford one? How about a ball park figure on the price.

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Wow, this thread's dragged back up from the forum bowels. This drum has seen some serious gigging action since it's build, but also some changes. Early on, I changed the QR lugs for chunky tube lugs (see picture below) for higher tensions, & I'm soon to change the Dunnett strainer for the latest 3 stage Trick strainer in chrome.

As for ballpark price Grunt, in this form, with cast hoops & Trick strainer, around $850 US(or $760 with triple flange hoops). Quality ebony board ain't cheap & takes a long time to lathe.

I think you can see the colour better in this picture too (new camera).

Finish is natural oil rub.