Popcorn porn :)

Andy

Andy

Honorary Member
Zebrano (Zebrawood) solid stave 10" popcorn snare. Stunning tone for it's size. Built as a one off special with In-Tense series mini lugs & stainless steel M5 (Fine) tension screws. This one might just mysteriously find it's way into my gigging kit ;)
 

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Ive never wanted or needed or saw the need for a popcorn snare...until now. I really think this, along with a legless hi hat stand, would complete my drum buying journey.

whats it sound like?
 
Was this the snare that you accidentally cut snare beds on the batter side?

That Zebrawood is some beautiful stuff. How would you describe the sound?
 
Furthermore, I think we're all going to need to see some test footage of you playing this alleged "snare" with your most passable breakbeat. I will also accept a funk beat but none of that mamby-pamby English Moonie stuff.
 
...quite nice!...seems like guru has the potential to exploit the (recession-proof) niche market for ultra-high end solid exotic wood forms that are aesthetically pleasing visually (and, i am sure, aurally)...out of curiosity tho, how does guru select the non-traditional exotic woods?...on the basis of prior knowledge (e.g., tonewood reputation) or on the basis of trial and error re the exotic woods proffered by its wood sourcing affiliates?...
 
no talent said:
Ive never wanted or needed or saw the need for a popcorn snare...until now.
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Nor have I, but I have used a side snare before with some success.

Red Menace said:
Was this the snare that you accidentally cut snare beds on the batter side?
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It certainly is - what an idiot! Easily remedied though :)

jbonzo1 said:
Ho-hum... Another stunner.
Beautiful.
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Thank you.

scorch whammin said:
Gorgeous drum...as others have asked, please describe sound characteristics...:)
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Quite difficult to compare, as honestly, my experience of 10" snares is very limited. I did have one in the shop last year that had a Keller maple shell. It was a well made instrument, but a little one dimensional, even for it's size. This little monster screams class. It actually has a discernible voice. Quite biting, but with depth too.

Red Menace said:
Furthermore, I think we're all going to need to see some test footage of you playing this alleged "snare" with your most passable breakbeat. I will also accept a funk beat but none of that mamby-pamby English Moonie stuff.
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You might get a funk beat out of me, but nothing more adventurous than that.

singing drums said:
...quite nice!...seems like guru has the potential to exploit the (recession-proof) niche market for ultra-high end solid exotic wood forms that are aesthetically pleasing visually (and, i am sure, aurally)...out of curiosity tho, how does guru select the non-traditional exotic woods?...on the basis of prior knowledge (e.g., tonewood reputation) or on the basis of trial and error re the exotic woods proffered by its wood sourcing affiliates?...
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Honestly, most of the woods we use are domestic species, & many domestic species or supposedly "lesser" woods sound better than many coveted exotic species. Our mainstay species are ash, beech, sepele, walnut, ovangkol, & maple.

We have released a few one offs recently as we've been using up boards we've had in the shop for a long time, but that's not our normal course of crafting. That said, we may make a regular feature of some specialist feature snares, as this seems to be popular.

Specifically answering your question, we choose all wood species by trying them first. Our own wood species knowledge is very good (but always learning), but we sometimes base a decision to trial a wood species on advice from a specialist supplier we use. He travels the world acquiring some pretty impressive stuff, but always sustainably. We also regularly go & test boards at our supplier, & we get a pretty good idea of characteristics from that process too (we hang them up & hit them ;)

Regarding this little snare, it's made of some zebrano left over from a kit build from some time ago. It's a wood we're likely to work with again in the near future, & one we're fairly familiar with.
 
keep it simple said:
Honestly, most of the woods we use are domestic species, & many domestic species or supposedly "lesser" woods sound better than many coveted exotic species. Our mainstay species are ash, beech, sepele, walnut, ovangkol, & maple.

We have released a few one offs recently as we've been using up boards we've had in the shop for a long time, but that's not our normal course of crafting. That said, we may make a regular feature of some specialist feature snares, as this seems to be popular.

Specifically answering your question, we choose all wood species by trying them first. Our own wood species knowledge is very good (but always learning), but we sometimes base a decision to trial a wood species on advice from a specialist supplier we use. He travels the world acquiring some pretty impressive stuff, but always sustainably. We also regularly go & test boards at our supplier, & we get a pretty good idea of characteristics from that process too (we hang them up & hit them ;)

Regarding this little snare, it's made of some zebrano left over from a kit build from some time ago. It's a wood we're likely to work with again in the near future, & one we're fairly familiar with.
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...thank you for your reply...

...viewing guru's product line through youtube, it seems that guru uses three solid form construction methods: single ply steam bent, stave and segmented...do these three construction methods exhibit different sonic properties vis-a-vis a specific wood species?...for instance, guru's 'three 10" tom kit' features single ply steam bent ash shells which, at least to this observer, sound different than guru's segmented ash kit...
 
singing drums said:
.do these three construction methods exhibit different sonic properties vis-a-vis a specific wood species?
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The short answer is, yes they do, & it's not just down to grain orientation. The difference between stave (or hollow log) at one end of the solid spectrum, & steam bent single ply at the other is quite remarkable. Most notably in length of note & pitch, but there are other differences too. Segmented sits somewhere in the middle, but with the In-Tense shell construction, segmented gets precariously close to steam bent in most regards, & delivers more favourably in others, depending on the desired overall result required. These differences exist almost irrespective of timber species, but timber species character is added to the equation. In all solid forms, timber species character is much more obvious than in multiple ply shells. All these observations are on the basis of all other elements being the same (i.e thickness). The real craft is aligning all the features to offer a cohesive result, & that's the part that many miss out on.
 
keep it simple said:
The difference between stave (or hollow log) at one end of the solid spectrum, & steam bent single ply at the other is quite remarkable. Most notably in length of note & pitch, but there are other differences too.
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...thanks again...would you say single ply steam bent shells yield a longer note with a higher (and more definite fundamental) pitch?...your 'three 10" tom' kit sounds magical, imho...
 
singing drums said:
...thanks again...would you say single ply steam bent shells yield a longer note with a higher (and more definite fundamental) pitch?...your 'three 10" tom' kit sounds magical, imho...
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Thank you :)

Not necessarily a longer note (that's note excluding head sustain) than segmented, but certainly longer than stave. As for fundamental pitch, steam bent single ply will typically be higher than segmented, but not always. Certainly always higher than stave.

Remarking specifically on the 3 x 10" tom kit, the direct segmented version of that kit (with a 12" substituting the deepest 10" tom) is the better instrument in my opinion. The 3 x 10" tom kit was more of a demonstration of just how much useable tuning range can be teased from a small diameter tom using construction/feature augmentation than it was an ideal set.
 
Beautiful drum, Andy! I like Zebrawood snares--I've heard an old Gregg Gaylord stave one and a Sakae ply one, and both had awesome tone and a dry-ish articulation. Yours looks awesome with those lugs.

Could you PM with a price for this snare but in a 5.5" depth and 13" or 14" diameter?
 
It's an outstanding little drum. I'm surprised it took Liam so long (5 minutes) to decide he wanted it.

StaggerLee said:
But gods it sounded sweet when he was playing it! Then again every guru snare did...
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I played Michèle properly for the first time yesterday, and she made even me sound good! She "fits" me perfectly. It was love at first hit for me, and since then I'd spent far more time than was healthy thinking about her.

When Henri and I were chatting in the cafe, we were both struck by the sound of the Gurus: there was real warmth and depth there. Seemed to us that we could actually hear the love that goes into them.

Warm and fuzzy!
 
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