# Gore Drum Setup: Abe Cunningham's Gear on Deftones' Highest-Charting Album

> Discover the exact drums, cymbals, and gear Abe Cunningham used to record Deftones' Gore — the 2016 album that debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. Complete gear breakdown and production context.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Abe Cunningham](/llms/drummers/abe-cunningham.md)
**Band / Album:** Deftones — *Gore* (2016)
**Genre:** Alternative Metal

## Overview

Released on April 8, 2016, "Gore" is Deftones' eighth studio album and one of the most divisive records in their catalog — a divisiveness that hasn't stopped it from becoming a commercial landmark. Produced, recorded, and mixed by Matt Hyde at Megawatt Recording in Studio City, California, Gore debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, tying the band's 2003 self-titled album as their highest chart position to that point in their career.

Gore arrived in a different creative climate than Koi No Yokan had four years earlier. Guitarist Stephen Carpenter was famously less invested in the album's direction, leaving more of the songwriting and arrangement weight on Chino Moreno and turntablist/keyboardist Frank Delgado. The result is the most atmospheric, melodically adventurous record in the Deftones catalog up to that point — closer in spirit to dream pop and shoegaze in places than to the band's nu-metal-adjacent roots. Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell contributed a guest guitar solo on "Phantom Bride," one of several signs that Gore was a more collaborative, outward-looking record than anything the band had made before.

For Abe Cunningham, Gore is the sound of a drummer holding the center of a record that's pulling in more directions than usual. "Prayers/Triangles" — the album's most-streamed track and a frequent entry on "best Deftones songs" lists — opens the record with a driving, hypnotic groove that has to anchor layers of guitar texture, samples, and vocal melody without ever losing its forward motion. Elsewhere, on "Doomed User" and "Acid Hologram," Abe's pocket-first, single-kick approach — refined across Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan — continues to be the load-bearing wall of the band's sound, regardless of how far the surrounding arrangements wander.

Matt Hyde's production is denser and more layered than Nick Raskulinecz's work on the previous two records, reflecting Gore's more experimental, sample-and-texture-heavy character. But Abe's core kit and cymbal setup — the Tama Starclassic and Sabian HHX combination that had defined the modern Deftones sound since 2010 — carries through largely unchanged, a stable foundation underneath the band's most adventurous record.

This article explores the gear Abe used during the Gore sessions, the techniques that defined its sound, and how this transitional, chart-topping record fits into the broader arc of his career.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Tama Starclassic Bubinga / Birch hybrid (Custom dark finish)
- **Snare:** Tama Bell Brass 14"x6.5" / Tama Starphonic Brass, 14" x 6.5"
- **Cymbals:** Sabian — Sabian HHX Series
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Tama Speed Cobra Single Pedal; Tama Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Stand; Tama 1st Chair; Vic Firth Signature / 5B-equivalent
- **Heads:** Remo Ambassador Coated (batter), Remo Ambassador Snare Side (resonant)
- **Snare tuning:** Medium-high tuning with controlled overtones

### Abe's Gore Era Kit: Tama Starclassic, Still Dialed In

For the Gore sessions, Abe Cunningham carried over the Tama Starclassic bubinga/birch hybrid kit that had anchored Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan — a deliberate continuity choice in a record that was otherwise pushing into new creative territory. With Stephen Carpenter stepping back from some of the songwriting and the album's textures leaning more electronic and atmospheric, a stable, familiar drum platform gave the rest of the band room to experiment.

The bubinga/birch shells continue to deliver the balance Abe relies on: low-end focus from the bubinga, clean attack on top from the birch. On "Doomed User" and the title track "Gore," the toms cut cleanly through dense, layered guitar and keyboard textures without needing aggressive EQ. On the more atmospheric "Acid Hologram" and "Hearts/Wires," the same kit sits comfortably in sparse, sample-driven arrangements.

The single 22" x 18" bass drum remains central — Abe has never been a double-kick player, and Gore doesn't change that. "Prayers/Triangles" derives its driving, hypnotic momentum from a single-kick pattern locked tightly with Sergio Vega's bass, not from speed or density.

The 10/12 rack tom and 14/16 floor tom configuration gives Abe the same melodic span he'd used on Koi No Yokan, and Gore's more melodic, dream-pop-adjacent material occasionally calls on that range — listen to the tom phrasing on "Phantom Bride" leading into Jerry Cantrell's guest solo.

### The Backbone Holds: Bell Brass Continues

Abe's bell brass snare sound — established on Diamond Eyes and refined on Koi No Yokan — continues into the Gore sessions largely unchanged. The Tama Bell Brass 14"x6.5" (with the Starphonic Brass as a frequent alternate) delivers the bright, brassy crack with real body that has defined Abe's modern sound for the better part of a decade.

On "Prayers/Triangles," the snare announces the album with the same authority it brought to "Leathers" four years earlier — tuned medium-high, with controlled overtones that cut through Matt Hyde's denser mix without needing aggressive top-end EQ. "Phantom Bride" is a particular showcase: the verse plays with restraint and rim work before Jerry Cantrell's guest solo arrives, and the snare's dynamic range — quiet enough to disappear, loud enough to anchor a full-band crescendo — is exactly what the song needs at each stage.

### Sabian HHX: The Established Voice

By the time Gore was recorded, Abe Cunningham's Sabian HHX setup had been his cymbal voice for six years, first committed to on Diamond Eyes and deepened through Koi No Yokan. Gore doesn't introduce a new cymbal palette so much as put the established one to new uses, matching the album's more textural, atmospheric songwriting.

The 14" HHX Groove Hi-Hats remain the foundation. On "Prayers/Triangles," their dry chick and clear articulation drive the song's hypnotic groove; on the quieter passages of "Hearts/Wires" and "Acid Hologram," Abe's partially-open hi-hat work adds texture that sits alongside Frank Delgado's samples and keyboards rather than competing with them. The HHX Evolution Ride continues to be the cymbal Abe reaches for when a song needs sustained atmosphere — "Geometric Headdress" and the title track both lean on extended ride patterns that give Matt Hyde's denser production something organic to build around.

## Key Facts

- Released April 8, 2016 on Reprise Records; produced, recorded, and mixed by Matt Hyde
- Debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 — tying the 2003 self-titled album as the band's highest chart position to date
- Stephen Carpenter's reduced involvement shifted more songwriting weight onto Chino Moreno and Frank Delgado
- Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) guests with a guitar solo on "Phantom Bride"
- "Prayers/Triangles" is the album's most-streamed track and a recurring entry on "best Deftones songs" lists
- Abe's Tama Starclassic / Sabian HHX setup carries over from Koi No Yokan largely unchanged
- Recorded at Megawatt Recording, Studio City, CA; mastered by Howie Weinberg and Gentry Studer
- Last Deftones studio album before Terry Date's 2020 reunion on Ohms
- Estimated kit value: $3,500-5,500 (Starclassic Bubinga/Birch shell pack, 2016 era)
- Estimated snare value: $500-900 (Tama Bell Brass / Starphonic Brass, 2016 era)

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/gore-drum-setup

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*Last updated: 2026-06-30 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*