• Sun Apr 02, 2017 12:54 pm
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Considering selling my JCR's..
I have some new drums on their way and I am considering selling my very rare JCR conga and tumba. It took me a really long time to find these. They are quite rare, not cheap and a 10 on a scale of one to ten with the original skins, never really played at all. Perfect condition, not a scratch and no oxidation anywhere. If you know about these drums, know what they are worth and can afford them and are seriously interested please drop me a line to discuss it. Many more photos and sound demos available upon request. I am looking for the "best offer". Thanks!

Mr.Rumba

• Sun Apr 02, 2017 12:41 pm
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Beautiful Volcano Congas For Sale In June 2017
I am putting out feels to see if there is any interest in someone buying form 2 to 4 of my Volcanos? I hate to see these go, but I have some other drums coming that I need to pay for. If you know about these drums, what they are worth, their history and their value, (and can afford them) please write me a private message. Many more photos and sound demos available upon request. Thanks for looking

Mr.Rumba

• Wed Mar 29, 2017 6:08 pm
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Gon Bops IT-3300 date?
Hi I have a Gon Bops Mariano Model # IT-3300 I bought it in a thrift store where it was consigned to. I spoke to the owner on the phone and he said he originally bought it before moving to Hawaii. He owned the drum for a long time before moving back to the Lower 48. At that time I was busy negotiating and didn't think to ask how old the drum was. It looked old to me. It also had a split from head to toe between the staves.....a pretty easy fix I found out later. I've been told recently that the drum was made in the 90's. That just doesn't fit to what I was originally told....and the drum....to me....looks a lot older. Here it is with what appears to be original head (Gon Bops stamp), and Gon Bops plate. Can anyone here tell me if the drum is 70's or later......90's? Thanks, Gary

Kona

• Mon Mar 27, 2017 8:09 pm
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Looking for info on these Patatos
Just picked up these Patatos and am hoping someone can give me a little background on them. I know they aren't early 'vintage' cos they don't have the traditional hoops, nor are they the newer version due to the label not being round or with the 'hat'. I'm guessing the writing inside the Tumbadora (see pic) is the manufacturing date 28-2-91. Also, there is this odd looking label (see pic) stuck to the inside of the Conga, with what appears to be foreign writing. The reason I'm asking is: when I buy replacement heads (probably pre-mounted, but not LP water buffalo), most of the vendors want to know if I have Comfort Curve II rims, but I'm not sure. Was there a Comfort Curve I? If so, is it much different than CCII's? Finally (just curious), maybe someone here was the previous owner of these beauties. I bought them from Guitar Center in Lexington Kentucky and had them shipped to their San Jose California store. If they were yours, is there a history on them? Gigs? LOL they sure smelled of cigarette smoke when I got them...not complaing though, they sound great! Thanks~ Glen

clayburn san jose, california

• Tue Mar 14, 2017 5:30 pm
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Gon Bops 3000 Series
I acquired this classic set of Gon Bops from 1978 3000 series a couple of weeks ago. This set has matching numbers, no cracks or repairs and the bearing edge is nice and round, original to the bone including bleached skins. IQ300, 9 3/4" & IC300 10 3/4". I decided not to do a Total restoration on these. I did absolutely no sanding on the shells. Cleaned up the hardware with good old elbow grease, #0000 steel wool on the crown, plates and lugs, turtle wax rubbing compound on the bands, did not have to remove them, soapy water on the heads and finally, Old English wood cleaner for dark wood with Scratch Cover on the finish, two coats. I am VERY satisfied with the results as It turned out great!!!! I think that these are keepers

KING CONGA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

• Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:53 pm
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Rope Tuned Congas
Hi all, I just finished up this set of rope tuned congas and I'm really happy with both the look and sound. These are slightly smaller than a full size set. 28" tall with heads at 10, 11, 11.75 diameters. I did solid walnut stave design with bubinga accent. I know there is lots of concern about specific tuning with the rope system - I used a strobe tuner on my phone and was able to tune these to E-G-C tuning without much trouble at all. I noticed that one "diamond" or knot in the rope changed the note about half way (I don't know correct terms). Took me about 10 min to tune them up for the video.

KevBo Matthews, NC

• Fri Mar 03, 2017 4:20 pm
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Wood Block Foot Pedal
Good Day, I am looking for an inexpensive foot pedal with wood block so I can play the clave and various beats while I am playing conga. I have seen these arrangements and started an internet search but there are lots of foot pedals of various costs and the blocks need a mounting and then the block. Does anybody have any suggestions of an assembly? Thinking of going into the 2nd hand market but I really do not want to spend a bunch of time here. would rather play than make this a big effort. thx, marcus

Marcus Seattle

• Fri Jan 06, 2017 1:14 am
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yambu 'middle drum' part
This is a long shot I spent about 3 hours yesterday watching the yambu 'middle drum' part being demonstrated [but unfortunately not taught] on the Spiro website by Jesus Diaz on cajon. I was trying to transcribe it but just could not nail it down … I'm usually able to figure this stuff out, but I just could not get it! By chance has anyone else every worked out exactly what he is doing and would be willing to share? In particular what he's doing with his left hand on the side of the cajon … It looks like its all on offbeats and is alternating single stroke/ double stroke – the singles would be 8th notes? But then the doubles would be 16ths and one would land on the onbeat? … but nothing would line up. Anyway I got hopelessly muddled and confused and feel like I'm missing something simple and obvious. If no one can help, I'll try it again later and if I get something I think is close I'll share. Cheers

burke Nova Scotia

• Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:57 pm
• 12 Replies
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Newbee Meinls or not?
Hi all, Sorry to bother you with another ID topic. I'd love to share my percussion / drum knowledge with you, but unfortunately my knowledge on conga's is limited to the brands. My apologies for not helping you conguys and congirls any further. I've been given this set of Meinl Percussion conga's. At least, that's what the sticker shouts. Can any of you confirm this? Or rectify? Sizes are 11 and close to 12''. I couldn't find any info on them on the WWW nor here. The exterior is badly scracthed. Some of the leg mounting screws / wing nuts were missing (now replaced by non-original). However, the sound is very nice. I'm not sure what to do with them. I'm more a marching drummer, than a percussionist. Any info is very much appreciated. Thanks, Wouter from Holland

wouters

• Mon Dec 05, 2016 12:56 am
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Slaps tented or flat - or maybe a misunderstanding
My little epiphany re: slaps was when I started doing them with a flat hand. A lot of slap explanation talks about using a tented hand or a cupped hand. Mine didn't work well until I read about using a flat hand and visualizing playing though the skin [ie: as if you were trying to hit with your finger tips below the skin] and grabbing it I was watching a guy on youtube tonight who was espousing the tented version, but when I watched closer he was actually playing with a flat hand ... the tenting part was really the result after the fact not the technique from the outset So you go in with a flat hand ... smack through the skin ... and grab ... the result is a 'tented hand' It's the result of the technique and not the actual technique itself. When I try to 'tent/cup' my hand before playing a slap it hurts! When I play flat handed and the tent comes after ... its effortless, loud, crisp and painless

burke Nova Scotia

• Wed Nov 09, 2016 7:18 pm
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Heel vs. Bass - are they the same ?
Hi there, thank you all for providing such an amazing forum to all things conga related! I've been learning conga playing since a while now, drawing from all sorts of sources (books, DVDs, youtube and a teacher...) yet I've still not found an answer to this almost paradoxial question: Is there a clear distincion between a heel and a bass tone ? By this I mean that if you lightly tap the skin with the heel it is clearly different from letting the full hand fall down heavily in the middle of the skin for a bass tone. Changuitos 'Mano secreta' videos/books clearly teach a heel toe movement where the full weight of the hand seems to come down for the heel. Other books teach the same idea. It sounds like a bass when I do it. So instead of heel/toe I hear Bass/toe. Should I just be more light in my touch on 'Changuitos Heel' to take some bass sound out of it ? Are these exercises just some technical preparations for the famous 'mano secreta' movements ? Or is there no distinction between a heel and a bass sound ? Probably it is a continuum (between a light heel tone and a full bass), but thats just my interpretation so far. I'd love get some input from this knowledgeable community on this and I hope that this somehow makes sense as I'm a bit lost here. Cheers!

Ragabhava

• Sun Oct 23, 2016 2:40 pm
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"Hollywood By Meazzi" congas
Hi all, I just bought these old beauties, as I gather, they are Italian, probably from the 70´ties. They are "Hollywood By Meazzi" - just under 32 inches high, and 10" & 11,5". Anyone with more info on these ? tips for restoring them ? The skins look fine, no cracks, and they actually sound very decent.

Kasper Bregenborg Denmark

• Sun Sep 11, 2016 11:32 pm
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Mixing Congas
Is it a good or bad idea to mix wooden congas with fiberglass ones or does it really matter? Your opinions.

mangorockfish

• Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:31 pm
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Wooden Shells
Do wooden congas tend to sound differently as they age and are played more? I know as the wood in regular drum sets dries and ages that they tend to sound different, but these shells are made of maple, birch, combinations of different woods. I was wondering if rubber wood does the same. I have a set of Meinl Pros, quinto, conga, tumba, and a couple of Cosmic Percussion, conga and I think it is a requinto. They all sound fine but hope they sound better as time goes on. Thanks

mangorockfish

• Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:16 pm
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How many claves are there?
1. Son clave and rumba clave - 2 different claves or 2 variations on the same thing? 2. Do other rhythms count as claves? E.g. 6/8 bell pattern, guajira clave, danzón clave. Personally I think they're repeating patterns but - as I understand it - their rhythms are not implied by the other instruments and arrangements, so they're simply rhythms/patterns/motifs and not claves. (N.B. I only know of guajira clave and danzón clave because someone mentioned them to me whilst trying to prove to me that there are many different claves.) The only claves I consider to be claves are son clave and rumba clave. But you're welcome to correct me! Thanks for the opinions.

Yuca

• Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:30 pm
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Giovanni Hidalgo needs our help
Hi forum members. As some of you may allready know, Giovanni Hidalgo is sick and seems to need some help. Here's the link to the site explaining it all and collecting funds for him : https://www.gofundme.com/giohidalgofund. Have a nice evening.

Chtimulato North of France

• Tue Feb 14, 2017 12:45 am
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Pan Con Queso bongos now on Ebay
Not for me now, I need to sell some not buy more. But if you have the $$ and like to collect bongos these don't come around very often. Some claim that these are are as good as it gets?.

Psych1 Avanos (Cappadocia), Turkey

• Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:19 pm
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Isla Batas For Sale - Michigan SOLD
I bought these on the forum about 4-5 years ago??? Not sure what else to say. They are Islas. Build quality seems good. I've taken the heads off and re-stretched them a bit because they were flush with the rims initially. They are still pretty shallow, but definitely playable. I have played them in group and as a set of three without issue. Tape on Iya was for dampening. I took a picture of one scuff. No cracks or anything.

Garvin USA

• Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:38 pm
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Money stolen by Spirit in the Wood : Conrad Kubiak
Hello ! I would like to explain to all of you to not making business with Conrad Kubiak from Spirit in the wood drums. Honnestly I am wondering if thisguy is not a big time waster. I passed an order 2 years ago for a bongo set...(and honestly with two other makers it takes between 3 and 6 months...) I never have any call from this guy...I always have to call and call and call him again just to know if the order was on creation or not....and I never get any answer.... And during the last year he just never retrun my phone call and never get back to me....What do I must think about this company and this guy...!??? He steal me 350$, and he steal also Maya Virgo, and also Serenity Hayabusa up to 3 500$!!! for a conga set that he probably never create !!! You can see that easily on his facebook page, in the section visitors publications. If anybody knows about him, if anybody already experiment some problems with this guy, please do not hesitate to contact me via this forum. Thank you very much in advance.

Fabibi3791

• Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:35 pm
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Help with 3 congas
Hi everyone, a couple of questions on 3 drum settings - I'd really appreciate hearing your answers thanks! - I'm a technically a RH player (although try to develop as much ambidexterity as possible and can play all of what I play both ways round). I like to play afrocuban, roots music and jazz. My setting for 3 drums is: Tight triangle formation, pointing at me - conga directly in front of me, quinto at 11 o'clock, tumba at 1 o'clock. Question 1 - Does anyone else play like this? I've not seen anyone do this (although there aren't many congueros where I live). Most seem to favour the quinto in the centre with conga left and tumba right. I can't see what the advantage is of doing that. Question 2 - what is the advantages / disadvantages of quinto centre vs conga centre? My reasoning for my way is: - I like to play on the conga as my main drum. - For tumbao this position makes it easier play on conga / tumba (rather than having to reach over the quinto to get to the conga and tumba, afterall a lot of time is spent playing tumbao / variations!). - Having the quinto at 11 o'clock means it's easy to reach for ostinatos / bell patterns with either hand (obviously slightly easier for the left hand but it's close for both). - Again, the quinto at 11 o'clock allows easy access for both hands for solos etc. My understanding is the quinto is a soloing intrument. I'd be reassured to know I'm not the only player who plays this way! Question 3 - are there any of you or any other pro players using the drums set the way I do? Thanks, Looking forward to hearing your comments!

estragon

• Tue Jan 10, 2017 1:42 pm
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Any info on by3A percussion ?
Hi everybody. It's all in the title : I just purchased on line (on a second hand site) a bongó of this brand, which is supposed to be delivered in the next days. I just know it was a Columbian brand, and that it's now out of business. I can remember I noticed some links on the web, a few years ago (2009 ? 2010 ?), but can't find anything anymore. Does anybody know something more about the brand ? Of course, I'll post some pics when they arrive. Thank you in advance.

Chtimulato North of France

• Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:53 pm
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New to congas, new to percussion all together.
life long string instrument player, mostly guitar--fingerstyle, slide, lap--and mandolin. Recently bit by the latin music bug by way of a friend teaching me the basic rumba flamenco strumming patterns. Truth be told, what I find most interesting, in the various afro-latin styles, is the percussion side of things. A friend of mine who runs a small music shop let me have a conga/tumba pair--Meinl Marathon--for $175. Nothing wrong with them except some cosmetic dings, he just needed to make some room and he had taken them in on trade. Anyway, I have done a web search for teachers in St. Louis but all I turn up is one of those people who thinks that there music degree from an art school justifies them offering lessons on just about every conceivable instrument.

chrisgs

• Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:08 pm
• 16 Replies
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TAMBORES BARRAQUILLA
Hello Bongoceros, I'm am about to obtain these bongos but unfortunately customs drilled a hole on the wood and hardware and now am just wondering if it's worth it at $200 and if it would make a difference on the sound. These are solid guava wood and would like more information since the web does not mention it. tks

juancho EN LA PM

• Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:40 pm
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Good Afternoon I too, am new
New to this place and in many ways to the world of Congas. My love affair started in the fall of 1956 after listening to Cal Tjader at Ciro's. I've tried several times with a half hearted attempt to learn these wonderful instruments. I'm now at the latter stage of my life. Age 77 with 4 forms of Cancer and emphysema. However I'm still active enough to spend an hour a day in practice. Perhaps as I become more efficient with my practice I'll be able to play more. I've also just begun Music Theory to study when physically I can't play. I have several books that I've read. I have not yet started lessons but will. Thank you for the add. May I ask a technique question here? There seems to be a difference between fingers open or closed. Is one more correct than they other? For an open tone some suggest striking at the crease between the fingers and the bones of the palm other suggest contact begins at those bones. Once again is there a correct place? Again thank you for the add. I hope to be a valuable member.

synergy1

• Mon Nov 21, 2016 5:57 pm
• 1 Replies
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Palo Mayombe Cajon Espiritual set (MADE TO ORDER)

smackdaddy Kansas City

• Fri Oct 14, 2016 6:03 pm
• 0 Replies
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JCR Timbales for trade!!!
I have a Pair of 14"15" JCR timbales in pristine condition. Willing to EVEN TRADE" for a pair of JCR congas (Conga & Tumba). EVEN TRADE ONLY! Not for sale. Contact me at: paposantiagosalsa@yahoo.com

CONGARICAN Tampa, Fl

• Tue Sep 20, 2016 3:47 pm
• 2 Replies
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New Matadors
Received a new to me set of Matadors in the mail yesterday. Bought them off ebay from a guy that said he bought them seven years and never played them, just had them for a conversation piece. When I got them, they were just like new. Took the head off the hembra and the date said 15/8/99, so instead of seven years old, they are 17 years old. They are the almond wood dark brown and were purchased in Japan. After new skins I will have a really nice set of elderly drums. Are these made of real almond wood or stained rubber wood? I think this makes for a good story. Any comments?

mangorockfish

• Sun Sep 18, 2016 12:55 am
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Custom Caribbean Burst Shekere - HUGE!
Large player! Gourd is 15" tall and over 40" around; beautiful natural texture and 1320 beads!! Nobody has a shekere like this. That is a 2L bottle for size reference. Asking $149 shipped (lots of materials, time). Many musicians think I should charge way more for this one. Would entertain a swap for a decent set of bongos: Meinl Luis Conte series, or Toca Traditional series, or something in that middle vein (not bottom line; not top-end signature either).

slinginit