Beginner - Looking for advice on a set

[enrique]

Hello all,
I have been wanting to play congas for years and after practicing the basics on my desk and everwhere I get a chance, I have finally decided to to buy a beginners set.

I have been looking at all the sites that sell congas and almost bought a set until I found this forum. I would love some feedback on getting me started.

Please tell me if I am crazy but these were my top 3 choices in order of preference.

1 - Mountain Rythym 10 and 11 Inch Havana Congas
2 - LP Aspire Wood 11 & 12 (a little out of my budget)
3 - Meinl Headliner Congas With Basket Stands Vintage Sunburst 11 & 12 (I like this one bcuz of the 12)

I am on a budget so $250 is max for me, but will definitely upgrade as I go. Please help!

Thanks everyone

[CongaCaja]

Unless you are very young (and thus with small hands) I would suggest that you consider other options. Why? Because the drums that you listed are smaller, non-standard size and not great wrt quality.

Generally, it's better to start with the larger size drums. For the first few month of my conga learning, I was only using my 12.5" drum because it better for developing technique and sound quality. A good teacher can help get off on the right path.

Now, considering your budget constraints, you might consider one of the following options:

A) buy a 12.5" in and 11.75" in LP Performer Series are available from musicansfriend.com. They have same minimal hardware as Aspire but at least have professional standardized sizes. These two drums would land you a bit above you budget.

B) buy one 12.5" or 11.75" of LP Matador Custom or Meinl Marathon Classic... and then buy a second drum later (when you've saved up enough $$$ )

best of luck,

cjk

[vaconguero]

Hi Enrique,

I'd definitely second cjk -
a) try to get at least an 11.75" diameter drum, or even a 12.5"
b) if you're on a budget, make sure you get one decent drum before you get two poor ones. Anyways, I'm of the opinion that it's best to learn on one drum, since it's easy to think that you sound better when you have two pitches to play around with, but if you just have one drum, it really forces you to work on your technique and tone clarity and to produce more distinct sounds for all the different strokes.
Also, the cheaper drums will let you hear the difference between a bad stroke and a decent stroke, but may not allow you to hear the difference between a decent stroke and a really good stroke. A mid-quality drum like the matador customs SHOULD let you know when you get, for example, a mediocre slap as opposed to a phenomenal one (I've only played the regular matadors, which I like, but not the customs, but I assume that the customs are almost as good. Any experience?) Bottom line is, it's far easier to learn how to produce good sounds on solid drums with good skins than on poorly made drums with cheap skins (like the aspires).
Another point - don't fall for the "stand included" gimick, regardless of what the music store owner/company website says. A good conga is far more important than the stand (personally, I never use stands, and I know many pros who don't either). Even if you are sure you want a stand, you'll just get a cheap and wobbly one in the package deals, and in my experience, all but the best drums sound worse on a stand than off, unless you're in a (rare) acoustically friendly room. Anyways, you can buy a stand (or those rubber feet that LP makes, which I use occasionally - $20 per set, and easy to use) later.
disclaimer - I've talked mostly about LP because that's the company I know the most about in the middle price range (btw, I was more than happy with my first set of original Matadors - they are very nearly professional quality drums for a bargain price). It would be easy for me to say, "Just buy some Matadors," but there are many other quality drum makers out there with comparable (or better) products. The only caution I would have is to avoid the cheapest line of drums that ANY big company makes, or in some cases the two cheapest models. Opt for the middle line drum, even if you have to save for another year and drum on tables in the meanwhile.
whew. I'll let you go now - good luck in choosing something, and let us know how it goes.

Lee

[CongaCaja]

I agree with Lee also.

Of the two options that I listed previously, probably "B" is the better for exactly the reasons that Lee stated.

Also, like Lee, I have never used a stand. I do have those rubber feet for when i want to get the drums off the floor. But even then, I don't need those unless I am using multiple drums. When playing one drum (as you should limit yourself for a while) you will be tilting this forward (away from your body) while holding it between you legs (assuming that will learn to play in the seated position). Thus, it will be off the floor and you will be able hear the bass w/o need for the rubber feet or a stand.

cjk

[enrique]

Thank you gentleman for your advice. I guess I have the "fever" and want to get everything at one time.

After researching some deals I think I will buy just one drum 11 3/4 or 12.5 (quality)and practice technique before I gradute to bigger and better things.

I appreciate the feedback. I was almost on my way to purchasing something I'd probably regret later. I have moved over from the fast to the slow lane!





Edited By enrique on 1092839282

[yalla]

Great, enrique! I fully agree with all the guys here, and my personal advice is to go for a high quality 11 3/4 wooden conga, with natural head. Play it, experience it, enjoy it, make it hurt your fingers, get all the sounds you can, until you get the feeling you started to make it talk and sing. It will take time, enough to save some money and get a 12,5 tumba! And, IMO, you can forget stands.
But remember, you won't definetely be able to get the right sounds, technique and rhythms all by yourself. You need a good teacher, or at least some goods videos - you can get much info about available good videos, all over this forum.
OK?

[NaVajO]

hi there, i know a really good site with awesome prices. if i recall right they have the biggest stock of instruments in all of europe. you can order online from there, thomann.de.

http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/thoiw5_artikel-152557.html
this is an example of really, really cheap millenium congas, 10" and 11" for just 166$!!
i have bought them myself in practise purpose. nothing wrong in the quality, really nice.

*add, when im speaking of quality im talking about regular stuff - nothing is broken, no errors, good sound. of course the sound isnt as good as for example the LP Matador series, but i really consider them worth the prices by far.



Edited By NaVajO on 1095960700

[Isaac]

Ditto on the advice. I''ve been playing for over 20 years. My best teachers
also stressed beiginning with ONE drum - the 11.75" Conga.
So get a good one that will make you want to spend more time with it.
Remember that when congas first came into the conjuntos ,
all was done with one drum so you must learn to pull as many sounds out
of it as you can. Also pay attention to the feel of the skin when buying.
Chembo has a video/DVD by LP and Warner bros that teaches care of the
drum and tuning. Also check out the Bobby Sanabria series and the
new Tomas Cruz Conga Method DVD Vol.1 - over 45 exercises in it. ( I sell that one)
ISAAC
Funkytradition@yahoo.com