Moperc Custom Cubano Series Congas - Any feedback?

[Tonio]

Thanks BNB, I was looking at those for a while.

Tony, Michel said that Maple he uses is hard (harder and denser than oak). But it supposedly has a warm tone. I suppose its the ony alternative to mahogany. I doubt it they are ringy, based on the round bearing edge. But if crank a drum yu will get some ringing to a degree no matter what. Though I am just guessing, the harder the wood, more ringing is induced. My suspicion is they are flat sounding. I did get some bongos to see the construciton and tone. They are totally dry, the hembre especially is almost too dry? But sounds loud and cuts through. It sounds like a bongo should. Now if his congas are that way, hmmmm.

T

[bongosnotbombs]

I hope the original poster does'nt mind the threadjack too, much, still Moperc though..

I found this review on a different site

Yep, played one.
I received yesterday a Salsa Club Series Moperc quinto in natural ash. It's beautiful. I researched on the internet for months and finally made a decision and popped on a Moperc. It was a tough call between Moperc and Timba ... and I had never played either. I still haven't played a Timba. What can you do? Most music stores aren't going to carry congas of such quality (and price) in stock.
Mopercs are available at www.moperc.com.
It seems to be a one man operation. The maker Michel Ouellet answers the phone so you talk to the maker. I paid up front in full and he sent the drum several weeks later.
The drum is beautiful acoustically, visually, and structurally. It's flawless. The staves are solid and cut to shape. They're not two-ply. They're not steamed and bent to shape. So... the drum is constructed of wood that is as it was in the tree. Compare that to other makers my friend. The hardware is all stainless steel ... again ... compare to other makers.
I took the time to tune the drum tonight. The tones are like magical lagoons, the closed slaps are like the edge of the world, the open slaps ring like the rapture. It is loud. The high overtones are tunable. The thing is brand new. I can only imagine what it will sound like in a few months after the head is conditioned by playing. The lugs even came greased ... the maker is such a perfectionist.
I spent a lot of money for this drum my friend so reach deep into your pocket. See the prices at www.moperc.com. You could buy three congas from other makers for the price of one Moperc. I never spent better money than what I just spent on my Moperc. Until yesterday, I played LP Matadors and they are fine drums ... no disrespect here for Matadors.
However ... not all congas are created equal.
What kind of congas do you want to play?
Mopercs are among the world's finest ... they may be the very finest.
Cheers
BMac
P.S. I don't have any connection to Moperc if you think I'm pimping for some kind of benefit ... I'm just a proud new keeper of an unbelievably beautiful instrument.

Michel has some big time people he sponsors, for such a smaller operation..
Los Munequitos and Afro-Cuban Allstars among them.

The drums sounded really good in that video I posted too...

[Tonio]

I took the time to tune the drum tonight. The tones are like magical lagoons, the closed slaps are like the edge of the world, the open slaps ring like the rapture. It is loud. The high overtones are tunable. The thing is brand new. I can only imagine what it will sound like in a few months after the head is conditioned by playing. The lugs even came greased ... the maker is such a perfectionist.
The drums sounded really good in that video I posted too...

what the heck is a magical lagoon tone? Open slaps ring like the rapture??
The high overtones are tunable. \

Man who is this guy?

One thing I totaly agree is the maticulous work Michel does. He uses litium grease on the lugs, and washers. The only thing though is the skin. Which I like, but the consistancy is off. Always thicker on one side , and thinner on the other. Because of this the mounting is off too. OZ's qunto? skin needed a replacement due to this. Though Michel did send him another, but cost or not, I don't know. Yes there is always that problem , but his seemed to be rather large deviations.
I got a congas skin in medium when I got the bongos. It was rather thin to my tastes., so maybe ordering a thicker one could be a remedy?

Michels work is great from what I have seen, and caters to what he can.
I need to hear the congas.

T

[Tonio]

oh BNB, small operation, but he has stocks of shells and hardware. It only takes him 3 weeks to finish the shells and mount the hardware. He has knocked out alot, but does have an assistant. His template work and machinery is awesome.
He may not compare to LP in operational size, but he is ready for a hand made product. Small, maybe. I would think being smaller offers a better product.

T



Edited By Tonio on 1193886927

[bongosnotbombs]

Hmmm that's funny about the skins Tonio, I'm not doubting your word one bit,
but was'nt it onile that says he has them Moperc skins on all his drums?

Maybe it's because onile mounts them himself? I don't know, seems like a funny quirk.

[Tonio]

don't get me wrong. Being a natural product, there will always be that problem. Maybe I got the lesser quality skin? It also has a machining makr residue. If you every used United cowhide (while in existance) you'll know what I'm talking about, and the extra bongo skin I got has that marking. I believe its a machine that presses the skin to press the moisture out or somethnng to that effect. United cowhide was terrible in that respect, but Michels are not as bad and thinner/closer. I'll try to post a pic on a few bad ones I have.
If Onlie catches this and comments would be great.

One thing though is Mario (Isla), he has a secret machine to manipulate the skins. I should have asked him more about that.

I could be anal about this, but after seeing many skins why not go for the good stuff? Each one has its own characteristics. I don't loose sleep over it, just something to ponder about when not actually playng em
:laugh:

T

[caballoballo]

Skins Thickness, My friend Papo Del Valle told me that the best place to cut the skins is from the center. Taking the spine as the center you can get better thickness consistency. That is the reason of why you get thicker skin on one side and thiner on the other .Yesterday a friend bought a new Matador 12.5" Tumba ,even though he got it cheap because he got the price of his friend endorse by Lp,he has to buy a new tucket fyberskin to replace the dull sound reproduce by the factory skin. With Moperc at least you get a better skin than the water buffalo use by the mass producers.



Edited By caballoballo on 1193920702

[steve kornicks]

Anything made by Matthew Smith, Tom (Volcano), and Moperc(Michel) is worth the money. With Moperc, you have several different pricing levels. The shell quality is the same in each, the only difference is finish and choice of ash or maple. With Matt, he can make it out of whatever your choice is. Tom uses south pacific woods (which give a unique look)

[onile]

Alafia Abures!
I hope that you are all well and in an abundance of blessings!

Abure Tonio, I'm not sure that the skin you got is a bad one, it's obviously tough enough to have a brand on it. Although, I don't know that I personally would want it on my drum. What does it sound like? Is it bothersome when you play it? If so, p.m. me and I'll talk to you about it.

As for Michel's skins, they are always consistant in their quality. Don't misunderstand me, what I mean as "quality" is the color, thickness, not to slam anyone else. Mario has recently changed some of his techniques with mounting his skins I've noticed.

When I ordered my drums, I asked him to mount the crowns a bit closer to the rim (if you notice previous drums he produced he had the crowns about 1" from the playing surface), he agreed to do it, but forgot to on the first two drums. The third drum he made for me was perfectly the way I ordered it. He also has begun using darker/oilier skins, which are my preference.

Mario is constantly meeting the needs of players such as ourselves who order from him. He is definitely a great craftsman and gentleman as well and I hold him in high esteem.

I'm currently however changing the skins on my Islas, originally the skins were cow, I am putting mule which I ordered from Isaac! I will post some pics of them when I begin and finish the process if you all would like.

Abure Caballoballo!
Como esta familia?

You are absolutely right, the hide closest to the center IS the best for strength and thickness. At least that has been my experience with folks dealing with them.

Suave!

Onile!



Edited By onile on 1194112581

[pcastag]

Try some of bill confer's skins from hereford by-products. They are incredibly consistent, and he sells for a great price, and will have the skins cut to your specs. Right now he's selling hides for 140 or so( you can get about 6 skins out of them) or individual skins for 40 each, custom cut. I just mounted one of these on one of my mystery drums from Mexico and they sound incredible!.



Edited By pcastag on 1194133400

[Tonio]

Onile, thanks for piping in.
The branded Isla skin doesn't bother me.. yet. Though it does give some thought to tuning. Its not straight forward like a clean skin. Where the 3 or E is, its darker, and somewhat thinner at the bearing edge at certain points. It sounds good-though its still needs some breaking in , and does not bother me while playing. appearance wise, maybe a little. I asked Mario for some extra skins, and he said he didn't have any spares. Though I did see some kips and a few raw but dry black steers. Looked like they may have been for another set he was working on.
As far as Michels skins, I am specifically talking about the bongo skins. I suppose a bongo skin needing to be thinner, it probably is picked from the belly end where it is thin, and has a nice color, and cleaness. But does have a thin side(where th machinery markings are), thick side consistancy. Which I think is normal to a degree. The congas skin I additionally got is really consistant throughout, I requested a medium thickness. But overall is rather thin for my taste. How was the general thickness from the batch you purchased from Michel?

Recently I have mounted a few skins from Bill Confer that pcstag speaks of. I mounted a LP tumba and a LP Valje hembra. These skins are really nice, smooth, clear of any nicks, burrs, and totally consistant thickness throughout. The color is nice and dark, but not steer black, just nice brown, and somewhat translucent.

Please do post pics of mountng the mule on yourt Isla's. Is this your 1st crack at them? I have one on a requinto, which isn't played much so I can't really say if I like mule or not at this point.

T

[Tonio]

Here's an example of a United rawhide skin. See the ribs? This one you can feel it on both sides. some others I have used and were not as bad, and after the mounting process you cannot feel the ribs, but you can see them depending of how pronounced they are.
United rawhide was THE skin provider back when the old Gon Bops were still producing. I think LP even sourced from them too. Remember those orange skins?
The Moperc bongo skin is not bad at all compared to the picture. I'm sure that Mopercs are great on all aspects, they all have 6 lugs excluding the requinto. Reskining if needed. But reskining is part of congas anyway.
Just the shipping is a PITA.

T



Edited By Tonio on 1194222781

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... G_0194.JPG

[ozrivera]

Saludos Hermanos

The Moperc cubano series is well worth the money.
some of the obvious things have already been mentioned.
they are a bit on the heavy side.
the skins are of tremendous quality from North American cattle. yes it does have ribs like its been ran through some type of machine. but are only visible on the inside of the head and at that very lightly.
the problem is that Michel mounts the head about an inch to inch 1/2. (maybe that's his style) but as soon as the skin starts to break in it already looks stretched. if you buy a set from him be sure to let him know to mount your skins no more than half inch from the top.
the hardware is partly to blame for its weight. the rims are pretty heavy.
but, maaan they sound sweet. they have a very traditional sound. very loud and deep. chops are very strong and piercing. on small settings if i use my mopercs i dont even mic'em. and they still sound through.
tunning has to be very specific for the type of music you are playing. the open tones are not ringy, so a general tune doesnt really apply to all music. especially if you are going to use a lot of "TAPAOS/MUFF" and open tones like a mazambique.
other than that they are truly are flawless. even the inside of the barrel looks good. the glue between the staves is nice and even, not a single run.
ill post a vid and some pics soon.
all in all the cubano series is meant to be very traditional in both the looks and sound. tonal quality very consistent. very impressive drums, the quality is very apparent even from a surface glance.
let me know if you have any specific questions.

suave

oz

[Tonio]

Hola OZ,
good to see you posting in regards to Moperc. How are the skins on your set? thick or thin? I suppose everyone has their preferences so that could be very subjective.
Michels good about preferences in mounting height and very accomodating.

Did you get your set locally or did Michel ship them to you? If shipped , how much was it? It cost me $70 just for bongos which isn't bad, but considering congas could be alot more.

I am very happy with my Salsa Club bongos, and am hoping to get a conga in the near future.

T

[ozrivera]

Saludod Hermanos
sorry tonio, forgot to give you an answer to your qustion.
i purchased my congas directly from him, shipping was about $60. per drum. that was discounted since i bought the entire set.
he also gave me a small discount on the drums for purchasing the whole set.
they took about 3 months to receive.
the skins are pretty good. out of 6 that i have only 2 have inconsistent thickness through out head. but not by much.
in fact, i am willing to bet that the stainless steel hardware is much better than that of others in the same category.
also, very big sound. you use any of the drums tuned higher or lower without any noticeable difference.
am i the only one here with moperc congas>

suave
Oz