ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

[vinnieL]

Rumbero my friend I am well aware and so is my wallet of the issues that Mario's drums have. Sour grapes? nah Ive moved on my friend. Bent crowns are bent crowns or should I say wavy. Crowns should be of sufficient strenght so that if you tune evenly the crown moves down evenly not with waves. And no I am not naive Ive been at this for quite some time now and played quite a few drums so don't know what else to tell you. Yeah Pa Pa!

[Mr. Conga]

Vinnie i would like to see pictures if you owned a wavy isla, i dont doubt you that is possible, but i would like to see pictures.
It looks like every constuctive criticism comment regarding isla get's doge, changed subject or an isult is trown.
I like the sound of Isla, and some percussions that have been made are excellent.

I amend Vinnie for vocing his unsatisfaction. Or any member that has n actual problem with any drum they own.

But i also think that people who have not purchase a specific brand of conga, should talk imperfection, flaws, malfunctions, if they dont have the specific drum themselves, and are pure vague talking..
That is slander. Is like saying old school Range Rovers have motor defects. And i have never owned an old school Range Rover.
Is talking about a very specific product negatively, without actually having a personal experiece with a product.

But i do like when people post pictures specially if they are unhappy with a product is nice to see pictures, detail of the errors, as to not defame a family owned company. I believe in accolades but also venues to express one unsatisfaction, without being insulted.

A picture speaks more then a thousand words!!!..., speacially detail pictures.

Also supporters of a brand should'nt insult other members because they dont agree with one, conserning quality, cosmetic asthetics, or the like....

How ever there is some that jus complain about things you cant even see, and you can tell they are just bad talking a brand, and they can simply be lough and ignore. However the one's that have a legitimate complain, should be able to share their case, without hostility from other.

Insults are ingnorant, unnecessary, and help create a hostile atmosphere in the blog.

[pcastag]

Do a search, you'll find lots of pics of islas with serious problems that were shipped.
PC

[rhythmrhyme]

Vinnie i would like to see pictures if you owned a wavy isla, i dont doubt you that is possible, but i would like to see pictures.
It looks like every constuctive criticism comment regarding isla get's doge, changed subject or an isult is trown.
I like the sound of Isla, and some percussions that have been made are excellent.

I amend Vinnie for vocing his unsatisfaction. Or any member that has n actual problem with any drum they own.

But i also think that people who have not purchase a specific brand of conga, should talk imperfection, flaws, malfunctions, if they dont have the specific drum themselves, and are pure vague talking..
That is slander. Is like saying old school Range Rovers have motor defects. And i have never owned an old school Range Rover.
Is talking about a very specific product negatively, without actually having a personal experiece with a product.

But i do like when people post pictures specially if they are unhappy with a product is nice to see pictures, detail of the errors, as to not defame a family owned company. I believe in accolades but also venues to express one unsatisfaction, without being insulted.

A picture speaks more then a thousand words!!!..., speacially detail pictures.

Also supporters of a brand should'nt insult other members because they dont agree with one, conserning quality, cosmetic asthetics, or the like....

How ever there is some that jus complain about things you cant even see, and you can tell they are just bad talking a brand, and they can simply be lough and ignore. However the one's that have a legitimate complain, should be able to share their case, without hostility from other.

Insults are ingnorant, unnecessary, and help create a hostile atmosphere in the blog.

Or simply go back a few pages in this forum, this has nothing to do with creating a hostile atmosphere. If anything, people who received poor quality merchandise from Isla and attempted to post these experiences have been attacked on this forum. The hostile atmosphere has come from friends of Isla and those who have a financial interest in Isla's success, such as Rumbero4ever (who owns the only hardware shop near Isla). If this is a public forum, both sides of the story should be accepted without attempts to censor the other. What would someone with negative feedback about Isla have to gain? There is no conspiracy, nobody is being funded by his competition, none of us are on LP's payroll. I respect rumbero4ever's decision to pick up the sword for Mario, others need to respect that many who purchased his products received poor quality drums. I wish I could even say that mine sound good, but really, when I compare them to my other hand made drums (SOS), they don't. The only exception is the requinto which I actually like (it sounds good) and may hold together (although there are glue lines the staves at least come close to being jointed). Then again, I didn't purchase a requinto from Jay and don't have another one to compare it to.

[Mr. Conga]

rhythmrhyme i think you might have missed understood my post. What i meant by creating a hostile enviroment.
I mean the brother rumbero4ever cursing, the ones that dont match up to the same opinion on Isla percussions as him.
Its been TWICE OR MORE HE USES BAD WORDS TO DISMISS PEOPLE WHO POSTED THEIR BAD EXPERIENCE WITH ISLA.

What i meant is that some one using bad words , curse words triggers hostility, is ingnorant to insult some one, because they voiced their experience. And it can trigger cursing back and foward, arguments in the forum again such as when some members went at it with Leeddy, back and foward, and there was plenty of name calling.

I apreciate rumbero4ever posting pictures , news, and helping others communicate with Mario because Mario dosnt communicate back. And him helping memebers be updated on their order, figuring out when they will get their drum, or bringing up an old issue Mario skiped, and didnt fix , while he was in the US, it of great help of him helping old and new costumers come to a solution with Isla.

What my past post meant is that i dont agree with rumbero bother, saying people are just bitchin, for anything..when all they are doing is saying i would like this issue solved, because i got a messed up product, or nothing shiped.

He should not curse people, or use foul language to disregard, or put any one here down period.
Even both people do not agree on a topic or isue.

[Mr. Conga]

pcstag bro i have done plenty of research here, read most of the forum specially the isla sections, mainly to see new drums, other members sets, there is plenty of complains, which are all interesting to read, and hopefully they all come to a positive conclusion.

i have noticed that there is plenty of hardware complains, but no detail pictures. I have seen one bent rim on the new mahogany drums But not wavy , i am just curious to see pictures, which prove the words.
I think i am the one here with one of the worst hardware here, and i havent complain at all here.

There is plenty of negative comments, which they are free to post if they own a defective product, but there is more he say she say then pics. I have seen some defective islas, a few here, like the one conga that had a wood mole, a worm whole in the stave and it was glued, then as the person received the drum and took it out, that glued piece felt off, and it was very unprofessional.

I told Mario several times not to ever use defective stave, with worm wholes which is the proper term, those spots are created by worms inside the wood that leave a whole inside the wood, and sometimes that spot rottens. I told him personally back then it is unprofessional. But a lot of the time the words just go over his head. And that is the problem, that results in bad quality control.

I am glad our member in Belize slightly gettin to Isla's conscience. And there has been some improvement on the new drums.

[rhythmrhyme]

rhythmrhyme i think you might have missed understood my post. What i meant by creating a hostile enviroment.
I mean the brother rumbero4ever cursing, the ones that dont match up to the same opinion on Isla percussions as him.
Its been TWICE OR MORE HE USES BAD WORDS TO DISMISS PEOPLE WHO POSTED THEIR BAD EXPERIENCE WITH ISLA.

What i meant is that some one using bad words , curse words triggers hostility, is ingnorant to insult some one, because they voiced their experience. And it can trigger cursing back and foward, arguments in the forum again such as when some members went at it with Leeddy, back and foward, and there was plenty of name calling.

I apreciate rumbero4ever posting pictures , news, and helping others communicate with Mario because Mario dosnt communicate back. And him helping memebers be updated on their order, figuring out when they will get their drum, or bringing up an old issue Mario skiped, and didnt fix , while he was in the US, it of great help of him helping old and new costumers come to a solution with Isla.

What my past post meant is that i dont agree with rumbero bother, saying people are just bitchin, for anything..when all they are doing is saying i would like this issue solved, because i got a messed up product, or nothing shiped.

He should not curse people, or use foul language to disregard, or put any one here down period.
Even both people do not agree on a topic or isue.

@ Mr. Conga, Indeed brother - I misread your post. Thank you for the clarification!

@ Rumbero4Ever - understand that it's difficult to trust given how long this has gone on and how poor Mario's communication/consistency has been. I've never been to Belize, and you referenced Mario living in the jungle, I envisioned a tiny village, Mario living on the outskirts with the monkeys and you having one of 2 stores A bit naive for sure , but you must admit - it's imaginative!

[KidCuba]

My wife is from Corozal, and I had a great time. Reminded me a bit of my father's hometown - Central Cespedes, Camguey, Cuba.

Any way, Corozal was great and the keys in San Pedro were great as well.

Highly recommended.

[vinnieL]

I indeed have a picture of ONE of my very CRACKED rims. But I am very well known here on the forum I have nothing to prove here anyway. The picture is on an old hard drive I will try to access it just for fun

[bongosnotbombs]

As a matter of fact, Isla will CHROME it's stainless steel hardware in the near future and as far as durability, that's the ultimate. The hardware will definitely last various generations.

I hope unchromed remains an option. It seems redundant and purely cosmetic to chrome stainless steel in my opinion. And the vice marks and file marks, I hope those stay as well.

[vinnieL]

Here is a picture of one of the cracked rims I had to have repaired of 3 drums 2 had cracks develop that I had to have fixed. Hey I have no problems with anyone that wants to spend their hard earned money on Isla drums. They do sound great but if improved workmanship is in the pictures I still don't see it. I still see pics of Isla drums posted that have wavy rims etc but hey to each his own. Good luck. By the way I'm not the only one to get a questionable product from Isla. I know of one gentleman on here who will not air it out publicly for his own reasons but his drum actually had a knot in the wood pop out leaving a sizeable hole in the side of his Isla right under a tuning lug plate. And that is no lie. I will not state the member's name he chose to keep it private and I respect that.

[vasikgreif]

Well, while I trust you the quality of the drums made by Mario now is better than it was, the customers have paid for the imperfect drums the same amount as they would pay now for the perfect ones now - ie., as a customer, I don't care to sponsor Mario to learn how to make great drums - all the Isla drums I bought have their imperfections, and saying it's better now doesn't make feel me better!!! When a drummer finds money to get a new drum (and drummers usually aren't the most rich persons in the world), he wants to get great drum, and there's no excuse for not delivering a great quality drum. What I mean is, it will be difficult for Isla to gain it's reputation again...

[vinnieL]

Vas. You hit the nail on the head. I'm done with this thread I posted my pic.

[Psych1]

I have been a player for many years and a collector for a few. As a player and collector the drums most in demand from the great builders are the ones they made to sell first. They all may have experimented but when they put them out for sale they were ready.

[vasikgreif]

Vasikgreif - that's where you're wrong because the improved drums cost more now. It's a lot more work to pay attention to the detail work. Guys, at the new prices, the drums are STILL a great deal, especially considering the unique tone wood they are made off. I'm certain that you're all aware of that. ISLA drums are unique in every sense of the word - PERIOD !!!!

Sorry, but it isn't possible to defend Isla with your arguments. You're right, the drums cost more now. That said, Mario or you didn't tell anyone that the price was so low because there can be quality issues - I would happily have paid the extra cost to get best quality. What you and Mario should say now is "we are really sorry for our past issues and we can guarantee the new Isla drums will be of the best quality". I trust Mario is a good guy, but this attitude to customers is no way acceptable.