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Posted: **Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:09 pm**

So I'm going to pick this vintage Gon Bop conga up tomorrow for $150. I havn't seen it or played it yet, but from the pics and what the guy tells me, it is in excellent shape. The only thing I am skeptical about is the crown. Now I don't know much at all about vintage congas or gon bops to be specific, but to me the crown doesn't look like an original. It looks more like an Isla style crown, but even the Isla looks slightly different than this on. Anyone have any idea?

Posted: **Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:57 pm**

Nice catch - looks like good drum, especially at that price.

The crown is likely original - the "tear drop" model. I believe Gon Bops first started making them in the early 70's, and they are notable for being one of the first production comfort curves. One of our resident Gon Bops experts, such as Congalero, might have more to add.

Jump on it, though, for sure.

Posted: **Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:54 pm**

SCORE!!! $125?!? Awesome!

Looks like a great drum, even with that funny looking rim,
I would keep it on if it's an original like taiko- says

Not just for the collector value or whatever, but also for its unique look!

Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1176854150

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2007 2:03 am**

Deadhead--The conga in the picture is a teardrop rim. In it's time it was Gon Bops top of the line. The rim is the begining of the comfort, etc...rims. If the drum is solid you scored. Let us know how this works out. If you don't buy it let me know I will!!!
KK

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:02 am**

great price on that drum. it looks to be in v-good condition, and yes it is one of gon bops top of the line drums. it should have a gel coat on it. this will crack and chip in areas, but not a problem. many people sand them down anyway; just to take off the high gloss - way too much work to strip it. the rim is a real pain to change a skin on as it is a very tight fit with little room to work with; if you can change a skin on one of these you can change a skin on most anything. the rims chip easily as well. it is worth about $300.+- it is also a very heavy oak drum. i am not sure why they are not more popular, as they are one gon bop that will not fall apart easily or go out of round - a 9.5 quinto can really screem. have fun with it. you should be able to find others for a set without too much trouble - but at that price ??????

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:34 pm**

Thanks for the info guys, I'm even more excited now!Should be picking it up this evening, will let yall know how it plays.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:48 pm**

Wow! What a great deal. A friend of mine has Gon Bops with the teardrop rim and it does not bother him at all. I have played it and it is comfortable and of course the drum sounds great. I am sure you will extremely pleased with your purchase Deadhead!

Posted: **Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:04 am**

WOW! is all I can say! I just picked this baby up and it sounds amazing! This was my first time playing a vintage Gon Bop conga and I must say that I was not expecting it to sound this great. The sound is so warm, pure tone. I was skeptical about the size at first as its a bit smaller than I'm used to, but this 10 1/2" is capable of playing the entire range of tones from quinto to tumba on my old LPs. This is the best sounding conga I've played next to my teachers Valjes. Ok so there are a few scratches here and there, but nothing major, and there is also a little rust on the hardware; these things I was expecting. The head may be original, it's stretched just about as far as it can go and there are about 10-20 washers on each lug, but it still sings

. Can't wait to get this thing cleaned up a little and get a new head mounted! :cool:

Posted: **Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:45 am**

deadhead wrote:Can't wait to get this thing cleaned up a little and get a new head mounted!

One thing that makes these old Gon Bops sound so good is the old heads they have (providing they're in good shape). It's somewhat a matter of personal taste, but if you like its pure mellow tone you might consider keeping it and just remounting it higher. A new skin is going to be much brighter. Actually, if you're set on putting on a new skin for whatever reason, here's what I'd do: Take the old one off but DON'T take out the flesh hoop - leave it as is. Get yourself a new flesh hoop/ring (they're only like US$8 at African Rhythm Traders):
http://www.rhythmtraders.com/art/html/supplies.html#anchorrings

This way if you find that the sound with the new skin just isn't as good as you remembered from the old skin, you won't have to kill yourself for trashing the old skin and putting on the new one - just put the old one back on, with or without remounting it higher.

Posted: **Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:10 am**

One thing that makes these old Gon Bops sound so good is the old heads they have (providing they're in good shape). It's somewhat a matter of personal taste, but if you like its pure mellow tone you might consider keeping it and just remounting it higher.

Actually this head appears to be very nice quality and thickness, and it sounds great. How would I go about remounting it higher?

Posted: **Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:31 pm**

answered here:
http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....5;st=10

Edited By taikonoatama on 1177011317

Posted: **Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:46 pm**

Nice score deadhead!! I have been playing Gon Bops since '87 and still love the sound they produce. taikonoatama is correct about the rim, GonBops was one of(if not the) first to use a "comfort curve" rim. My heads are original and I have toyed with the idea of puttin' mules on 'em, but not yet. I like the idea of keepin the flesh hoop and using a new one.

Enjoy!

Posted: **Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:12 pm**

Saludos Hermanos
sweet deal, even with the odd looking rim. Gon Bops were true innovators in their days. ive seen many different types of rims and and brackets on gop bops. some of which were not widely used but they sure experiment with different hardware on their drum.
again thats a sweet deal.

good luck

oz

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