congaplace.com

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:31 pm**

Anyone have a set of Moperc?

Care to share their experience?

T

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:04 pm**

A good friend of mine has a set of the original mahogany mopercs. Excellent construction, beautiful shape , beautiful tone. Michael Spiro played them and said they were some of the best if not the best sounding drums he ever played. I've heard that the newer maple drums don't sound quite as good, but I'm sure the construction is just as solid.
PC

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:55 pm**

Yeah unfortuneatly the days of mahogony drums are near
their end.

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:14 pm**

I don't have much experience with Mahogany other than Gon Bops which I was not too impressed. They sounded nice, but you can tell that the drum would not last long.

I've been reading up on Maple wood, and appears to be a good wood for tumbadoras. May have to give Michel a call.

Interested in the Conguero model which is minimal in sideplates, or the salsa club-intriguiging design. Do'nt like the yellow color however.

T

Posted: **Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:50 pm**

Hey Tonio,
Share the wealth eh? what do you know about maple!

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:06 am**

Hola bongosnotbombs

It would depend on which type Michel uses of course. Alot ash used in tubs, and I finding that ash has alot of shrinkage.
Uses:
Hard Maple is currently used for furniture, cabinets, decorative woodwork, flooring, veneers, cutting surfaces, bowling pins, utensils, and bowls.. Ideal for ballroom and gymnasium floors as well as cutting boards and countertops. We think of fiddleback maple as the wood of choice for violin makers. It looks beautiful and resonates sound to perfection. The soft maples are often used as a cheaper substitute for hard maple mouldings, or in applications where the trim is painted. It is used extensively in the box making industry, and often soft maple boxes are then covered with decorative wood veneers. Great all round woodworking lumber.

The Tree: Acer Family
There are some 200 species of trees and shrubs worldwide. Acer means hard or sharp in latin, somewhat appropriate for many of the family members. The American species are actually divided into two groups: hard and soft. Sugar maple (or rock maple:acer saccharum) is the most common hard maple, the most commercially important and the most abundant type found in the U.S.

Silver, Red Maple and Boxelder are the most common soft maple species. They grow extensively across North America, on both coast. The commercial species grow tall with relatively decent diameters. The farther north you go the larger the hearts are in the trees.

Wood Description:
Hard Maple: Tends to have cream to white sapwood and light reddish brown heartstock, usually straight grained and sometimes found with high figured bird's eye or burl grain. Bird's-eye resembles small circular or elliptical figures and only found in sugar maple. Clusters of round curls that grow into balls on the sides of trees, are known as burls. They are common in the big leaf maple of the west coast. Hard maple is heavy, hard, strong, tough, stiff, close grained and possesses a uniform texture. It sands to a beautiful tight finish. Excellent resistance to abrasion, indentation and shock. Often the heart stock, shows black mineral lines and darker grey streaking, particularly in wood milled in the northern part of its range. Commercially it is usually sorted by colour.

Soft Maples: These trees tend to be very similar to the hard maples but much lighter in density. The sapwood can be very white and often show nice curl. The heartwood is tan to gray in colour, often with extreme colour changes on one board. Soft maple is almost never sorted by colour.

Both species are relatively stable once dried correctly, but can pose problems in their green state. Maples are notorious for staining when they are first cut. Most mills cut maple and then immediately dry it before it has the chance to stain.

Weight: Hard maple:42-45 lbs./cuft. Soft: 35 lbs/cuft.

Finishing:
Maple can be sanded almost too much, so that it closes the pores and doesn't accept stain, but under normal conditions takes stain satisfactorily. It has been known to blotch for no reason. The wood will look normal and then a coat of stain will highlight a blotch mark that you can't figure out where it came from. The use of a conditioner may make your results more consistent. Try aniline dyes. Many of my customers use a combined top coat + stain to try to avoid these strange maple habits.

Soft maple is less likely to do this. All maple finishes with lacquer or polyurethane easily. Watch for cross grain scratching.

Machining:
Hard Maple is probably the most difficult N.American species to work with. It is dense and difficult to cut without good sharp carbide tools. If it has not been dried properly the wood can have a lot of tension in it and be very inclined to pinch your blade as it goes through the saw. It has high dulling affect on most tools. Prebore for nailing and remove shavings frequently. Watch for burn marks with routers. They are hard to remove after the fact. Always note the direction of feed on planers and jointers. If it tears out, reduce the depth of cut and change the feed direction. Reduced cutting angle for planing or moulding on quartered surfaces. Maple, is though, an excellent turnery wood and requires little sanding if cut with sharp chisels.

Soft Maple on the other hand, works much like cherry. It is relatively easy to machine but can tearout on boards that exhibit curl. It sands beautifully. Soft maple holds edges well for corner joinery.

Edited By Tonio on 1181696888

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:12 am**

more

Appearance: Color: Maple Heartwood is creamy white to light reddish brown; Sapwood is pale to creamy white.
Properties of Maple Wood Floors: Hardness: 1450 janka Table, 12% harder than Northern red oak Durability: Dense, strong, tough, stiff, often used in bowling alleys and sports floors

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 2:04 am**

Here is a bit more of what Michel has to say about his
drums when I emailed him.....

Light weight congas means light shell made from light wood or hard wood with a thin shell.
In these both cases you won't have a large projection and will have to live with a fragile shell (thin shell or light wood are more weak )

My drums are full powered, a lot of volume. You play in a large salsa band, you will hear yourself playing and you'll be heard by the public!

The same for my bongos, they sound much more than other brand, but they are not specialy light.

Moperc drums have normal weight for profesional percussionists.
And do not worry with the sound, I'm sure it is better than you even wish!

By for now
Michel

Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1181700322

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:12 am**

The mahogany used in the gon bops was cheap phillipine luan, the mahogany used in the mopercs was the more desireable Honduran variety. Mathew smith uses an african variety that has similar tonal characterisitics. Very differen from the very light wood that was used in the gon bops.
PC

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:04 pm**

I agreed with Michel all the way. The Salsa Bongó I have really projects, it is heavy (11.5 pounds) but sound it what 's count. Also I did not like the yellow color at first but after tuning, the color did not matter, sound took over.

Sometimes I ask myself, why do people still want to buy the Thailand stuff when they can have a better instrument built by a better Artisan ? May be the price, what about longevity, superior quality, better heads, more wood choices, better sound , ect, ect ?

Some people in this forum are endorse by some of the mass producer, they have no choice but to use that stuff and they will recomend their brands although they know quality is compromise but they swear is good, do not tell me is not because I have seen how Lp classic Congas have come out of the Box with a crack or how the Tito Puente Brass Timbales develope a stain that will not go away. We have the choice to buy better and also we all are good musicians. Think about it

Edited By caballoballo on 1181747197

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:59 pm**

Well you know, go to a music store what do you see?
I am all for artisan drums, but there are things that would
discourage their widespread use..

1. Price.

2. They don't advertise and can be hard to find.

3. wait time.

4. you can't see them or try them out first frequently.

It would be great if there was a store that stocked all those sweet brands like Moperc and Isla and Timba, but retail for these drums would be pretty high.

Still it would be great!

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:11 pm**

Yes, this is my quest. I have had SOS tubs, but for the gigs I had at the time, it was superfluous. Heck I had 4 sets, so I had to get rid of a few.
Now most of my "big" gigs are less and have time to spend considering the good stuff.

Caballoballo, how did you get your moperc , direct from Michel?

T

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:37 pm**

bongosnotbombs wrote:Well you know, go to a music store what do you see?
I am all for artisan drums, but there are things that would
discourage their widespread use..

1. Price.

2. They don't advertise and can be hard to find.

3. wait time.

4. you can't see them or try them out first frequently.

It would be great if there was a store that stocked all those sweet brands like Moperc and Isla and Timba, but retail for these drums would be pretty high.

Still it would be great!

I agree bongosnotbombs, its even hard to find higher end mass produced tubs :;):
But thats what this board and the padres are great for.
Plus the word of mouth from good congueros that play in your area. You need to go out there and look, ask questions.
Believe me , I have alot of questions for Michel. Hope his english is OK. But if you buy any of the esoteric tubs, you will not be sorry. Its a matter of taste on which you get. Even the mass produced stuff can be used at a professional level-it just depends on what exactly you are doing. There are many designs, sizes, shapes, skins etc. As long as you don't get teh cheapies, you should be good. Now with the esoteric tubs you can't make a bad decision. Its just a matter of taste again etc etc

Thats why I'm asking for opinions.

T

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 5:49 pm**

Tonio,
Yeah man your absolutely right!
My set of congas? Vintage beat up LP fiberglass,
but no need to baby them...one used to belong to Isaac

Here in SF there's tons of dudes with sweet sweet drums, I see and hear them all the time. Even the store down the street has Patato's and DW Gon Bops on the floor.

Whats funny is I am leading towards the Mopercs cuz no one around here has a set that I have seen so far!!

Go figure huh?

Michel is always cool in his emails.

I got a response from Ralph at Resolution today too, 9 month waiting list! Damn!

Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1181757059

Posted: **Wed Jun 13, 2007 6:03 pm**

BNB (bongosnot bombs) being in San Fran , you have great resources!! Its like conga mecca!!
Yes Mopercs are not seen/heard much, plus Michel is in Canada.

T