congaplace.com

Posted: **Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:32 pm**

My LP Giovanni wood drums are slightly less ringy than when I first got them, so maybe they are breaking in. And, I have gotten better at tuning them evenly.

But, there is still a little bit of a ring to them. I haven't yet changed the skins to a better quality, which I will do.

But I was wondering if it might help to rough up the insides? LP does have sloppy gluing on the inside and I have read here on this site that the extra glue can contribute to ringing. My idea was to get a palm sander and use extra coarse sanding pads and see what that would do.

Any thoughts on that? Or anything else I can try?

Posted: **Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:49 pm**

Not sure about sanding the inside. Most likely its the crappy water buffalo heads, but I've found that the LP comfort curve rims contributed to the majority of the ringing on my Classics. Even after putting mule skins on them I had that ring. If you look at the way they are designed the curve acts like a sound projector, you get the natural ring from the metal and it just echos through that curve. Just tap on it with your fingernail and you'll understand what I'm talking about. They sure feel nice on the hands, but that ringging drove me crazy. I think you can order some traditional rims for about $40(+-) a pop.

Posted: **Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:06 pm**

Thanks for the tip on the rim.

I wonder if I could possibly fit the half-round rims from either GonBop California's or from Volcano's onto the LP Gio's? Probably wouldn't be worth the hassle though, maybe I'll do the mule-skin and gaffer's tape thing, and possibly add a tiny amount of foam stripping inside, and call it good. Unless that won't work well.

Posted: **Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:41 pm**

Mule skin on my Gio quinto has done a lot for me - not at all comparable to the water buff-ringinesss ...
The good thing is that the giovanni drums project well and the ringing can´t be heard when you record the sound or use a PA. So it may be a bit subjective...
MULE is IT! Believe me, the sound is just perfect. My mule skin still needs 2 months to break in, though..

Edited By Mike on 1182293082

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 12:00 am**

deadhead:
Interesting about the comfort curve crown ringing, I'd never heard that before.

Whopbamboom:
The Giovanni's I've played all had heavier water buffalo on them so did not ring as much as say LP Matadors... I thought the Giovanni's were reasonable in ringyness and would sound good for folkloric. Are you sure you know what a normal amount of ringyness is?

That said, if you've got thinner buffalo on those drums and do not want that lively sound, you've got to go to thicker heads. It does not matter if they are mule or bull skin so much as thickness. I've heard thinner mule that sounds ringy too.

Replacing heads is a pain... A lot of guys love Giovanni LPs, so why not sell them to someone who appreciates them and get yourself a more traditional sounding drum like Gon Bops?

Edited By bongo on 1182297858

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:54 am**

bongo wrote:deadhead:
Interesting about the comfort curve crown ringing, I'd never heard that before.

Whopbamboom:
The Giovanni's I've played all had heavier water buffalo on them so did not ring as much as say LP Matadors... I thought the Giovanni's were reasonable in ringyness and would sound good for folkloric. Are you sure you know what a normal amount of ringyness is?

That said, if you've got thinner buffalo on those drums and do not want that lively sound, you've got to go to thicker heads. It does not matter if they are mule or bull skin so much as thickness. I've heard thinner mule that sounds ringy too.

Replacing heads is a pain... A lot of guys love Giovanni LPs, so why not sell them to someone who appreciates them and get yourself a more traditional sounding drum like Gon Bops?

Nope! I have no idea whatsoever what "normal" ringing is. This is my first set.

GonBops are out at present. I have too many other drums to buy before I switch conga.'s. And to be honest, I do like the TONE from these Gio wood LP's. I just though that they might be sustaining a little too long on the open tones.

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 1:07 pm**

Whopbamboom wrote:Nope! I have no idea whatsoever what "normal" ringing is. This is my first set.

I have too many other drums to buy before I switch conga.'s.

What are your plans for drum buying?

Edited By bongo on 1182345065

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:56 pm**

Skins that you install yourself are nearly always easier to keep in tune.
Thicker heads may help as well.
A cause of ringing in drums is uneven tension across the head of the drum.
Self installed heads conform to the shape of your individual drum.
It's kind of like tailored vs. off the rack.
There's nothing like changing the head yourself to help you get up close and personal with your drum!

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:47 pm**

There's nothing like changing the head yourself to help you get up close and personal with your drum!

I absolutely second that statement - plus changing the head yourself may cause unexpected hassle :p

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:10 pm**

Bongo: I'm going to be teaching some percussion classes, and I have quite a number of different "world" or "ethnic" drums on my buy list. Got to keep the classes interesting so I can keep my students coming back for more.

Bongosnotbombs: By your comment, it seems as though you are inferring that factory-mounted heads don't necessarily conform to the drum in the same manner that one can achioeve by mounting their own. Can you explain why the factory-mounted heads don't necessarily conform to the drum? Details?

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:24 pm**

The problem with factory mounted heads is that they are molded to the machine that makes them and not the drum that they are going on. For example, a machine molds the head to fit an LP Classic, well not all LP classics are going to be exactly alike in there shape and bearing edge, especially if they are well used. Think about beating on the bearing edge of a conga for 10 years, its not going to hold its shape forever. The synthetic heads are the worst, atleast the natural skin will stretch and eventually mold itself to the drum, but not the synthetic. They will always hold their shape, and thats not always good.

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:56 pm**

Deadhead, thanks for the reply. I see, it's somewhat like what happens with a mechanical gasket. My guess then, is that you should be careful to mark the head and very carefully replace it back in the same exact position, should you ever pull the head for anything (like adding foam or what-not). That is, don't let the head rotate, make sure it goes back exactly where it was seated the first time.

Posted: **Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:01 pm**

Deadhead pretty much explained it..just let me add...

When you put a new head on, its wet right? Then it dries on your conga. Well thats going to be a much better fit to your drum than something else..

It's like Levi's, you know, shrink to fit!

Posted: **Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:56 am**

Even the factory mounted skin is pliable. Take the head off. Soak it just a bit (10-20mins in room temperature water) to get skin wet, but not enough for it to unwrap from flesh hoop. While the skin soaks, wax the bearing edge with a candle. Put the head back on. Let it dry, rub it slightly with lanolin or some of the good oils. Lubricate your lugs. All this helps to tune the head evenly. I've never done this on congas, but on bongos it worked really well.

Posted: **Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:28 am**

Just to refine Kormans post, if you turn the head over on a flat surface and just fill the inside a third to a half with water, the ring skin will keep dry. You can soak then for a couple of hours and the skin will remould to the correct shape when you mount it and the playing in process will be much shorter.
Incidentally when you mount your own skins and want to use the original ring, if you float the skin, correct way up in a bath, you can remove the ring without changing the original skin too much. I am hoping that if I want to revert to the original skin, a little soaking is all I need to refit the ring.

Diceman

congaplace.com

Taking ring out of LP Giovanni's??