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Posted: **Sun May 27, 2007 8:47 am**

Hi there guys!
I need some advice from some experts in the field!
I own a set of three LP Potato’s and I must say they still serve me well and I am very satisfied with them. Although they sound fantastic, I also wanted some wood drums as well to get a more warmer sounding. After some little investigation I bought myself 4 Gio Galaxy wood drums (years ago as a present :cool:

). Recently however I decided to get rid of the Gio’s, so I sold them a few weeks ago. The main reason why I decided to sell them was because of the annoying ringing overtones produced in the quinto :angry: . I tried a lot of different skins because I knew that maybe thicker skins or sticking some duc tape underneath the skin may solve that problem. I achieved some progression with other skins (I did not try a mule or cow skin). Tuning the quinto to a lower level was not an option because I love the sound of a highly pitched quinto, especially the crisp and clean dry slaps. However after 8 years I had enough of the Galaxy Gio’s and now I want something different (but I want still wood tubes :p )!

Right now I am interested in the Gon Bops California series or the LP Gio palladium congas. I read good things about the Gon Bops, especially the sound of the quinto must be very good, dry slaps?!. I never tried them because they aren’t for sale, as far as I know, in Holland. Has someone experience with the 10 ¾” California quinto compared to the (very heavy) 11” palladium quinto?

Thanx!

Posted: **Sun May 27, 2007 10:17 am**

ho geronimo

i played the gonbops california and must admit those drums are outstanding in quality and sound. somehow difficult comparing those or the alex acuna gonbops to palladiums. the palladiums are bigger sized, shell and playing surface. nevertheless the gonbops feel more massive and earthy (does that word exist?) seems the dw-people who run the gonbops shop now, learned their lessons well.
the palladiums are good drums, no doubt, but i myself would not think twice making a choice for the gonbops.
unfortunately they are pretty expensive here in europe. i was not able to make a price lower than 2200 euro for the 4set. no chance to talk about the price, what has allways been possible with lp products.
next thing is, they are difficult to get, have to be ordered, afaik none of the big german musicstores have gonbops in their selection.
supposed to be the same in holland.

greets

zwar

Edited By zwar on 1180261155

Posted: **Sun May 27, 2007 12:00 pm**

Thank you for your comment Zwar!
Exactly what I thought: massive and “earthy” (great word Zwar!

). I heard a sound example on the Gon Bops site and I must say the quinto sounded really good, nice dry clean slaps. I think the Gon Bops would be my first choice too. And you are right, I’ve never seen one in a store over here, damn. But it must be possible (by a local DW dealer?) to import them out of the USA and so become a proud owner of a very exclusively Gon Bop set, I suppose? The list prices of the California series in the USA are comparable or even higher than those of the LP palladiums, so it would be an expensive action

Indeed 2200,- Eur is a lot of money, on the other hand a set of 4 brand new palladiums cost about the same or even more here in holland.

But what is the alternative (Meinl and Pearl is not an option for me)? I’ve read some reviews of the Toca Sheila E custom series. It is said that they produce a massive sound too. The Sheila E’s custom sure look great, but I’m afraid that they cannot be compared with the quality and sound of the Gon Bops…Regarding the price they are maybe supposed to be for a more intermediate or beginner level player, correct me if I‘m wrong.

Posted: **Sun May 27, 2007 3:24 pm**

geronimo,
i know dw/gonbops is distributed in germany via gewa, that means you can order the drums in every musicstore that has business-connection to gewa, and i doubt there is one which has none.

the 2200€ have been valid for messe-order at frankfurt musikmesse, so maybe the price is even higher, dunno.

zwar

Posted: **Sun May 27, 2007 6:55 pm**

But what is the alternative (Meinl and Pearl is not an option for me)?

IMHO LP Classics with some mule skins would be a good alternative (no ringing, fat bass, crispy slaps, great tones!)
Untill now I haven't heard anything which sounded much better than that (in the mass produced range) - but I must admit, I haven't played the new Gon Bops series yet. I know some of you will disagree, but as I said, its just my opinion and my personal taste.
All the best,
Tom!

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 2:28 am**

Thomas wrote:
But what is the alternative (Meinl and Pearl is not an option for me)?

IMHO LP Classics with some mule skins would be a good alternative (no ringing, fat bass, crispy slaps, great tones!)
Untill now I haven't heard anything which sounded much better than that (in the mass produced range) - but I must admit, I haven't played the new Gon Bops series yet. I know some of you will disagree, but as I said, its just my opinion and my personal taste.
All the best,
Tom!

The LP wood drums can sound great, no doubt, but if the LP sound is not what you are looking for, it bothers me that you got to reskin it to get the sound you want. Why should a guy have to go through that (and for me it is a struggle to reskin a drum)??

The LP Classic has water buffalo skins, which are usually cut thin and can tend to be ringy, in my opinion. They do not sound like a good, dry, crisp, Gon Bop cow skin head, and good luck producing the owhoo sound by sliding a finger, it is just too slick. The LP also uses 'Siam Oak', which is ok, but it bothers me they don't just call it what it really is, which is plantation rubber wood. There has never been an acorn on those Thailand import trees, it is not related to oak wood at all, and they only call it oak because oak is a true classic wood from which traditional conga drums are made. So LP 'Classic', is not so classic afterall, it is really kind of a sham, though they do sound good (if you like loud and ringy LP sound) and the drums look pretty and are made well.

Just my opinion .... I would definately go Gon Bop, even over the LP Giovanni's, which also has the water buffalo heads.

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 4:55 am**

Hi,
I think it depends on what kind of music you are playing and what sound you want for your music. I happen to own quinto, conga, tumba of both sets (LP Palladiums and old Gon Bops). They are both great sets of congas with very different sounds.

I think the Gon Bop quinto is unbeatable if you are playing more rumba folkloric style. I think it has a very special sound that I have not heard on any other drum. Not much of a bass response on mine but it has something else that makes up for it.

Horses for courses!

Pavlo

Edited By pavloconga on 1180339087

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 5:16 am**

Hi Geronimo and zwar,
have you checked out the Gon Bop prices at
http://de.woodbrass.com/index.p...._id=713
? I think they are quite reasonable.

Currently I´m waiting for my freshly-mounted, but unfortunately also freshly-mended MULE skin to dry on my Giovann quinto, so I can´t say much about the sound qualities. But what I guess is that it will be great, also judging from the conga brothers´ various responses to changing buffalo to mule skins. OK, I agree, that you have to upgrade and invest money on better skins is somehow a nuisance: you lose a lot of sweat and sometimes nerves when mounting skins, I speak of experience :;):

I have ylso thought of thinking more locally when buying new congas, so I checked Munz & Simonsen in Germany as they have an excellent reputation, but then the price was way to o high for my budget

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 7:39 am**

So LP 'Classic', is not so classic afterall, it is really kind of a sham, though they do sound good (if you like loud and ringy LP sound) and the drums look pretty and are made well.

You're right, labeling the rubber wood as oak is only a marketing gag but IMO neither the matadors nor the classics sound loud and ringy, even with the original heads (of course when they are broken in!!)
I don't know how long you're playing congas, but the sound of a drum is also a result of the players technique.

All the best,
Tom!

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 8:35 am**

Hi
About the ringing problem (I’ve never had this problem with my LP patato quinto) of my former Gio Galaxy quinto: The only thing I did not try was to change the head by a thicker mule skin, simply because I didn’t know that would help. I wish I had discovered this forum earlier, my bad!

I learned a lot from you guys, thanks! Anyway I don’t feel sorry that I sold them, though they are very fine drums. I used the Gios Galaxy for more than 8 years with a lot of pleasure and now I think it is time for something that sounds different. At the moment I am very active in the funk/fusion/jazzrock scene. For this music I use my old three LP patato set up. I like it to tune up the quinto to a high level for attack and cutting slaps. For the more acoustical gigs I need a wood tube set also with a great sounding quinto.

Mike, I have checked the Gon Bop prices on that proposed site. Indeed they are reasonable. But I’ll think I need the Gon Bop California series, they are more expensive and not listed on that site. Thanks anyway, maybe I could ask them to make me a special offer. Inbetween, I hope things are going well with your damaged mule skin, keep my fingers crossed! :;):

GreetZzz

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 9:29 am**

Hi Geronimo,

thanks, I´ve just glued the cut and things look quite good.
I´m going to reiforce the reverse side of the skin as well.
Now it´s just patience, patience... I have to wait for a few days but the first sounds I checked from the Gio quinto are AWESOME! Totally different to the water buffalo skins. It definitely was worth the trouble. 3mm of mule are something different that 1.5mm of water buff.... It´s a pity indeed you can´t try this any more with your Giovanni set...

@ Thomas: I agree with you as to the Matadors - they´re fine, super drums - , but my LP Classics had some awful ringing until I equipped them with good cowhide. When you record them (e.g. with an old Sennheiser ), they´re great now!

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 12:32 pm**

@ Thomas: I agree with you as to the Matadors - they´re fine, super drums - , but my LP Classics had some awful ringing until I equipped them with good cowhide. When you record them (e.g. with an old Sennheiser ), they´re great now!

I agree with you Mike and I think we all know that a good cowhide is much better than the water buffalo skins, thats why I changed them as well.
But what I wanted to say is that there are many great percussionists out there playing classics without changing the original heads, and mostly it sounds good as well (when properly broken in and with the right technique).
I just disagree with Bongo when he says that the typical LP sound is loud and ringy!
All the best Tom!

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 1:25 pm**

That´s right, Thomas, I surely back you up on that, you see a lot of fantasatic on LP Congas with LP heads (e.g. on youtube), and it´s definitely also a matter of chops ´n´technique if you can make the buffaloes swing...

All the best
Michael

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 1:59 pm**

I want advice you another choice: Meinl woodcraft series.
I play these drums and i can say they are good: warm sound, ashwood costruction, big belly, traditional rims.

Posted: **Mon May 28, 2007 2:31 pm**

geronimo,

you know jost reiche? he builds very traditional drums to very reasonable prices. located near braunschweig/germany. traditional rims, mahogany shells, cowskins.
the website: reiche-trommelbau
you could phone him up, and ask him, wether he knows some of his drums hanging around in holland. maybe you can try them anywere private.

he can directly put muleskin on the tubes, if you provide them, he said.

just an idea...

zwar

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