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Hello everyone!
Am looking for an info about quality of El Piernas conga drums - I've heard Hector Rocha built very good sounding proffesionall instruments, but what about today? unfortunatly I don't know Spanish so I can't read any description on his site, don't know what wood he use /hardware/ or something!Does anybody know his contemporary products and would like to help me? They are hand made, so probably better than mass production (LP, Meinl etc.).
Other question is I heard about something like Colombian Percussion (CP?) I really don't have any info about them - what they do? what quality? how expensive? where can I find it? any website?
What about these two brands (El piernas, CP) in comparison to popular LP (e.g. Gio Galaxy)

I'd like to purchase a proffesional natural set of congas in good price with good skins (no water buffalo I dislike it well:/ )so getting some info. Am looking in price range up to $500 - $600 - I have to add customs and duty to this price so.... if I can choose in El piernas $400 or Gio galaxy $600 and the sound quality is comparable I choose the first one of course.

Victorius wrote: Am looking in price range up to $500 - $600 - I have to add customs and duty to this price so.... if I can choose in El piernas $400 or Gio galaxy $600 and the sound quality is comparable I choose the first one of course.

Charlie is definitely right about the quality of ISLA congas. You don´t hear nothing but enthusiastic appraisal for no reason.

The point with custom fees you mention might be worth thinking about though.
LP Galaxies are available in most European stores, but you have to import those Islas
which means quite a lot of custom fees.

I do not know the exact price, but you should take that into consideration.

My best wishes and greetings to Poland

Mike

It all depends on what you're going to use them for.

If you're willing to pay $500-600 for a SINGLE drum, you can buy nice three conga sets from LP at that price range. I know their Performer series is somewhere in the $600.00 range. Perfectly professional drums (albeit, a little less quality than their LP Classic, or Fiberglass models).

I don't see the point of paying exorbitant prices for JCRs or Isla Percussion congas (which may be the kings of wooden, authentic sound), when LP Classics, or LP Patato models or something like that are professional quality. In fact, in my professional experience, 60-70% of the congas I've seen played are some brand of LP congas (Aspires, Classics, Giovanni Wooden ones, Fiberglass galaxies, etc). They've sounded GREAT in the hands of good performers.

To be honest, the one set that gets me a lot of acclaim and comments for its sound is the LP Patato models. Professional congueros rave about them everytime I play. The high end, trebly, fast-hands, baqueteo work I do is clearly audible, and they really bring out overtones and slap/cracks. I consistently get offers to sell them to other percussionists at gigs (of course, I decline...I love them so much). You could pay $400 or so retail right now for each...or look in Ebay and wait for a deal like I did (I got my 3 LP Patato fiberglass, white color, for $650.00 for the set of 3!)

That set (and my other LP fiberglass) will last me for life, and I'm a professional who gets 50-60 gigs a year on congas and other percussion. NEVER have failed me.

If you're looking for a very purist, collector's item sound...then perhaps you might be interested in shelling out more money for the Rolls Royce of Congas: Isla Percussion or JCR. But...let me tell you...unless someone GIFTS me a set of JCRs or Isla Percussion, my LP sets are just fine....BETTER than fine.

Am I the only one who thinks this?

Firebrand wrote: But...let me tell you...unless someone GIFTS me a set of JCRs or Isla Percussion, my LP sets are just fine....BETTER than fine.

Am I the only one who thinks this?

No, I absolutely agree.
I would simply like to mention the "head factor": Although good LP congas like the ones you mention will surely do any job, the water buffalo heads, and especially the very thin ones, often cause irritation - which doesn´t mean that real pros can´t make them sing, but quite often, people feel that a skin upgrade (to cow or mule, e.g.) really takes LP tumbadoras onto an even higher level (I am not to sure if this is the case with the Patatos, too, as I have never played them so far).
In this context I would also like to say that Matador congas are also worth thinking about - very, very decent drums (as many congueros have stated in variioiius posts here) and easy to get for a reasonable price in Europe too.

Best of luck, Victorius - I hope you are like that in your conga purchase

Mike, Firebrand,

Both excellent points. Haven't played Patatos but lookin to someday. And the Matadors will be my UPGRADE from the Ardientes I'm playing now with mules. For me, playing with cheaper tubs was not only a necessity, but a willing discipline. Making low-end-mass-produced tubs crack and snap does a lot for your stroke confidence and technique, and for me, it's always about the technique FIRST.

thanks guys for your advices!

Yambu321 your Islas are made of canoe or cherry wood? $100 more for cherries:/

Here is something about price situation in Poland:
Yeah I can get here (for about half a year) all meinl congas and most popular LPs. But prices are unavailible
e.g Meinl woodcraft series $1000 per drum, LP Gio Galaxy the same price, LP Classic $800..... I've bought my Pearl Elite for $600 and now I am a little bit disapointed:( Moreover I am a student so now I earn $600 per month soooooooo........ I decided to get my new drums from USA or other cheap country (colombia perhaps?). Even if I'll pay $600 for galaxy and $200 for shipping and customs I save $200 per drum. In addition here I can get only mass production but I would be so excited if I can have a drum with a soul made by a craftman . And if I have to get through all hard stuff like shipping, payments, customs etc and bother someone to buy it for me somewhere far far away - I prefer to get the best drum I can pay and don't do this again for a long time.
Conga drumming is not common in my country - I know only one person who play seriously on these drums for 15 years.

I second the comments about the heads. I don't like LP heads, to be quite honest with you. I tried the Evans synthetics and hated the way that their Tri-Dot center muted overtones and slap/cracks. Then I tried Remo Fyberskins synthetics...WHOA! Amazing sound! Now I buy exclusively Remo Fyberskin.

if I didn't buy Synthetics, I remember I had a friend who used to have these Colombian Mule heads that were REALLY good too.

But, given weather conditions, I hate having the tone going up and down at gigs, depending on the weather. Synthetics stay at the tone you put them during a gig. People have complained to me about synthetics being hard on the hands (they are stiffer), but I prefer it that way because it responds better to Mano Secreta techniques and faster baqueteo work. I "feel" each stroke better.

If you got LPs, but the heads are killin ya...try the Remo Fyberskyns.

Good noticed thanks! I won't forget about remo fyberskin

Firebrand wrote:To be honest, the one set that gets me a lot of acclaim and comments for its sound is the LP Patato models. Professional congueros rave about them everytime I play. The high end, trebly, fast-hands, baqueteo work I do is clearly audible, and they really bring out overtones and slap/cracks. I consistently get offers to sell them to other percussionists at gigs (of course, I decline...I love them so much). You could pay $400 or so retail right now for each...or look in Ebay and wait for a deal like I did (I got my 3 LP Patato fiberglass, white color, for $650.00 for the set of 3!)
Am I the only one who thinks this?

I agree, they are best for the $$.
And the truth is that the majority of gigging pros use LP Pro drums.

Firebrand wrote:Then I tried Remo Fyberskins synthetics...WHOA! Amazing sound!
Now I buy exclusively Remo Fyberskin.........
If you got LPs, but the heads are killin ya...try the Remo Fyberskyns.

Do you really mean Fiberskyns or did you mean Nuskyns?
Most of the congueros I know use Nuskyns, not Fiberskyns.
What do you see as the difference?

Fiberskyn
http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/1 ... kyn_3.html

Nuskyn
http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/1 ... uskyn.html

congamyk wrote:Most of the congueros I know use Nuskyns, not Fiberskyns.

Fiberskyn
http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/1 ... kyn_3.html

Nuskyn
http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/1 ... uskyn.html

Hmmm...

From: http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/1 ... kyn_3.html

"The Fiberskyn® drumheads provide a superb, authentic drum sound when used on world percussion instruments. In fact, they are the world's most widely recorded synthetic world percussion heads."

And from: http://www.remo.com/portal/products/3/1 ... uskyn.html

"Our most technically advanced film, Nuskyn has a comfortable sound, feel and warmth without unwanted overtones."

For more information re: Nuskyn vs. Fiberskyn and which pros use each, refer to: http://www.remo.com/download/mini_drumhead_cat05.pdf

Btw, I happen to have Fiberskyns on my beater Toca Player Series fiberglass congas. Although they're better than the original water buffalo skins, they do have unwanted overtones, IMO. Perhaps, they perform better on wood congas.

I should have tried Nuskyns on my Tocas, but I had doubts about Nuskyns. So, I played it safe. Besides, previous threads on Fiberskyn vs. Nuskyn, which I've read on this forum, appear to have confirmed Fiberskyns as having a warmer sound (which I prefer) than Nuskyns. See, for example, viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2581&hilit=fiberskyn

El Piernas made of Guayacan wood, very heavy and dense wood, well crafted, thick harware. Heavy overall , I would't want to carry them. But I bet they sound good with a good thick head. Colombian percussion, I hear people raving their one solid piece shell bongos and also their cencerros. And yes there are some very inexpensive shells with awful heads and hardware, in most case very thin skins causing them to produce a tone with a ring, if you put a thicker head on some of those shells you may notice a difference. Understanding the mechanics of playing a conga drum, first what needs to happen is the strike of the head, and depending on the thickness of the skin the tone vibrations may be longer or shorter, ( heavy=shorter= less ring. )The cavity for which this tones travel , in this case the shell of a conga is what really personalizes a conga, as the shape of the conga controls the distribution of sound waves , and in wood..... dense wood gives you a fast response as the sound waves do not get absorved as in softer sappier wood.the the rest is aesthetics. I like wood drums in comparison to fiber glass because wood is the root of the drum. At one time a man stretched a skin over a hollow lug to dry and discovered the drum; and thats what it is... a hollow lug with a skin.

Paz
Olsongo