congaplace.com

Hey,

So I just arrived last night from my 2-week trip to Colombia.

I made my way from Bogota to Cali. Drove thru the mountains and valleys to visit some of my girlfriend's family. We stayed at a farm in Cali. Let me just say, Colombia is simply an amazing country.

Of course, first thing I did in Cali was pay HR a visit! My experience there was just awesome. HR is a real-deal craftsman that does what he loves to do with a very humble approach. His place is raw and very organic. Trust me when i say, this guy does wonders with the tools and resources he has! Oh and YES, the drums are heavy!! I grabbed a pair of bongos he had and let's just say they were some tough puppies to say the least. They are built like tanks. And even though it isn't practical for the everyday player to carry around, they are a serious option for a reliable, solid drum.

My visit was mostly out of curiousity since I did not take enough money to buy drums but I still walked out with 2 bells and a pair of maracas (the maracas are sick!). One of the bells was a gift from him to me. It was made on the spot while i was there...totally unexpected and very cool.

I will write more when I settle in. Tomorrow morning I leave to Key West with the band to play 2 nights and come back Sunday.

I took pics of him and his shop. Will post them by monday or tues.

peace

Sounds like a great trip. I've always wanted to visit a drum maker.
Looking forward to the pics of his shops and your instruments...I
do want a nice pair of maracas myself.

Well, finally I got some time to send the pics I took at HR's shop this month:

Note: I had my girlfriend take the pics while I spent time with Hector and so the pics aren't the best. She even forgot to go into the painting room where they do all the polishing and art work...

More pics....

More pics....

Believe it or not, I shed a tear looking at these pictures.......just brought back so many memories of my Cali bella. I definitely need to go back and pay HR a visit since my cousins live in that same little town of Savedra Galindo.
6X8, thank you very much for these beautiful pictures in fact the corner store I have it now as my pc background.
Lord bless
Juancho

What a great trip! Thanks for posting those pictures of the HR factory.

Juancho como decimos nosotros "Que espera marica " vaya , de las congas y bongos todo eso esta bien....pero las Cale~as mi hermano las Cale~as.. mmmmm que ricas.
Paz
Olsongo

Viejo Olsongo,
ese es el pedo que tengo. Last time I went back in 81 casi me cuelgan de as pe&%^tas y casi me botan del trabajo por quedarme otra semana mas y da culillo si pienso ir otra vez. Como decimos nosotros " Cali es la pu(*&^teria" si o si?......perros que somos !!!
juancho

Bacalao wrote:Hey if anyone is interested, I have a tumba made by H.R. in Cali that I purchased ~ 3 yrs ago on a 2 week visit, that's up for sale. The first thing I did when I arrived in Cali was go to his shop and asked him to custom make me a 5 band tumba. He had some shells that were in the rough just waiting for a customers request, but none had the bands wood worked out and he was happy to oblige. I would check on them every day almost for 2 weeks while he finished the drum. It is made from Guayacan with a very thick skin and HEAVY DUTY hardware, this thing is bomb proof. The drum has a warm DEEP tone and sound awesome. Let me know if anyone is interested because I'm trying to finance another purchase.

wow i want set of these realy bad, any advice ?

Please respond..regarding a price listing for your line of congas/bongos..
thank you so much sir,
sincerely,
Gary K.Butler
tootyman@netscape.com