congaplace.com

Finally got my Tumba !!

T

Didn't you get that segundo about a year ago?
Nice looking tumba. Those Mopercs look sweet.

Great stuff man. Im a big fan of that line of Moperc.

They look great Tonio , How are your Islas ? how do they compare in tone ?

Marco

G- Yup, got the segun last year.

Marcelo- too funny

Michel took 3 weeks to get the right skin on the tumba, he changed it 3 times. He is a prefectionist !! The hardware is imacculate. Even the clear hose on the bottom is prefectly straight. Just cutting those clear hoses are a PITA, ever try that?

This is the last of the maple shells.....

T

Marco- They are totally different in tone. My Isla cherries have more sustain, and is generally deeper (lower) due to the size. The Mopercs are more of a dryer tone, but has a detailed high end-you can hear the hand patterns clearer. I guess you can say it cuts through better, making seem like its louder in volume. But with belly shape , the open tones are projected from the bottom, with a nice bass-almost like a djembe.

T

Tonio wrote:Finally got my Tumba !!

T

Tonio,

Gorgeous-looking drums. The hardware do look immaculate indeed. Congratulations!

You're very blessed,

Thanks Manny !!

T

WoW those are the best looking drums I've ever seen.
They look amazing, such detail in every aspect.

What did the shipping set you back?

Tonio they are beautiful indeed brother.

Mike, Vinnie, thanks bro's. I'm lovin' em.

Shipping was $120 express in 1 day from Quebec, Canada. I don't know how he did it. If it was reversed it would cost like $225???? Maybe he ate some due to the conga I got last year took 3 weeks in shipping. New rules started last year for exporting to US, needing the US importers SS#

T

Good job on getting one of the last matching Maple drums. I guess the rest of us missed out.
That seems to happen a lot with drum makers.

Do you know if he is going to replace the maple with something else? Or is he only going
to use Ash from now on like his other drums?

I am glad that I got a maple drum in time. I posted awhile back about Canada not having any quality maplewood in the general section. That was the premise of my post there. Michel cannot source any quality Maple in the size(thickness) he needs at the length required. There is the thickness, but the length is oversized, so the cost factor would prohibit using it. Trucking, minimum lineal lengths and extra cuts would result in costing too much for production. Basically meaning he would have to source a longer length piece of stock with a higher price tag.

So ultimately , Michel will fall on ash wood. From what I've heard ash wood does emit a character similar to NA red oak. maybe alittle bit more brittle in tone?
At least from the Lp stuff I've heard. Not sure how the Canadian ash wood would be like, but I can assume it will be less warm and heavy as hell.
The Maple Cubanos' are nice and light, so not sure I would go for the ash wood. I do have the Moperc Salsa bongo with ash, which gives me some idea what a conga would be like to some degree.

In the same vain, I could see why Mario (Isla) is moving shop. Well LA might have something to do with that too makes me wonder how Matt (Ritmo) can source some good wood at a decent price.

T

Crap, I must confess to get this off my chest. My new baby tumba has sustained transportation damage!!

Michel has been a champ through this whole ordeal, what sucks is that he no longer can make a new shell w/ maple-due to the cost.

What blows my mind, is how can this type damage occur other than bad luck? I will post a link to my video showing the damage. The shipping box was not that bad in retrospect. One side of the bottom edge is somewhat smashed in, but not bad. I really don't want to say this but the packing material (or lack thereof) was a tad lacking. My previous conga was packed nicely with extra corrugated fiber on the bottom, top and around the drum. Not the case with my new baby tumba !! It was wrapped with corrugate fibre, but that's it. The odd thing is that the crack is actually split between 2 staves at the bearing edge and goes down to cross grains?? No sign of damage to the skin, crown or anything. Was it dropped at an angle at the bottom(sign of it from the box) to cause this? Michel thinks it had to be dropped from the top, but you would think some sign of it... which there were none??

Michel wants to fix it immediately, and is suprised since this is only the 2nd damage he has in 20 years.

I want to hear ya'lls opinion on this. I have seen drums crack on the bearing edge when it was dropped on the bottom-which is most likely the case, it must have dropped from quite a distance.
http://s58.photobucket.com/albums/g259/ ... Moperc.flv
T

Tonio,
I am sorry for you to read about and also watch this nasty crack.
My guess would be that the wood split to an extreme temperature shock
on the way from Michel to you, all the way from Quebec to San Diego.
But the good news is that it can be fixed. Sending the drum back is a hassle
and a potential second danger to your drum though.
All the best
-Mike