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In my opinion, after almost 60 years, nothing stands close to the beauty and sound of what Gonzalo Vergara created in the late 40's/early 50's in La Habana. The classic design of the Vergara Cuban tumbadora, along with the stream lined hardware, has been the yardstick of what a conga should look like. I take my hat off to Natalio Junior Tirado, Jay Bereck and the new keeper of the flame, Matthew Smith for keeping the Gonzalo Vergara tradition alive.
I consider gold platted hardware, comfort curved crowns and arrow heads side plates a big turn off, also a conga that has no "alma" has no soul in my book. I will never invest a substantial amount of money in a conga with no "alma" because no matter how much you take care of it, it would go out of round in the years to come. I dislike all mass produced congas and some custom made congas with exotic woods and bulky hardware, I find ugly and extremely over priced.
Take a look at an early 50's Vergara 10.5" macho being played by the late great Oscar Valdes, father of Irakere's singer/percussionist Oscar Valdes Jr. and brother to Marcelino and Vicentico, this is really classy!

Dario

Keeping the tradition alive: Junior, Jay and Matt.

Dario

Mongo with his Vergaras.

Dario

Dario, is there any estimate of how many of vergaras drums are still around or how many he made?

Taste is like a box of Crayolas, personally I don't care for the comfort curve either, on the side plates i HATE those square looking things, not sexy at all . A company is allowed its identity, but please not square. On the aluminum bands...can only stand a few, in most cases there is too many, a tumbadora is a tumbadora , a wine barrel is just that. I Despise handles... i keep them on, just in case of resale.( have you ever banged your knee on one of those stupid things sticking out? ) Yes almas are a must, there is a lot of torque put on those drums; not to have any. Gold on congas is gay. Heavy woods for any drum not a good design decision. Mass produces congas you get them at the store today and you are playing tonite, craftsman congas ...keep your fingers crossed that you will get them on the date promised. But above it all , can't stand...just can't stand square hardware. Is like a babe with no curves and too many bands is as she was wearing one of those old corsets.

Paz
Olsongo

I personally can deal with no handles i have my congas in cases so handles are not needed in my case but i keep them on because i don't to have to cover holes and match stain etc. As far as the bands i really like them because i love the old look. I happen to love my set of LP Classics also I love the shape of the classics. I also see the possibility of skin on skins in the future LOL

The Mopercs have great style.

I find Mopercs super heavy (too much weight) and extremely pricy. I'll take a Skin on Skin or a Ritmo over a Moperc anytime. No "almas" on Mopercs.

Dario

Dario you seem to be like a broken record about "almas" and your preference for congas.
Most pro players could care less about almas but to each his own.

This thread is about best looking congas which has nothing to do with "weight", "almas" or "price".

But since you brought up price, Mopercs are no more "pricey" than the brands you mentioned.
Mopercs conga and tumba is very comparable in price with Ritmo and SoS congas.
You do a disservice to Moperc - a very fine brand - by saying something not true.

That's my personal opinion, of wich we are all entitled to. I have played the above mentioned congas and they are extremely heavy. A conga that sells close to $1,000 should have an "alma" that will safeguard it forever.

I've never seen what an alma looks like. Can someone post a pic? Thanks.

It's a metal ring inside the top of the conga. Supposed to keep the head from warping the conga's perfect circle when the head is tightened unevenly.
And BTW I think there's much less need, if at all, for an alma when the drum is "heavy" like the mopercs. You could run over them with a tractor trailor full of uranium, and a moperc wouldn't bend. For that matter most congas tuned correctly and kept in unchanging climate conditions won't warp.

Omelenko1 wrote:That's my personal opinion, of wich we are all entitled to. I have played the above mentioned congas and they are extremely heavy. A conga that sells close to $1,000 should have an "alma" that will safeguard it forever.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion - that's why we're all here - to give opinion and information.
But WHY do you need to post false information about Moperc being "pricey" when they are comparable in price.
And Moperc conga and tumba are much less than $1000. They are easily one of the top conga brands.

windhorse wrote:And BTW I think there's much less need, if at all, for an alma when the drum is "heavy" like the mopercs. You could run over them with a tractor trailor full of uranium, and a moperc wouldn't bend. For that matter most congas tuned correctly and kept in unchanging climate conditions won't warp.

I agree, this isn't 1960 or even 1980.
Materials, design and building technique have replaced the requirement for an alma.
Drums that are heavy and well-designed like Mopercs simply don't need it.

Good example of a need for an alma though:
A friend of mine was playing next to the ocean, they went off to do something else, went back and, to his horror, the conga was floating in the ocean.
I played that conga for a few years when I was first learning to play, and it was the most horribly warped bearing edge I ever met!
An alma certainly would have taken care of it..

If you want to maintain a conga in perfect roundness for years to come an "alma" is needed. Almas required additional work and expertise and not all craftsmen go that route. I don't care how heavy the wood is, after years of constant tunning if the conga does not have an alma, it would go egg shape. I have 40 yrs.+ of dealing with this issue. Old Gon Bops and Valje (quality congas) go out of round, simply because Mariano and Tom didn't go the extra step in installing almas on their congas. Mongo's Vergaras are 50 yrs. old and they are still in perfect roundness and Mongo played constantly and more than anyone else. Vergara was a visionary well ahead of his time. Juniors, SOS and Ritmos all have almas, those congas simply do not go out-of-round.