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Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:46 pmby s'chopp
Does anybody have any experience with these drums? They aren't made from mahogany like the originals, it's durian wood, but the price seems reasonable...
http://www.percussionsource.com/p100081 ... escription
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:00 amby pcastag
Interesting, they're not even up on teh website yet, looks like they're reissuing them with another lightweight indonesian wood. Look nice! Wonder what they're going to sound like.
PC
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:01 amby MedinaNYC
yeah, they do look nice...and less then the california series...wish i could hear them...
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:07 amby s'chopp
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:41 amby Jerry Bembe
Very cool. This is the first time I have seen this reissue. I find the Tumba sizes to be among my favorites. I hope these are Mahogony and US built. I hope other sizes will be available including the 14.25" XXL Tumba and the 9.75 Quinto.
I have originals of this series and I find the naming of the sizes to not match the original Gon Bops. My Mariano Tumba IT 3300 is 11.5". Gon Bops had odd sizing and naming of their congas by size from the others but they are (in my opinion) the best sounding mass produced American Congas ever built (pre DW).
The original sizing goes:
IQ 9.75", IC 10.5", ICL 11", IT 11.5", ITL 12.25", ITXL 13.25" and ITXXL.
IQ = Quinto, IC = Conga, ICL = Conga Large, IT = Tumba, ITL = Tumba Large, ITXL = Tumba Extra Large and the rare ITXXL = Tumba Extra Extra Large.
Thanks for sharing this.
The sizing can vary .25" occasionally.
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 8:22 amby Anonimo
POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:55 amby pcastag
I personally have not heard of any issues with the new drums cracking like the old ones ,I had a set of CA. series that were made extremely well, didn't eally like the sound though, I've got some acunas now that I like much better for some reason, the CA were too dry. I also haven't heard of any warranty issues with any of the new drums, they did change ownership form DW to Sabian, but those are both well known companies. the new drums are made of some type of indonesian lightweight hardwood, the one that really stinky fruit comes from.
PC
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:27 pmby Anonimo
POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 7:48 pmby Jerry Bembe
I agree with Leedy about the Gon Bops " better to buy an old drum and fix the cracks... the wood is already aged". Most of the issues are glue cracks not wood cracks but there are occasional wood craking issues.
Generally with older drums the wood becomes more stabilized as for shrinkage. This is a possible reason for some of the .25" variation of size of some of the older Gon Bops. The older drums may vary from summer to winter due to humidity and seasonal conditions but the overall shrinkage of the wood will be complete. The major issue with Gon Bops is the poor glue that was used with earlier models.
I like the older Gon Bops wood sound but the glue is a potential high maintenance issue. Also the "Mahogany" (not true Mahogany) is soft and scratches and is very easy to damage. Later Oak Gon Bops are more durable and most have better glue but some have the same glue issue. I prefer the tone of the mellow "Mahogany" though.
There are some facts but there are many different opinions and options though. Some of this discussion is fact and part of this is opinion.
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 7:58 pmby Jerry Bembe
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:24 pmby mrhands
Here's a little video I found of Alex Acuna jamming with La Mole Ortiz and a few other people. He's playing the Mariano Series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XaYejPNkPA
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Thu Feb 24, 2011 1:37 amby pcastag
leedy2 wrote:pcastag wrote:I personally have not heard of any issues with the new drums cracking like the old ones ,I had a set of CA. series that were made extremely well, didn't eally like the sound though, I've got some acunas now that I like much better for some reason, the CA were too dry. I also haven't heard of any warranty issues with any of the new drums, they did change ownership form DW to Sabian, but those are both well known companies. the new drums are made of some type of indonesian lightweight hardwood, the one that really stinky fruit comes from.
PC
pcastag
the known company's are the one that give you the most head aces to make an exchange.I brought the Alex Acuna bongos i also brought a California series bongos from Gon bops direct. The wood that they use is what is call in the industry as green wood ,this is wood that is not aged. Aged wood cost a lot of money and it is easier to repair green wood than aged wood. So many of these company's buy a cheaper wood and put coats of fiber glass to protect wood or poly coat the drums so they don't crack. but they still crack , The Alex Acuna under the plastic coat they put they crack. On gom bop this has been a problem that I remember back since the Mariano era And today what Sabian is doing in there transition is bring back the old design model from the Mariano era. You will see other model soon to come made by Marino Bobadilla the original labels are coming back out. In todays market you are better off buying an old gon bop that is cracked and repair than the new ones the old wood has aged and dried it takes over 50 years for wood to dry proper and when wood is totally dry it will no longer crack that is when it reaches it peek of quality. In a drum sound then become excellent that why you play an 50+ years drum and it sounds so good. So by cutting the wood to shape it just making work easy nothing better one from the other. If I am not mistaken I posted a topic on woods used for congas that talk about this before how it is pick and dry wood. look it up.
Right, I still haven't heard of any of the CA series oak drums cracking, Akbar's pretty good at what he does and while I didn't liet he sound his drums are pretty solid. His sol drums as far as I know did not have any issues with crackin either, according to their website the woods age for a year before they are shippeed.
PC
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:21 amby Anonimo
POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:14 pmby Jerry Bembe
Leedy, what do you mean by treated wood? Are you refeering to kiln dried wood? Kiln drying staves or in 3rd world contries would dry their staves over a fire. This removes the green quality. This practice is also used for premium lumber is kiln dried wood.
Re: Gon Bops Mariano Series Congas
Posted:
Thu Feb 24, 2011 4:02 pmby Anonimo
POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR