refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby Kaban » Tue May 28, 2013 11:50 pm

Good job, really looks good.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby roberthelpus » Wed May 29, 2013 2:44 am

salzfaas wrote:I have had to do some more work on the quinto as it has splitting at the rim.I went to a metal worker today that makes replica parts for old Bugatti racing cars .he made the alma out of 1/8 " mild steel made it absolutely round and a snug fit.It has had 2 functions one to bring the top into perfect round again as it was slightly out and to strengthen the whole stucture.I bolted the staves individualy so there is nowhere for any of them to go now they have to behave.The flexibility of the top has been lost but in this case it is a good thing .I hope it is not going to loose resonance from this act.I did this instead of the fiberglass, as You never know it might all have to come apart again!!!(hope not).I am awaiting for a France percussion ring,tensioners and flesh ring from our super hero Congalou who is making the last 3 for me.I will tell you how I get on when they arrive.


Wow. Are you sure that you just didn't make over 20 places for new splits to start?
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby Mike » Wed May 29, 2013 5:41 am

´Whoa, tremendous!
salzfaas wrote:The flexibility of the top has been lost but in this case it is a good thing .I hope it is not going to loose resonance from this act.

I do not think that any resonance will get lost.
The alma at the top looks very well done, similar to the alma of 2 of my Delaporte congas.

rhythmrhyme wrote:I'm very curious if all that metal will change the sound and if the rivets around the bearing edge will in any way interfere with the head as it pulls down. I guess the diameter of the crown will make all the difference.


That is what I was thinking too.Hopefully the skin stretches at an angle.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Wed May 29, 2013 11:06 am

In reply to
"Wow. Are you sure that you just didn't make over 20 places for new splits to start"
No .And the reason is that all the splits that you see pre alma are where the staves have been joined togeather.This drum has very thin narrow staves so I drilled holes out of the way of the splits and drilled so much to bring each individual stave into the alma so there would be equal tension on each one.The Alma has stopped the flexing which was high due to the staves being so thin and hence the cracking.There is plenty of room for the skin to be pulled down with out touching the sides as yes the angle is fine (I checked it) Just sitting and waiting for the post now for the hardware...
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby roberthelpus » Wed May 29, 2013 12:51 pm

salzfaas wrote:In reply to
"Wow. Are you sure that you just didn't make over 20 places for new splits to start"
No .And the reason is that all the splits that you see pre alma are where the staves have been joined togeather.This drum has very thin narrow staves so I drilled holes out of the way of the splits and drilled so much to bring each individual stave into the alma so there would be equal tension on each one.The Alma has stopped the flexing which was high due to the staves being so thin and hence the cracking.There is plenty of room for the skin to be pulled down with out touching the sides as yes the angle is fine (I checked it) Just sitting and waiting for the post now for the hardware...

Very good. I have to admit I was just shocked to see all of those bolts and rivets in that picture. I'm not that familiar with almas in general. I hope that it works well for you and salute you for doing this work.

Now if I see you coming up with the first all metal conga, six months from now, I won't be surprised :wink:
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby congalou » Thu May 30, 2013 5:23 pm

Hi !!

Surprise !! here is the hardware !! I just varnish the lugs and intern rim today, it will be dry in few days.

Old "France percussion" 5 lugs rim (chrome) from a old stock I have. Very good steel and chrome.

Congalou.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Thu May 30, 2013 9:08 pm

Hey now that is a fantastic use of the internet.Those bits look great and I think now the drum is sturdy enough to take a reasonable skin.What a great project, keeps me from wondering what I should be doing when I am not playing.I am an impatient person,and doing something like this is a good teacher as to get good results I have had to do almost everything in the book to save this little gem from not functioning any longer or only half functioning(very thin skin in fear of shell crumpling).lots of decisions on the way knowing that each decision will effect the end sound in some way.
I had to go out with my girl today...........shopping.We went to TK Max (in the usa ....TJ max)sometimes in the past there has been something of interest but now all I can see is a whole load of badly mass produced shite The tee shirts are polyester, the leather belts are reconstituted leather. NO ART NO SOUL NO LOVE every thing bad quality.I went to the beach and found a massive crab which fed the whole family, had to use hammers and chisels to get into it...... built to last!!!!!!! so what I am saying is thank god for
REAL THINGS and Real FOOD the rest I am very happy to be not involved with.This drum will have your hand made lugs and rings Gael.The inside plates were made by a sheet metal worker who wanted to do them for free to spite his boss who was off site who apparently is very mean... the alma was made by an expert in reconstructing body work for Bugatti racing cars and loves music.The rest was me,..... all done with love.....well mostly.The End product has got to be good, not to mention the people who put it together in the first place in Cuba.I reckon there must be a quite a few people involved in this forum that have similar feelings....and that is probably a good reason why we are all on here.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby Mike » Fri May 31, 2013 6:28 am

salzfaas wrote:I reckon there must be a quite a few people involved in this forum that have similar feelings....and that is probably a good reason why we are all on here.

You BET! :)
Art & soul - you are definitely hitting a nerve here :D
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby CongaTick » Fri May 31, 2013 12:50 pm

Very well said, Salzfaas. Indeed, you hit a nerve in a world of plastic and recycled corporate reality.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby Chiconga » Wed Jun 12, 2013 7:25 am

Well said, well done. Very inspirational!
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:05 pm

W ell the quinto is finally finished.........for now .It has it's sturdy alma and internal plates it is perfectly round at the top and it has a medium to thin mule on it . cranked it up to D and it felt like a cracking little quinto with lots of punch in the midrange and very good dry closed slaps and bright open slaps still got great bass due to it's thin structure i think it's going to be great for recording.I usually play c bflat G as a tuning so I tried that with these .....very happy even with the size which I usually consider too small but I dig the sound of this little baby lot of resonance yet dry very well defined notes.I know it could do with some new bands to give it some visual strength but that will come when I find someone who can do the work and I have the dosh.The tuning lugs provided by congalu really make it an easy tune also the France percussion ring means the ring did not need to be pulled so far down to be playable ,like it's last homemade ring.the beefed up tuning lugs with the rubber ends really do help.....thanks lou great job, I think I need now some for the other 2 since yours do the job so much better! so here are the photos .at some point there will be a recording with my band
THANKS GUYS FOR ALL YOUR INPUT AND GOOD ADVICE AND ENCOURAGEMENT much appreciated .I enjoyed putting the job up here and hearing all the different points of views.very genuine and very committed to this topic.. how fantastic to find some old wrecks that have been gradually loosing there charm ,musicality and purpose and put them back into playing and recording reality....................so much so that I have culled the other congas!!!!!now it is back to intense practice to get the most out of them, and of course the odd Bass fishing!!!!to have a bit of contrast in my Obsession.....Great sounds that put life enhancing frequencies back into the cosmos.....(You can tell I have now had a little drink) cheers everyone I salute you. :) :) :) :( :D 8) 8) :x :oops: :roll:
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby RitmoBoricua » Sat Jun 15, 2013 12:56 am

Looks real good, good job.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby pcastag » Sat Jun 15, 2013 3:14 pm

I am jealous, very jealous, a set of two moahiganies and one mystery wood ? Nice job , great scores. Sonocs don't get enough love, they are really nice drums.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Sat Jun 15, 2013 10:01 pm

"I am jealous, very jealous, a set of two moahiganies and one mystery wood ? Nice job , great scores. Sonocs don't get enough love, they are really nice drums."



They are so nice, as I say , I sold some other top Dollar congas, as I prefer playing the sonocs.I didn't expect that I would like them so much,but I do as they are so well balanced in their notes and easy to play.I don't know if it is a mystery wood I think
Dario said they might be cedro.when sanding they smelt that way. love to see some more if anyone out there has any????
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