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Hi,

does anybody have experience in taking a skin off a 12 inch tumbadora to put it on an 11 inch drum? Will that be possible, or will the border be too narrow to grip und pull? Or is there even a trick to do it? Thickness is about "medium".

Thanks in advance for any tip on this -

Thomas

P.S.: Of course I would change the hoop ...

Just last night I took a mounted skin from a 12" conga and put it on a bongo hembra. There was enough extra around the outside to do it ok, but not by that much. I would estimate there was about 1.25" around the outside that I cut off afterwards. I think 1/2" around the outside (going from 12" to 11") would be quite difficult to work with.

It can be done. Good soaking of course but you may need an extra set of hands with pliers to assist you as it will be tight.

I have done exactly that once but could not do it alone.

Thank you, jorge & Derbeno. I can imagine it might become a tough job.

That second person would be there to secure the opposite side while I'm finishing the rest, I guess.

I was counting on a little more than 1/2 an inch, because the the circumference of the hoop is smaller, too. But perhaps I am mistaken here; I never was that good in math.

My first idea was to maybe fixing the rim flat at skin surface level and then "carefully" pulling it down, although I don't know how to manage this.

I have a super skin from Cuba on a third drum on my left. No idea what kind of animal lost its life for it. But it is not thick enough to produce the right tone when standing flat on the floor. On the other hand, it would do the perfect job on my Gon Bops macho, which I tilt anyway. It sounds clean, has the right feel and touch and would make playing so much more comfortable. There is German cow on it now, what can be good at times; this one, however, has a rubber-like response and too much attack for my taste, and it's a little harder to produce the desired sounds.

Thanks again,

Thomas

Remounting the skin higher up as you suggest will give you a bit more working room in the beginning but It still will not be easy and a second set of hands as Derbeno suggested could be very helpful. Once you have the wet skin mounted and before you tighten the lugs at all or cut anything you can use some long nosed pliers to grasp the edge and push it downward and around the flesh hoop. Do this little by little all the way around the edge and the skin will sit lower on the drum. You may need to go around several times until you get the rim at the height you want. With a used skin it is particularly important to not tighten the lugs much while the skin is still damp. Hand tightening without a wrench is a good safety technique, if you can get the rim down to the height you want with that alone. Used skins can sometimes have some warn and weaker areas around the sides and you don't want to start a micro-tear that will later rip under tension or with hard use. I have ruined several good used skins over the years doing just that. Let us know how wide is the strip you cut off, and how much difference (if any) there is in the height of the rim. That may answer the question about whether the 1/2" smaller radius gives you 1/2" or more than 1/2" working space on each edge.

Hi Thomas
I did several time to use bigger size skin on smaller drum.
To avoid any problem to fix the skin , You can use the way as proposed on the following links , here in congaplace.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9059&start=15, I hope You can reach this post of Blavonski.
With this system You can use each cm of Your skin , and You can do easily in one person.
Best

Hi Espresso,

thanks for your encouraging response, and for the link.

I was thinking about that, too. That's how batá drums are "headed" in the traditional way, and I have done this before. However, it would involve two more steps of work: perforating the border of the skin and stringing it. And I'm not sure whether a hide as thick as you use for conga drums will be obedient enough to stay in form and in place around the flesh hoop, once you start to position it under the crown (rim) and on the drum.

I will probably try it the normal way first and switch to alternatives if that doesn't work out. I'll keep everybody informed.

Un saluto,

Thomas

I just wanted to close the thread by thanking all the board members who graciously offered their experience and help.

I finally decided to keep the skin on my Gon Bops macho. It worked well enough to make the guys in the recording studio praise and enjoy the sound of my congas. Hopefully, they will want some more of it in the future

I am really back on a Gon Bops trip. I love their feel and sound, the looks and the whole image of this product. I have a spare skin now for any third drum to come across that fits my setup.

However, I changed the head of my third Schalloch drum on the left. As I correctly estimated, a thicker skin sounds better on this drum as long as it stands flat on the floor (not tilted).

Greetings,

Thomas

...

Hi Jan,

that drum looks fantastic. I know Gon Bops oak bodies sound great. However, it's not exactly the line I play. I don't like those comfort curve hoops, but I love the looks of those metal bands, for no logical reason. These are my Gon Bops drums:



The congas are from mahogany. An IT of this line would be perfect. Or a 10-3/4 IC.

But if you have time, we could meet anyway (my phone: 8701780).

Thanks for your kind offer! Perhaps somebody else will show interest ...

Thomas