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I have an opportunity to buy some nice congas. The pair is a 10.75" drum and a 12.25". Most would consider that a quinto and a tumba. Does any one have any strong opinions about this is a pair? Is it foolish to be considering them? Any opinions or experiences would be welcome.

I will have a chance to audition them before I buy. So I'll let my ears guide me. But I'm fairly new to the instrument and would appreciate any insight before I pull the trigger.

For context, I'll be play more salsa and U.S. popular music styles and less folkloric styles.

Why not ? No problem in my eyes. You'll have to tune them correctly, but that's not a big problem either.

BTW, funny coincidence, I just came down upon this : https://www.congachops.com/blog-articles/2021/2/11/how-to-tune-your-conga-drums?fbclid=IwAR3wv2gU6rdU9BuwHtm_ygbuLnZfIV6XgrmsaOdX8qI7jyons37qWW6IrR0

Thanks for the input. I guess there really are no "rules" here. In my scenario, I'd be using a 10.75" drum as my main drum. What pros/cons do you guys anticipate from this? IS this a weird thing to do? or do a lot of guys do this?

Again - I don't think I need to be like anyone else....just looking for insight from those with more knowledge.

Welcome willhutch,

to me, 10:75 is not really a quinto. It's a good size for your main /center drum. As far as I know, Gon Bops is the only company that is still producing drums with this diameter.

I recently bought a vintage IC-4141 Gon Bops oak drum of this size, and I'm more than happy with it. I had to replace the original teardrop hoop with a regular crown, however.

Thomas

The epilogue to the story is that I bought the 10.75" and 12.25". The 10.75" works perfectly well as a main drum. It sounds great and is a fine size for playing heel-toe movements.

I'm sure that was a good move. Congratulations!

Thomas

Seems after the fact but sure. Tuning of course can make up some difference but even if you choose that sweet spot most instruments seem to have, I suspect they will sound fine. My favorite set of drums are 11", 11.75", & 12.5", using the 11" as the primary. Works great to my ears. I am considering adding an additional conga (11.75") as the primary drum and tune the 11" a bit higher as a quinto. How are your drums working for you?

BTW, willhutch, out of curiousity, which is the brand of your congas?

To answer Greensail's question, I like to play with 3 drums : 11" in the middle, 11,75" on the left and 12,5" on the right. Classic positioning. But for space reason, I keep a pair in my bedroom (11,75" and 12,5"), and another one (11" and 12") in the attic just above. So I absolutely want to play on 3 drums, I have to bring one one floor lower and I'm getting lazy... So I mostly play on 2 drums nowadays. ...which already gives me enough to work and practice.

BTW, willhutch, out of curiousity, which is the brand of your congas?

To answer Greensail's question, I like to play with 3 drums : 11" in the middle, 11,75" on the left and 12,5" on the right. Classic positioning. But for space reason, I keep a pair in my bedroom (11,75" and 12,5"), and another one (11" and 12") in the attic just above. So if I absolutely want to play on 3 drums, I have to bring one one floor lower and I'm getting lazy... So I mostly play on 2 drums nowadays. ...which already gives me enough to work and practice. I often even use only one for warming up.

Although 11" is a common size for the macho drum nowadays, 10.5" used to be a standard size in the 1950's and 60's. If Paolo and Mark were still be active here, they would agree, I guess.

Talking about myself, I had long been searching for a Gon Bops 10.75" IC-3014 of mahogany wood. Hard to find a round one, if at all. As a compromise, I jumped on an offer for an IC-4141, which is also from the 1980's, but made of oak wood covered with some synthetic layer (polyurethane?) and fitted with that teardrop crown, a forerunner of the comfort curve. It has no alma but is perfectly round. Gon Bops was kind enough to send me a Mariano series standard crown, and Fritz Würth from the Black Forest sold me one of his best thick cow skins. Even if it does not match my 11" and 12.25" mahogany drums visually and acoustically, the drum itself may well be one of the best drums that I could get these days. But it is one heavy drum!

Thomas