THE VERGARA TRIANGLE

[Omelenko1]

I have managed after over 35 yrs. of searching, etablishing relationships, inquiring and ofcourse dishing out "dinero", to gather 3 Gonzalo Vergara,solid Cuban Caoba wood bongos. I did have a 4th, my first Vergara, but ended up trading it for 2 Ismael congas, that was in the early 80's.

1- Photo # 3 Mongo's Vergara, 1954 when Mongo played with Puente he went to La Habana to visit his mother. This one is overzised for the times, 7" macho and 9" hembra. Got it as a gift from Mongo before he died. This guy was in the Puente recordings of the 50's, in Cal Tjader's recordings and ofcourse in Mongo's recordings. Hardware retrofifted by the late Junior Tirado.

2- Photo # 2 Cuban Vergara from the 60's, obtained via a friend who got it through Jay from SOS. Macho 7", hembra 8". Hardware retrofited by Matthew Smith from Ritmo drums.

3_ Photo # 1 My latest acquisition and the oldest of the 3, late 40's Vergara tacked skin, macho 6.75", hembra 7.50". Belonged to Ray Rivera, "La Coja" who played with Noro Morales, he gave it to Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez about 30 yrs. ago. This guy has been in recordings with Noro, Tipica 73' and Puente. This one is the tallest of the 3 at 7", the other 2 are 6.25". Hardware retrofited by Cali Rivera (JCR).

Saludos,

Dario

[jorge]

Hi Dario,
What an amazing collection of rare Vergara bongos you have assembled! That set in the top picture is much taller than modern bongos, I am wondering how this affects the sound. The macho on my SOS bongos is 6" tall, and on my old (1972) LPs is 6.5" tall. Compared with other bongos you have played that are not as tall, like the other Vergaras, SOS, Juniors, JCRs, or LPs, how would you describe the difference in sound of the taller set? Is the 2 finger slap on the macho drier or sweeter than on other bongos? Does the macho tune much different than the other Vergaras?

I understand there are lots of other variables like skins, tuning relative to the "sweet spot" tuning, diameter, ratio of diameter to height, wood, etc. but you seem to have a huge experience with different bongos and might be able to factor out those differences.

[Omelenko1]

I got this latest 7" tall Vergara from Dandy Rodriguez, in my opinion the tastiest bongcero in the businees for the las 30 yrs. Bongocero for T. Puente, Barretto and leader/founder of Tipica 73'. Dandy has been my inspiration on the instrument and a dear friend and icon.
He has made numerous recordings with this Vergara, is about an inch taller than my other Vergaras. Originally it was a tacked head bongo when it belonged to La Coja, Noro Morales bongocero. It has an incredible sound, the macho projects a very crisp ,high pitch sound. I put quality Pan Con Queso heads on it. Cali made the hardware on it about 30 yrs. ago.

Saludos,

Dario

[KING CONGA]

Wonderful set of rare Vergara Bongos. I really appreciate the fact that they are still a functioning instrument and that someone is still enjoying them. Just out of curiosity, what is it that identifies a "Vergara" as a vergara? is there some sort of identification on it? Other that an oral lineage how would someone know that they are getting a genuine Vergara? What differentiates the Vergara?

[Omelenko1]

Gonzalo Vergara was the original creator back in the 40's in La Habana of quality tumbadoras and bongoces. His tumbadoras were made mostly from wine oak barrels that came to Cuba from Spain, these barrels were cured on account of the wine that was inside of them, that cured oak attributed to the magical sound of the Cuban Vergara tumbadoras. For his bongos Vergara chose Caoba wood, indegenous of Cuba, also P. Rico and the Dominican Republic, he made the shells out of solid Caoba. Caoba in Cuba has been on the endangered species since the early 1980's and can not be processed anymore. The best bongoceros in the 50's and early 60's (Armando Peraza,Mongo,Yeyito,Candido Camero,Jose Magual, Manny Oquendo,Johnny La Vaca, Ray Romero......)both in Cuba and New York used Vergara bongos. Vergara was imprisoned in 1964 in La Habana and the production of these fine instruments came to a halt. When you get an instrument from someone like Mongo, Dandy Rodriguez, who got his from La Coja, Noro Morales bongocero back in the late 40's, you know you're getting the real thing.
The hardware back in the day was somewhat fragile, using "mariposas" (butterflies) for tuning with your fingertips instead of nuts with wrenches like is use today. Most of the Vergaras you find today (very,very hard to find) will have retrofitted hardware on them by the likes of Junior, Jay Bereck or Cali Rivera. I know that even in Cuba, is very hard, almost imposible to find a Vergara bongo' or a tumbadora.

Enclosed find a photo of "La Coja", Noro Morales bongocero, with the Vergara I got from Dandy. Back then this Vergara was a tacked skin bongo (no tuning hardware).

Saludos,

Dario

[RitmoBoricua]

Dario, esa tripleta de Vergaras esta fuera de liga. Them 3 bongos are priceless. Let me point out
and believe or not but caoba (mahogany) is not indigenous to Puerto Rico. It was imported probably
from Cuba or Hispaniola to Puerto Rico to be grown in plantations and I think Puerto Rico's caoba is
hibryd, go figure. . I am from the south-west in Puerto Rico and we have plenty of trees. Back to
the bongos I read something from one of the great bongo players, can't remember the name where
he states that them tacked bongos sound was a lot better than the ones with tuning hardware. Very
interesting statement to say the least. Sonerito Suena Tu Bongo!

[KING CONGA]

When you get an instrument from someone like Mongo, Dandy Rodriguez, who got his from La Coja, Noro Morales bongocero back in the late 40's, you know you're getting the real thing. Dario

Man that is some great information I will no doubt keep it in my data bank. I would almost be 100% certain that if you got some bongos from one of those historic bongoceros that it would be the real deal but again, with all due respect, are there any distinguishing characteristics on these vergara bongos? Markings, design whatever? if I went and seen some possible vergaras in a pawn shop how would I be certain?
Just out of curiosity, the conga in the image do you know if it's vergara?

[Omelenko1]

KING,

The distinguishing characteristic will be the solid Caoba shells, with "lunares" or spots of light wood within. Then again Cali JCR was getting similar Caoba shells
from the Dominican Republic back in the late 70's and early 80's, right now there is a ban on Caoba as well in D. Republic. The main difference is that the Vergara shells are thinner than the ones Cali got from the D. Republic.

The tumbadora in the photo could possibly be a Vergara tacked skin, from the profile of part of the face, I know the tumbador was Carlos Vidal, who was also the original tumbador with Machito's Afro Cubans, later to be replaced by Luis Miranda. Another possibility could be that the conga in the photo was a Candido Requena, who made tumbadoras and bongos from the late 30's to the 50's. The fact that the conga on the photo was painted, is what makes it hard between a Vergara or a Requena, having had both, Vergara is a bit superior in quality and craftsmanship. Vergara congas were oak, Requena were cedro.

Saludos,

Dario