Alex Acuna Gon Bops chrome hand bell

[b0ng0]

hey guys,
this past sunday i had a "guiso" (gig) with a christian salsa group here in SoCal,

the group that played before our group was good, stage & sound were excellent, during our sound check i was talking to the bongosero of the other group. i saw that he had a chrome bell. i thought maybe it was a colombian bell, i asked to try it and when i played it, the sound was horrible, ive had rough experiences with JCR bells, but this bell had a nasty sound, and it was shaped really weird. i didnt want to tell the guy his bell sounded like crap, so i was like cool..i turned the bell around and it said " Alex Acuna, Gon Bops"....
i know a lot of guys these days wanna look flashy when they play, but this bell is really bad and i dont reccomend it...
when it was our turn to play i used my trusty JCR Low C pitch bell (which sounds great), the other bongosero came up to me after and commented that my bell sounded great and where could he get one like it, i told him try guitar center..

[b0ng0]

if any1 is loooking for a good chrome bell, i recomend leedy 2, hes selling a few good Colombian chrome bells...

[Ernesto Pediangco]

Regarding Gon Bops bells....UGH ! The black ones are just CB700 bells with horrible heavy metal clamping which is awkward to use & chokes theses cheap ebtry level bells even more. The chromed Bells are not much better in design or sound & chrome plating further chokes the bells mediocre tone yet the dis harmonic over tones ring out in an ugly tone. ( must be made for rock music ) I sent a detailed analysis to Alex Acuna regarding this and other bad design details in the DW Gon Bops product line ( aside from the top of line California Congas which are OK ) that are poorly designed throughtout all the products and mountings that are just the same as so many other Asian made brands of lesser name. But instead of an intelligent and productive conversation w/ insightful opininions ( pros & cons ), he dismissed me and said he believes me to be arrogant and he only converses with Christans ( which I am ) about Christian values etc. I was dismayed that he was not representing Gon Bops to any degree or recognising the expertises of a long time Gon Bops enthusiast since 1972 ( who really wanted to correct many design flaws & contribute new innovative ideas ) The designers are not clever, do not resolve problematic details in product designs and have not represented a proud American brand name like Gon Bops in a good way. The products and lame hard wares are no different than other cheap Asian entry level models and only drag down Gon Bops reputation. I would not recomend the product line or its mounting stands etc due to so many oversights and neglectful / rude customer service from its top endorsing artist. Alex is a superb drumer / percussionist but he has zero engineering or instrument repair experience that would give him innovatine insights to correct decades old design flaws. The so called Alex Acuna cajon ~ was introduced to him by me at a show he did at Jazz Alley in Seattle where I supplied the " Atempo " brand cajon I purchased at Plaza Dos De Mayo in Lima Peru. He had not seen this particular brand at this level of quality but he took note ! I sold the cajon he signed w/ a blessing, to a friend. I lost respect for him. A year or more later, DW Gon Bops carried the larger model of Atempo Cajon that was often used by Zambo Cavero ~ a legend of Afro Peruvian & Peruvian Criolla music. At least the Gon Bop cajon is a Latin American cajon from which all rectangular bodied cajons derive & is now all over the globe. I had hoped, Alex could connect me to Gon Bop R & D / product developement. DW is said to have sold Gon Bop to Sabian cymbals and perhaps they will listen to me re: the lameness of current Gon Bops products & how I would fix them ! ?

[b0ng0]

alex's brother, played the sax & clarinet at my old church, he was the same way....

[caballoballo]

If the gonbops bells are like the lugs on their Bongos I assume they will bend ,crack ect ect.

B0ng0, all bells need time to tune, Jcrs is 1 of the best you just have to stick a piece of rubber inside the bells mouth to adjust their sound, do that by positioning the rubber in different places until you find the sound you like. Also has to do with the way you hold the bell in your hand. No 2 alike bells will sound the same.Do not get exited by the Colombian bells because they may sound good and may not. When buying atake your beater to the store until you get the one of your taste.

[b0ng0]

caballo, im very careful wit that JCR bell i have, another bongosero friend of mine, had the same one & he said the tone changed on him...

[Ernesto Pediangco]

If the gonbops bells are like the lugs on their Bongos I assume they will bend ,crack ect ect.

B0ng0, all bells need time to tune, Jcrs is 1 of the best you just have to stick a piece of rubber inside the bells mouth to adjust their sound, do that by positioning the rubber in different places until you find the sound you like. Also has to do with the way you hold the bell in your hand. No 2 alike bells will sound the same.Do not get exited by the Colombian bells because they may sound good and may not. When buying atake your beater to the store until you get the one of your taste.

Ernesto says : I play JCR bells excusively, I buy any decent ones I find in stores since its easier to sound check personally than to order them directly like I used to. But some bells may have some over tones & I learned that powder coating or some Hamerite Spray Paint ( I like antique gold ) will mute most the over tones & if its a hand bell, my hands control the rest. If its a cha cha bell or timbale bell, i use light foam rubber weather striping tape in small strips, added inside the mouth of the bells as I test play them. I have not been happy w/ any Gon Bop bells, The Toca bells are already powder coated white & are not as alive as I like, The Pearl Bells are kind of OK but I always returned to JCR. The only Lp bells I like are the Salsa model Hand Bells & mounted Hand bells ~ which are copies of JCR any way I always remove any Lp logos & paint them so no one see's any Lp logos. After all....Lp does not pay me to use their products, nor do any other companies yet ! I naver buy a bell w/o test playing them & comparing them to the rest of my sets of bells, I color code them as sets & use them as sets. One set for Salsa bands & one for Latin Jazz smaller stages & clubs so my timbale set & bells are dynamically balanced to the band size, music style & room size.

[Raymond]

Not all JCR bells sound alike...Some will have lower, higher or more overtones than others...So..always recommended to "test drive them"...Based on the physical design you might get one that sound alike or close but you have to be carefully without trying them or listening to them...Also, they tend to need break in to achieve their "peak sound"...Some sound nice from the get go and some need "playing" or even "rusting" to get their peak sound. (Break-in).

JCRs are practically handmade and not mass produced...Cali tends to change his models or get certain pitches at a time...(So. If you identify one that you like buy another one...you might not get to see that bell in awhile)...

My five cents...

[Anonimo]

POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR

[Ernesto Pediangco]

Regarding Gon Bops bells....UGH ! The black ones are just CB700 bells with horrible heavy metal clamping which is awkward to use & chokes theses cheap ebtry level bells even more. The chromed Bells are not much better in design or sound & chrome plating further chokes the bells mediocre tone yet the dis harmonic over tones ring out in an ugly tone. ( must be made for rock music ) I sent a detailed analysis to Alex Acuna regarding this and other bad design details in the DW Gon Bops product line ( aside from the top of line California Congas which are OK ) that are poorly designed throughtout all the products and mountings that are just the same as so many other Asian made brands of lesser name. But instead of an intelligent and productive conversation w/ insightful opininions ( pros & cons ), he dismissed me and said he believes me to be arrogant and he only converses with Christans ( which I am ) about Christian values etc. I was dismayed that he was not representing Gon Bops to any degree or recognising the expertises of a long time Gon Bops enthusiast since 1972 ( who really wanted to correct many design flaws & contribute new innovative ideas ) The designers are not clever, do not resolve problematic details in product designs and have not represented a proud American brand name like Gon Bops in a good way. The products and lame hard wares are no different than other cheap Asian entry level models and only drag down Gon Bops reputation. I would not recommend the product line or its mounting stands etc due to so many oversights and neglectful / rude customer service from its top endorsing artist. Alex is a superb drummer / percussionist but he has zero engineering or instrument repair experience that would give him innovative insights to correct decades old design flaws. The so called Alex Acuna cajon ~ was introduced to him by me at a show he did at Jazz Alley in Seattle where I supplied the " Atempo " brand cajon I purchased at Plaza Dos De Mayo in Lima Peru. He had not seen this particular brand at this level of quality but he took note ! I sold the cajon he signed w/ a blessing, to a friend. I lost respect for him. A year or more later, DW Gon Bops carried the larger model of Atempo Cajon that was often used by Zambo Cavero ~ a legend of Afro Peruvian & Peruvian Criolla music. At least the Gon Bop cajon is a Latin American cajon from which all rectangular bodied cajons derive & is now all over the globe. I had hoped, Alex could connect me to Gon Bop R & D / product development. DW is said to have sold Gon Bop to Sabian cymbals and perhaps they will listen to me re: the lameness of current Gon Bops products & how I would fix them ! ?

I recently contacted Gon Bops in regards to product improvement / correcting design flaws, introducing superior designs & new products & to work as a sales rep. Paul @ Gon Bops politely informed me that all positions in R & D & sales are taken. Evidently there's no room for improvement at Gon Bops. My next target is meinl. I am impressed with their progressiveness but still there is room for improvement. I test played a Meinl pro series against Gon Bops California model congas and They were similar but Meinl was far cheaper ! All these drums sound similar w/ similar plastic heads, but I loved Gon Bops for the natural sound when fitted w/ quality Cow hide heads. Its ironic to see Gon Bops sales videos featuring Remo heads ???