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A friend gave me an old bongo . The hardware is shit but the bongo shells look(potentially) verry nice .
There's no brand on them .

The rim is verry square .
I think its best to sand the rim from the inside so that the rim slopes from the outside down . (like my Bauer conga's)
I mean that the highest point on the rim is outside.

Or would it be better that the highest point on the rim is in the middle?

hey skinslapper,

when you say the rim is square, is it because the hardware is weak & its bent from tunning?

i had that problem with a cheap bongo' i bought in Ecuador, its better to just replace the rims and/or hardware....

I think he means the bearing edge

goingquinto Thanx !! Yes i mean the bearing edge, so that is the word !
I did'nt know how to call it !

I would've just answered your question, but don't really consider myself any kind of expert on bongo. My set of Toca bongo is rounded from both inside and outside, but more from the inside. That's all the help I have. Good luck.

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Leedy 2 i mean The rim over witch the skin is put .

I took a good look at al my drums and found the sonoc bata rims looked best for me .
I sanded the inside of the rim so that it sloped to the inside about 15 degrees downwards .
2thirds of the rim is sloped (inside ).1 third of the rim is round (outside).

It's a nice sounding bongo even though i used the shitty hardwhere on it and the original skins .

What would be the best bearing edge shape for bongo's/ conga's ?

And how much dous the bearing edge shape influence the sound ?

I've noticed different styles of bearing edge shapes on my drums so i wonder .

Its hard to compare my Bauer conga's with my suppercussion conga's "cause ther made of different wood !

I have found the most important factor for a bearing edge is that it is uniform all around the surface meeting the skin. Half round and wedge shapes have some differences on the tone but both sound good. This is a matter of opinion.

A bad bearing edge is generally from one of two factors. Poor manufacture or damage to the drum. I have personally fixed 5 bearing edges on my congas with excellent results all I do is use a file to even the bearing edge out.

I have pair of Bomba drums that the shell thickness is double the thickness on one side to the other side. I was able to correct this issue at the bearing egdge point with excellent results.

I have a Gon Bops XL Tumba (13.25") that looked brand new because it sounded terrible. I refined the bearing edge and the Tumba sings beautiful bass.

I have 2 Playa Azul drums that were of poor manufacturer. I refined the bearing edge of both and now they both sing.


Enjoy your drums and drumming

skinslapper wrote:A friend gave me an old bongo . The hardware is shit but the bongo shells look(potentially) verry nice .
There's no brand on them .

The rim is verry square .
I think its best to sand the rim from the inside so that the rim slopes from the outside down . (like my Bauer conga's)
I mean that the highest point on the rim is outside.

Or would it be better that the highest point on the rim is in the middle?

I think the term tou mean is to Bevel the edges...to create a curved shape...easier on the hands & the chrome is less likely to beging peeling from sharp edges. *

Jerry Bembe wrote:I have found the most important factor for a bearing edge is that it is uniform all around the surface meeting the skin. Half round and wedge shapes have some differences on the tone but both sound good. This is a matter of opinion.

A bad bearing edge is generally from one of two factors. Poor manufacture or damage to the drum. I have personally fixed 5 bearing edges on my congas with excellent results all I do is use a file to even the bearing edge out.

I have pair of Bomba drums that the shell thickness is double the thickness on one side to the other side. I was able to correct this issue at the bearing egdge point with excellent results.

I have a Gon Bops XL Tumba (13.25") that looked brand new because it sounded terrible. I refined the bearing edge and the Tumba sings beautiful bass.

I have 2 Playa Azul drums that were of poor manufacturer. I refined the bearing edge of both and now they both sing.


Enjoy your drums and drumming

Hi Jerry ! Yes...I love to hear that some drummers are hands on kind of guys & are not so mystified by common drum topicsw like this. I always double check my instruments to insure a good sound edge and other things. My 1998 Gon Bops ( Molinari era ) had the stupid sharp ( snare drum style ) sound edges. I had to re do the edges to help the head travel more smoothly so they wont tend to stretch or tear at the sharp edges. They now have a narrow 180 degree rounded edge which helps the drums sing more so than old Gon Bops that had a thicker flatter edge that muffled more over tones and volume. Thats why the folkloristas loved the old Gon Bops. Besides that bearing edge issue....a redone edge can bring more brilliance to the drum for more tone & more attack...even w/ the same heads. Perfet circle also helps. Good luck on your next detailing project !