congaplace.com

Saludos mi gente,

I had a question, I have no experience with fiberglass bongos, but I've heard good things about them, the olnly bad thing I hear is that they're heavy. I wanted to know if fiberglass is louder and\or projects more than wood bongos..? I've noticed a couple of bongoseros play fiberglass with natural heads, and they sound really loud.

Anyone have any opinions about this?

I have a set of toca cusom deluxe bongo and they are very heavy , just changed the heads to evans . They are bloody loud but thats a good thing in the situations i am playing in tbh .

hey bongo,

I've had a set of LP Fiberglass bongos for about 12 years now. They are, as you can imagine, indestructible and very solid, loud and with an awesome projection; nevertheless they're just too heavy for my taste and I've recently replaced them for natural Siam Oak (rubber tree wood) from Tycoon. I always had natural rawhide from LP. In my opinion what makes a difference in the sound of a bongo is the shells. I now prefer wood to be honest, I feel it easier on the hands. I took my time to replace them cuz I've just recently started playing on a regular basis again after a long absence in the latin music scene.

I have had LP fiberglass bongos for about 20 years. They are extremely heavy and uncomfortable to play between my legs for a whole gig. If you play LP fiberglass bongos, you want to put them on a stand. The weight problem comes from the hardware. If you remove all the hardware, you will see that the fiberglass shells are very light. Also, the rims and lugs extend beyond the shell too much to be comfortable playing between the legs.

When I purchased the LP fiberglass bongos, I had a discussion with an LP factory rep. He told me there was no difference between the sound of LP's fiberglass and wood bongos. Unlike congas, the sound chamber for bongos is too small to make any difference in sound and resonance between wood and fiberglass bongos. I chose fiberglass for durability and because I have more confidence cranking the macho skin up high and tight on a fiberglass shell.

Since purchasing the LP fiberglass bongos, I have purchased 4 pairs of wood bongos (3 from Gon Bops - California Series, Alex Acuna special edition, and Tumbao series). Most recently I purchased a pair of walnut bongos from Matthew Smith. I will play all of my wood bongos between my legs all night. The LP fiberglass are reserved for use on a stand.

For me, the only difference in sound between any of my bongos is from the type of skin and how it is tuned.

my two cents

Craig

Too heavy,tasteless sound, but will last an eternity.

caballoballo wrote:Too heavy,tasteless sound, but will last an eternity.

Mine dont sound in any way " tasteless " . In fact they sound better than some of the wooden drums i have owned . Not for the purists it would seem .

I owned LP Fiberglass Galaxy bongo and they sounded great to me, the only reason I sold them was because the were heavy on my old tired legs. But I guess taste is subjective, I do not like traditional Japanese music but many Japanese do. So if you like the way the drums sounds and it works for you don't worry about what any one else says always remember some guys eat crap and think its delicious. In Spanish they are referred to as "Come Mierda" LOL. Also What does SOUND taste like, I have had sound tickle my senses and stimulate emotions but never my taste buds, although after a good Rumba I am thirsty and hungry. Take Care bros

I have never owned a set of fiberglass bongos but at one period in my past I was re-finishing a set of LP Valjes bongos with some clear lacquer. I had spoken to a carpenter about my project and asked him if I should just use just some penetrating oil for the shells and keep the wood as natural as possible for the warmth of the sound or is a lacquer finish a good choice? He explained that the lacquer finish would make the interior sound of the wood shells resonate much louder. So I had thought of purchasing a fiberglass set of Remo bongos being that the synthetic resin material would really project the sound but to my discovery it is true that they do sound loud but weigh a ton and that would be bothersome if you play a few sets a night. I'm sticking to wooden bongos for now IMHO. Adelante y con Paz.

Jorge