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After drying out over night, it is the dry season here so by this morning it was completely dry, it sounds fabulous!! So much better than the stock head that came with the Matadors. Lively, crisp and with the ability to create lots of tonal variation. Very responsive! I am pleased.

Sounds like a successful endeavour ... Congratulations, Michael! Enjoy playing your "new" instrument!

Thomas

Bravo!

Gracias amigos! One thing I didn´t mention is the texture. I has a really nice feel when playing.The stock LP heads are kind of coarse and rough and don´t feel great. Tomorrow I leave for the U.S. to Portland Oregon to visit family and Rhythm Traders is located there. It looks like they have some cow, goat and calf skin in stock. So, I will see if I can find a skin for the hembra.

Yes, current LP stock skins (water buffalo from Thailand) are kind of granular, and I don't like this feeling. I prefer other skins.

And I believe I told you already, mule is sterile and has thus a stiff skin, unlike cow, whose skin can be felt as more elastic. That's certainly why mule is so sought-after. Though it's also a matter of taste : some players swear only by cow. At any case, enjoy your trip at Rhythm Traders. I compare that to Alice in wonderland.

Chtimulato wrote:Yes, current LP stock skins (water buffalo from Thailand) are kind of granular, and I don't like this feeling. I prefer other skins.

And I believe I told you already, mule is sterile and has thus a stiff skin, unlike cow, whose skin can be felt as more elastic. That's certainly why mule is so sought-after. Though it's also a matter of taste : some players swear only by cow. At any case, enjoy your trip at Rhythm Traders. I compare that to Alice in wonderland.

An excellent comparison!! I have a friend in Portland who is a percussionist that will give me the tour.

Safe travels Michael. I’ve purchased a few skins from Rhythm Traders and they are great quality. Good people to do business with.

Thanks Juaort. I appreciate knowing that. I arrived yesterday and am hanging out with grandsons. Will go sometime next week while they are in school.

On a video or 2 I have seen a tool that is kind of like a mini ratchet/ socket for the tuning lugs but I can´t seem to find it in a search. It looks much easier than the wrench, which I tend to drop a couple of times when tuning and detuning. Anyone know what I mean or what they are called?

Here is a french model of ratchet wrench :

https://www.racetools.fr/cliquet-douille/8508-cle-a-cliquet-etanche-facom-sl161pb-1-2--3148519045369.html

which has to be used with these sockets :

https://www.racetools.fr/cliquet-douille/2731-jeu-de-8-douilles-spline-1-2-neo-tools-08-651-5907558406290.html

You can also use this ratchet wrench :

https://www.manomano.fr/p/cle-mixte-a-cliquet-a-tete-inclinable-27-mm-4318264

Both tools have a kind of inner spring which makes screwing and unscrewing easier, quite a real pleasure. You can find them in any decent DIY store.

And, of course, they come in metric and imperial.

Thanks Chtimulato. So, it is not a special bongo/conga tool. Just regular tools in the correct size.

mpags wrote:Thanks Chtimulato. So, it is not a special bongo/conga tool. Just regular tools in the correct size.

Exactly. The lugs of your Matador must be 1/2", so any ratchet wrench with a 1/2" socket should fit. Or 13 mm if you use metric tools (13 mm is slightly bigger than 1/2", but a lot of frenchies use 13 mm spanners once they have lost their LP tuning wrench... )

This is the two I use. Don’t need anything else to tune my Bongos and Congas. I even use these on my Timbales. 1/2” and 9/16” Deep Sockets with Ratchet. Chtimulato is right on the money. I have a couple of sets that use the bigger nuts. These make it easier to tune and detune.

Thanks guys. I will pick up one of those. It will fit nicely in the gig bag.

December 11th I have the first gig where I am doing vocals and playing bongó percussion. I have been practicing like a madman! It´s only on about 6 or 7 songs of 2 set performance. But getting the bongo on autopilot while delivering a nuanced vocal is challenging. I´ve worked my way through finding a pattern that I can execute that compliments the music, then getting a little more improvisational in the instrumental solo sections, The name of this project is Bossa, Boleros and Jazz.

Hi Michael,

if you are a singer in the first place, and you don't have to learn and memorize new songs and lyrics, try to reverse the order: Do more instinctively what you do the most, although it is more complex, and focus your conscious attention on the recently learned skill. I don't know whether this works for a singer, too, but I would like to hear from you what the results are.

Thomas