Skin on Skin Congas circa 1975

[Mr.Rumba]

First, these are not my drums. It is a Cl ad. Is anyone familiar with these particular drums? He has mentioned to me Mongo played them in the studio as well. Wanted some opinions. The seller say's they are half the weight of normal SOS. Opinions and thoughts please?http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/msg/3213457142.html

[jorge]

I would be careful about buying half weight drums, even SOS. I had Jay make me an oak drum and take it thinner on the lathe, so it weighs about 2/3 the normal weight. Jay told me don't do it, but I went ahead with it anyway. Like he predicted, it cracked in about 5 places the first 2 years I had it, all on the glue lines. That was about 25 years ago and I am glad I went through with it. It sounds and looks great now, my favorite drum that I play every day, but I had to fix the cracks and refinish it. Part of the problem was also that it was originally finished with Watco oil, and I live in the Northeast with wide humidity fluctuations between summer and winter. Refinishing with polyurethane on the outside (only) was a big improvement too.

Thinner shells is the most likely way he made those drums lighter, which means less glue surface and more chance of cracking on the glue lines. I would also wonder with drums that sounded good enough for recording, were that pretty and superlight to carry, why Mongo didn't gig with them. Maybe he thought they were too light and not roadworthy? A lot of Cuban conga de comparsa drums are made thin and light to carry more easily, but all those I have seen that have been transported to the US have cracked and had to be fixed, plus they are not as robust to tune up high. So make sure that the drums have no cracks or all cracks have been competently repaired, and make sure there is no problem with putting normal thickness skins on them and tuning them up to normal pitches. The drums are going on 40 years old, so for that price, you should look at them very thoroughly, or get a money back guarantee.

Also, forgot to say, last year I fixed 4 or 5 cracks in my ash SOS, also on the glue lines. That is a normal weight ash tumba, shrank around the alma and cracked and also had a couple cracks in the bottom area. I take good care of my drums, we play them at lots of rumbas, but again, the humidity swings are the problem. I moved the alma down a little bit so with the cracks closed it was snug but not super tight in the dry winter, and have not had a problem since. Titebond II rocks, but fixing the alma-related cracks in the winter was the key.

[Mr.Rumba]

Thank you Jorge, great advice!

[Omelenko1]

Mongo was like a father to me, over 35 yrs. of friendship with him and his family. Jay Bereck made Mongo 2 SOS congas, macho y hembra, they were ash and were stained in red the way Mongo painted his Vergara (red for Chango, that's what Mongo said). I thought those SOS were beautiful but Mongo never liked them. He loned the tumba to his nephew Salvador, who claimed he took it to a "toque de santo" and it was stolen, the macho Mongo told me, "dame $130 y llevatelo", give me $130 and take it. I did take it, Jay had made dedication tags for them both. I kept it and loved it. A dear friend of mine became obsessed with it and offered me 3 Tom Flores original Valje set for it. I called Mongo and he said go ahead. I made the trade but removed the tag with Mongo's name, which I still have.
At that time Mongo still played his Vergaras, I don't know why he didn't like or played his SOS, I thought they were incredible. Jay never forgave Mongo for never playing his drums, a set he had donated to him.
Enclosed me and Mongo, a month before he passed, Mongo playing his Vergaras, the red one for Chango.

Dario

[Mr.Rumba]

Wow, great post, story and photos as well. Thank you very much.
I am re reading it again, it is very interesting to me!
If you have a chance can you please take a look at the photos in the ad and tell me what you think about these drums on a casual observation?
Thanks Much!

[vizcaino]

Omelenko1 - I'm a curator for the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ. This story and your relationship with Mongo is of interest to me as I'm working on Salsa and Latin Jazz exhibits and a Latino Heritage celebration coming up soon. Can we email offline? My email is daniel.piper@theMIM.org

thanks,
Daniel