Vintage Cuban Bongo On Ebay (Vergara)

[pcastag]

Wow. Just wow.
PC

[Psych1]

Agree with the "wow" but I'm not surprised. Something like this doesn't come around very often. The trick to buying something like this is to be willing to pay more than others think it is worth. I believe it is worth what was paid. Forum member??

[RitmoBoricua]

Agree with the "wow" but I'm not surprised. Something like this doesn't come around very often. The trick to buying something like this is to be willing to pay more than others think it is worth. I believe it is worth what was paid. Forum member??

To the right buyer that bongo was worth every penny of it. How many times have you seen a solid Requena bongo?

[ABAKUA]

Yep, I was out once it hit over $400. By the time they went straight to Matt for resto, and sent to me would be way more than I was prepared to spend. Besides, these can be found quite easily in Havana if you know where to look, since I plan on heading back there next year, I could bring back a set or 2 for well under what these went for.

[ABAKUA]

Regardless, they certainly are a gem and piece of Cuban percussion history. Congrats to the buyer.

[pcastag]

You could bring back a set or two and pay for your trip! Looks like two folks went at it, I just can"t see 8 bills for some bongos regardless of how rare they are. At the end of the day if you have the cash I guess it's worth it, after matt fixed up my sonocs they ended up costing about 600 a pop total, to some that might be much but I guarantee they're the best looking sonocs around!
PC

[congabluedog]

Well I am not the lucky winner. I still think it could be a Vergara though. I think Cuco really knows his stuff and he had no doubt that it was Vergara even though hardware is Requena or very similar to Requena style. Although I wish this one was mine I do have one very similar, almost identical. It is in working, playable condition and has not been restored. When you find an old 50s's Fender guitar for example, they are hardly ever restored. This takes away the value astronomically. People want the instrument untouched, original. What I notice with vintage bongos and congas, people always want to restore, change hardware, etc. Basically they want it playable and I guess the original hardware cannot take the stress of constant hard playing and tuning. But I do play mine and tune the heads. I don't crank it up crazy but it sounds really really nicel. I like to see these instruments as close to original as possible, and playable too. That's just me. Congabluedog

[RitmoBoricua]

after matt fixed up my sonocs they ended up costing about 600 a pop total, to some that might be much but I guarantee they're the best looking sonocs around!

At the end of the day that's what really counts that you are happy and proud of your drum.
I also can't see myself paying that much for a bongo. Congratulations to the winner.

[RitmoBoricua]

Well I am not the lucky winner. I still think it could be a Vergara though. I think Cuco really knows his stuff and he had no doubt that it was Vergara even though hardware is Requena or very similar to Requena style. Although I wish this one was mine I do have one very similar, almost identical. It is in working, playable condition and has not been restored. When you find an old 50s's Fender guitar for example, they are hardly ever restored. This takes away the value astronomically. People want the instrument untouched, original. What I notice with vintage bongos and congas, people always want to restore, change hardware, etc. Basically they want it playable and I guess the original hardware cannot take the stress of constant hard playing and tuning. But I do play mine and tune the heads. I don't crank it up crazy but it sounds really really nicel. I like to see these instruments as close to original as possible, and playable too. That's just me. Congabluedog

Restoring means to bring back to original condition. What most folks do around here is modify or upgrade a drum
specifically the hardware.You right many antique items worth more when they show their age, original patina and
you know their history or something about it.

[congabluedog]

Ritmo, after reading your last post , yes, modify /upgrade was more what I was talking about. The pics of those Junior congas that everyone knows that were done by Mathew were an amazing restoration. They were falling apart and Mathew saved them. I have actually thought of restoring my own solid shell, shine up the hardware however it needed to be done, but decided to leave alone.

I also wasn't able to be on line during the end of the auction, so I had to put my max in several hours earlier. It is never a good way to win an auction but don't have snipe bid service, or whatever you call it. If I had won this one I might have had it restored as well, but not altered.

[pcastag]

Before


IMG_0986 by pcastag, on Flickr

During


pcastag 001 by pcastag, on Flickr

After. The two on the left.


IMG_0170 by pcastag, on Flickr