@ Thomas
I had even contemplated over the idea to ask Roberto Evangelisti ("Mamey") in Italy whether he would make me a set
As Roberto and I have common friends (small word, indeed
), I made a visit to him during some holidays in Rome a few years ago. He showed me his workshop and we chatted about one hour, about music, drumming and people we both knew. He's a very nice guy. Since he's now famous in the entire world (even in the USA and Australia), he's really overbooked and the waiting list becomes longer everyday. But he deserves it : I could lay my hands on his drums during this moment, and they are in my eyes (and in my ears
) among the best drums I ever heard, with Juniors. His are an explicit and declared reference to Vergaras. FYI, every Mamey conga costs about 1000 € (precisely from 900 to 980 €). But it's (almost ) a one man work : he makes everything, cutting staves (no steam bending), gluing them, mounting skins, staining etc. The only external help is an iron worker (an artist too, whom I also happen to know) who makes all the hardware for him. And I could see "in real life" that nothing is neglected, every detail counts. For instance, they use bronze nuts to tune the lugs (exhaust manifold nuts), because, as Mamey told me, "steel eats steel". Bronze being softer than steel, there's less friction, which preserves the thread and makes it last longer. And since we're in Europe, and he's using metric system, he uses exhaust manifold nuts of Fiat 500. He gave me the tip, and that's what I use now.
And for drums with imperial threads on the lugs and nuts, I use Mini (Cooper, Austin etc.) bronze or brass exhaust manifold nuts, either 3/8" or 5/16''. You can also find some in boat/ship shops and workshops, I think. Since du bist ein Hamburger, it should be relatively einfach.
@ Juaort
Also, you know my intestines on your JCR. When you’re ready let me know and we’ll see what happens.
Yes, it's etched in my memory.
I just hope you're not in a hurry.
That's all folks.
Take care and stay safe, the damn virus is still around.