Manufacturers, brands, skins, maintenance, stands, sticks, michrophones and other accessories for congueros can be discussed into this forum ...... leave your experience or express your doubts!
I recently had a "Drum Yard Sale"..moved some drum kit shells, few cymbals and two Conga sets(Matadors, & older Toca's 3/4 size). Anyway was watching a Poncho Sanchez DVD and got intrested in REMO congas. I keep my Gon Bops and Two LP's from yard sale. LP's are 11 1/2 original and a 10 1/2 Patato. There good for an Open Mic I co-host and dragging to "Grassers" Tuff E Nuff are appropriately named. I googled and found my local dealer Woodwind&Brasswind..AKA..Music 123 stocked them. Decided I get a 13" to complete my "drag-a-round" kit.While Remo sounded as good as a LP classic in wood in same size it had quite a bit of overring-ing. I took it home but couldn't get it to tune with other drums. It was a Poncho Sanchez sig model in Tuff E Nuff finish. I tried "Moon Gells" still couln't tame the beast. Returnrd it today for a 12 conga ..basig REMO tuff E Nuff model and am totally satisfied. Traditional rims VS comfort on sanchez model easy access to lugs while still having guards; not covered by guards like P.sanchez model. and solid Pro sound. The 12 fell in to the middle in tuning ...Original sounds bigger than it is. I now have a Knock around kit that sounds great and I dont have to subject vintage stuff to hard knocksI highly recommend the smaller sizes in the Remo Line very solid pro-sound and affordable. 13" Tumba was to big for synthetic heads. to much ring for my ears and taiste
I used to think those looked terrible, then they sort of grew on me. I subbed a couple gigs for a guy who was a remo endorser. I was so use to hitting them like my LP's, I killed my hands. You can get a lot of sound out of those without a lot of effort. I think it would just take some time to get use to the heads. Great drums though... I almost bought a set.
Yes...the jury is still out on synthetic heads for me. I said I never play electronic drums eather. Can't beat good old steer or Mule skins but these are tolerable and definately hold their tunning. They are what they are and for knockin around they have their advantages.
I've read that the Remo high-end conga shells are made from their proprietary synthetic wood which Remo has branded as "Acousticon". And that they're heavy. Would you mind confirming if this is true or not?
Umannyt, I don't know anything about Acousticon...very well may be. The inside of drums appears to be made of numerous staves(Bigger,,wider) than a standard drum and they are synthetic so your probablly right. It's doesn't appear to be fiberglass and construction is totally different than an LP. I'm now playing remo as my tumba. It tunes Low but still holds a nice voice. I'm seriously thinking about getting the 10 3/4 they had in stock too. I'll keep my eyes and ears tuned for "ACOUSTICON"
This Remo link shows a cut-away illustration of Acousticon and describes in greater detail what it is: http://www.remo.com/portal....on.html. You'll need to scroll down to near the bottom of the page.
Thanks Mjtuazon....that's the stuff For What they are I like em......Really has a terrific sound and their built like a tank. I'm playinging in the90 degree heat this weekend and I would never take my Gon Bops out in that enviorment. I'm a fan
Wonderful!!! That's the bottom line: if it makes you happy!
Built like a tank Remo congas indeed are! If I'm not mistaken, I've read somewhere that there was a demonstration wherein a motorized vehicle (not sure what it was) was allowed to run over an Acousticon shell without the shell breaking.
IMO, we need to be always open to advances in technology. We shouldn't be always frozen in time. What may be considered old--or even obsolete--technology now may have been state-of-the-art technology in the past.
The bottom line is the sound. So, it shouldn't really doesn't matter if a conga shell is made from solid staves, ply staves, fiberglass, Acousticon or some other synthetic material.
Your right Manny, I'm pretty much a vintage freak. 61 Ludwigs,63slingerlands,1927 Buescher sax. Tuff E Nuffs' are totally out of context for me....but I'm knocked out by their sound...and when playing rock and blues they really let you step out when you need too. I thoroughly enjoy putting oil on a nice set of wood congas...they LOOK good, sound good and real skins are the best. On another note enjoyed your website and playlist
Hey, thanks for checking out the website of my band, "Tattoo Blue"! Glad you enjoyed the playlist.
We actually have 5 more songs from our CD that our websmaster (our drummer) didn't post. If I were him, I'd post them in a second so our potential audience can listen to them. But, unfortunately, I have no administrator access to our website.
Couldn't keep still listening to [/B]Listen to Me Closely[B]. I love Tattoo Blue. Great sound and the kind of band I'm hoping to start here in the Philly burbs, though not sure it would be as well appreciated as it is in Fremont, CA. One thing in all the site track mixes.... didn't hear you in there??? Wassup wid dat?
Well I went Woodwind&Brasswind again today...BIG sale. they are only going to carry the Pancho Sanchez sig models so I got the 11" Tuff E Nuff for the ridiculous price of $139.........Last one... floor model. sounds great and makes a nice two piece set-up or I can add 11 1/2 LP original fiberglass tuned low for tumba. Going to road test them tonight at a local open mic with full "House Band" Talking Heads songs tonight are going to HOWL
OOOOHH Bongo what a steal! You gotta feel good about that price. I was down there recently and drove by that place, almost stopped too. Do they have blowouts like that often? No more Tuff-e-Nuff's thoug huh? Congrats man. If you ever want to sell it hit me up.