Bands, inlayed or overlayed?

[bongosnotbombs]

Inlaid bands have an advantage of being held in place by the inlaid groove in the wood. Should the wood shrink the groove should still hold them in place quite well and tight.

Moperc is manufactured in a city which can have very cold winters, I have confidence in Michel's expertise that he has addressed this consideration in his excellent conga design, particularly as he is the only maker I know to create grooves for his bands.

Moving bands up and down a conga as the wood shrinks is a solution, but it has the potential problem of exposing an inconsistent finish as the wood under the band becomes exposed when the band is moved.

[ABAKUA]

You can buy Volcano Congas for $650 and up per drum depending

And up and up and up! Based on current price list, full curl Koa is $6000 up per drum.

Stunningly beautiful drums though, along with Monkeypod.


As for bands, I prefer overlay.

[Psyammy]

in Dec 2010 I got a mango wood volcano with Custom Tradition hardwear and metal flake in the drum shell (sparkly) it cost me $850.00 and worth every cent

Psyammy

[Jerry Bembe]

Not to intentionally drift off topic; I have had the opportunity to purchase a set of 4 pristine Volcano Highly Figured Monkeypod congas for $2000 with metal flake in the finish and the whole works Stainless hardware... Now I need to commit more time to play as if I deserve this set. (I was not originally a conguero but a mallet player.)

This set at $500 a drum was a once in a lifetime deal. My friend who sold them has the option to buy them back at anytime.

A Koa guitar can cost $25000 so a Highly Figured Koa conga at an Art gallery for $6000 doesn't sound out of line. The same conga direct is around $3000 (out of my league).

The truth is all of these current and past hand builders are truly artists and deserve our respect. There are different opinions but in my opinion to disrespect these artists is an insult to the musical art overall.

Peace

[ABAKUA]

No disrespect intended. As stated, stunningly beautiful drums.

[bongosnotbombs]

The older Gon Bops also feature inlaid bands on some of their oak models. It is my favorite style.

[Anonimo]

POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR

[Jerry Bembe]

Leedy2,

Is the block attached on the side part of a repair?

How does this repair affect the overall tonal character?

Is it glued underneath with the block for additional stability?

Kind regards.

Yes Gon bops also put on congas and on the wood timbales some look nice other had problems here is a photo of a set I had with problems

[Psych1]

I have a mahogany two-piece Gon Bops quinto with a mahogany inlaid band.

Traveling now, can't post pictures, but somewhere here there is a thread on that quinto. It may be one-of-a-kind.

[Omelenko1]

Leedy2,

Is the block attached on the side part of a repair?

How does this repair affect the overall tonal character?

Is it glued underneath with the block for additional stability?

Kind regards.

Yes Gon bops also put on congas and on the wood timbales some look nice other had problems here is a photo of a set I had with problems

The block attached was added by Gon Bops to play the "cascara pattern" on the side, in order to avoid damage to the shell.

Dario

[dende]

To get back to the bands, what is it that i am doing wrong?

I work at home depot and have collected many bands that our lumber (and sometimes trailers) come wrapped with. they are high strength, and thin.
now, i hammer them down on the drum to help close the staves while bending and gluing them together, but i would also like to start using bands for the more old school look (for the congas and atabaques).
i would like to know of i need to start looking for a softer banding, because it is just about impossible to get them to mold with the contours of the drum

for example ( http://www.capoeira.com/community/m/pho ... -fantastic ), this was just to hold the atabaque staves together as i glued them, but i couldnt get them to mold to the shape for after i planed, sanded and protected i would have loved to put a few on before mounting ( I dont have hardware equipment, so i used a Mali weave http://www.capoeira.com/community/m/pho ... d-atabaque luckily ive gotten better at mounting)

I was looking at Mario's work of Isla Percussion, and they look pretty thick compared to the thin bands ive been trying (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__SvanV5auow/T ... G_1126.jpg)

[Anonimo]

POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR

[Jerry Bembe]

The bands are not straight. The conga's contours cause the radius of the top of the band to be different than the bottom of the band (when fitted to the conga).

For each band, measure the circumference of the conga at the top of the band and the bottom of the band. The resulting shape of the desired band should be saber shaped (like an Arab sword). An easy way to measure is with string and a tape measure. Measure around the conga with the string (for reference points you might want to lightly mark the conga with a pencil).

To test this out, cut cardboard in the measurements to verify the accuracy.

Please share pictures when you get this rolling.

To get back to the bands, what is it that i am doing wrong?

I work at home depot and have collected many bands that our lumber (and sometimes trailers) come wrapped with. they are high strength, and thin.
now, i hammer them down on the drum to help close the staves while bending and gluing them together, but i would also like to start using bands for the more old school look (for the congas and atabaques).
i would like to know of i need to start looking for a softer banding, because it is just about impossible to get them to mold with the contours of the drum

for example ( http://www.capoeira.com/community/m/pho ... -fantastic ), this was just to hold the atabaque staves together as i glued them, but i couldnt get them to mold to the shape for after i planed, sanded and protected i would have loved to put a few on before mounting ( I dont have hardware equipment, so i used a Mali weave http://www.capoeira.com/community/m/pho ... d-atabaque luckily ive gotten better at mounting)

I was looking at Mario's work of Isla Percussion, and they look pretty thick compared to the thin bands ive been trying (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__SvanV5auow/T ... G_1126.jpg)

[JohnnyConga]

My Hawaiian mango congas are truly works of art that Tom has created..also with metal flake, Remo hardware(done for me) and my name on them(not exactly the way i would have done it but I have them and they are the only set like them in the world)..Yes they may cost 600 a drum but these are not manufactured drums, these are hand made one at a time..and they are as smooth inside as they are outside...the sound Incredible, the weight, very light, skins Wow!...Tom would never put bands on his drums, not esthetically good looking to him...

Tom Alexander and his Volcano Congas.jpg (8.92 KiB) Viewed 6223 times

[dende]

The bands are not straight. The conga's contours cause the radius of the top of the band to be different than the bottom of the band (when fitted to the conga).

For each band, measure the circumference of the conga at the top of the band and the bottom of the band. The resulting shape of the desired band should be saber shaped (like an Arab sword). An easy way to measure is with string and a tape measure. Measure around the conga with the string (for reference points you might want to lightly mark the conga with a pencil).

To test this out, cut cardboard in the measurements to verify the accuracy.

Please share pictures when you get this rolling.

Wow, Thank you so much, ive been looking for a while, and i finally have an answer that make sense. This is gonna be great!