Hi guys,
Great conversation! Thanks to ASByo for the mention! I just wanted to chime in here and give a little more info about my drums and solid shells.
Regarding cracks...I will say that the only drums I have ever owned that have cracks are stave drums. I know, I know, the solid shell drum guy stands behind solid shells, go figure. The only solid shell drums I have seen cracked were not dried properly (only air dried), or the shells were not culled during drying because there was too much work invested in them. I am able to select only the best roughed shells to make my drums from and at the end of the kiln drying process, I know which shells are still under stress. Those stressed shells do not get used to make Manito Percussion Drums, they get culled to make wood planters or tables which don't need to vibrate perfectly to become the best drums.
My drums are built using several processes to remove the stresses in wood. First the roughed out shells are boiled while still green. This is a wood turning technique which essentially anneals the wood by making it plastic so the stresses can relax before the shell is dried. Then each shell is kiln dried down to 8% Moisture Content then equalized and conditioned. When wood is reduced to 8% moisture content and then sealed with clear coat or stain, 99.99% of the potential for internal movement (internal movement causes cracks) has basically been removed. Even moving from areas of high to low relative humidity or vice versa can only change the Moisture Content of the sealed wood by hundredths or even thousandths of a percent. Such a small change will not result in a crack. This is how fine furniture is made so that it lasts a lifetime. My drums are built to last several lifetimes, though you may need to put new heads on every now and again...
That being said, with any wood instruments, art or even furniture, there is a small chance of developing cracks as time passes. Those cracks are due to internal stresses present in the wood which either are not or cannot be mediated by the builder. It doesn't matter so much how big the individual pieces are, ie, solid shell being one big piece of wood, and stave drums being many small pieces.
Stave drums have a decent tendency to crack either on glue lines where glue fails, or in the staves themselves because the glue holds together better than the wood grain. I always wonder where the mention of so many Valje Bauer, or Gon Bop etc. splits goes when people talk about solid shells being prone to cracking. I have fixed split LP's, Valjes (LP and Flores), Gon Bops, Timbas, Meinls, Tocas, various Mexican drums...etc. All stave repairs and mostly on the glue lines.
As a professional percussionist for the last 17+ years, I want to make professional quality drums that can be passed from father to son and down through the generations. I use all hand-polished Stainless Steel for my hardware, cold worked for extra strength and durability. MP hardware simply cannot rust out and the polish is not chrome so it can't flake off if the drum is exposed to humidity. Manito Percussion drums will stand up to NYC, Anchorage, Phoenix, N'Awlins, Atlanta, L.A., you name it...
I will also say on the subject of weight, my Rainbow or Yellow Poplar Congas weigh LESS than LP drums of comparable sizes, and they have hardware that is 3-4 times as strong. If you check out my website, all my inventory has each drum's weight listed in the details.
Thanks for checking out my site and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions!
-Manito
http://www.manitopercussion.cominfo@manitopercussion.com706-614-4563