We recently received this set of Gon Bops Mariano bongos from a customer for a custom upgrade — replacing the original heads with high-quality natural steer skin.
The setup:
7″ Macho: Mounted with 1mm steer skin
8.5″ Hembra: Mounted with 1.6mm steer skin
Each skin was soaked in cool water just until pliable to maintain integrity and achieve optimal tone. For the hembra, I used slightly longer mounting lugs to accommodate the thicker skin.
I used longer mounting lugs for the hembra to help draw the crown or rim down gradually, evenly and easily.
I also used a wooden jig to set the collar height at 3/16″. As the skin dried, I increased the collar height to 3/8″.
One interesting detail: these Gon Bops have relatively short crown ears, which makes for a tight fit between the flesh hoop, skin, and tuning hardware — something to keep in mind when reheading similar models.