We recently upgraded the flesh hoops and skins on these LP “Dandy” bongos for a customer in California. I mounted Middle Eastern Steer- 1.2mm on the macho, 1.8mm on the hembra. I generally recommend 1mm thick for the macho, but the customer wanted a dryer sound for the macho.
This Spalted Poplar Solid Shell Quinto Tumba Set is made of locally and sustainably sourced wood from Athens, GA. Each drum begins as a solid log and is painstakingly hollowed and turned on our custom built conga lathe. Spalting is the process of naturally coloring the wood using certain fungi and is accomplished here in our shop. The bottoms are protected by a clear polymer foot which will not mark or scratch floors. This set is built to be tonally matched to sing together and the internal geometry of each drum is individually designed to bring out the best possible tones from the drums.
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Tumba
Skin: 2.2mm natural steer
Playing Surface: 12.5″ diameter
Height: 30″
Weight: 33 pounds
Hardware: 304 stainless steel 6-lug half round Moderna crown, heavy duty 3/8″ tuning lugs
Quinto
Skin: 1.9mm natural steer
Playing Surface: 10.75″ diameter
Height: 30″
Weight: 22 pounds
Hardware: 304 stainless steel 5-lug half round Moderna crown, heavy duty 3/8″ tuning lugs
Manito fabricated new 3/16″ square 304 stainless steel flesh hoops, and I mounted calf skins on these vintage Ludwig bongos for a customer in San Francisco.
Fat Cat™ Buffalo is Middle Eastern Nili Ravi. It’s a very high quality and versatile skin. This type of buffalo is not to be confused with the thin water buffalo commonly used in drum factories in Thailand where most mass produced congas are made.
On congas, it produces dry/woody tones, and has low action at thickness above 2.5mm. It is ideal for folkloric styles or any application where a very thick skin is preferred.
Skin thickness is recommended relative to the shell size- the larger the shell, the thicker the skin. This produces a balanced sound across the entire set of drums.
Warm and classic sound with crisp slaps, round open tones, rich bass and controlled overtones:
Requinto: 1.8mm
Quinto: 1.8mm
Conga: 2mm
Tumba: 2.2mm
Super Tumba: 2.4mm
Dry and woody sound with crisp slaps, shorter sustain and highly controlled overtones:
Requinto: 2mm (recommended)
Quinto: 2mm (recommended)
Conga: 2.2mm (recommended)
Tumba: 2.4mm (recommended)
Super Tumba: 2.6mm (recommended)
Traditional very dry and woody sound with the shortest sustain and next to no overtones.
We recently upgraded the tuning lugs, flesh hoops and skins on these oak Gon Bops bongos, and did a bit of shell repair. The tuning lugs are custom formed from 5/16″ 304 stainless steel, and guaranteed for life. The flesh hoops are 3/16″ round 304 stainless steel. The skins are steer- 1mm on the macho, 1.6mm on the hembra.
We just received a shipment of flat steer skins. I will spend the remainder of the day inspecting and checking the thickness of each skin. I use a long reach outside digital caliper at six points around the playing surface to determine thickness.