Maestro Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez has passed away. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family and friends.
John Rodríguez Jr. (September 11, 1945 – August 17, 2024), better known as Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez, was an American bongo player of Puerto Rican descent. He was the long-time bongosero for Tito Puente, and also played with Tito Rodríguez, Ray Barretto and Alfredo de la Fe. He belonged to several popular bands of the salsa era such as Tico All-Stars, Fania All-Stars and Típica 73.
Moderna Crown Rims are hand crafted from 5/8″ 304 stainless steel half round bar for added strength and comfort. Each crown is custom fabricated to order to fit any sized drum, and includes a complimentary flesh hoop.
Thanks to all those who have taken the time to send photos of their upgrades and review us and our work. Our goal is to contribute to our drumming community in a positive and sustainable fashion. We are here to help. manitopercussion.com
These solid shell poplar bongos were made with wood sourced sustainably from Athens, GA. They feature our handmade stainless steel hardware and steer skins.
Wood: poplar
Height: 6-3/8″
Width: 7″ macho, 8-3/4″ hembra
Bridge: spalted maple with lapis inlay
Shell Inlay: lapis
Skins: 1mm steer on macho, 1.8mm steer on hembra
Hardware: 304 stainless steel, half round moderna crown
These solid shell apple bongos were made for a customer with wood sourced sustainably from Athens, GA. They feature our handmade stainless steel hardware and steer skins.
Wood: apple
Shell Height: 6-3/8″
Shell Width: 6-3/4″ macho, 8″ hembra
Bridge: spalted maple with pipestone inlay
Skins: 1mm steer on macho, 1.6mm steer on hembra
Hardware: 304 stainless steel, half round moderna crown
Weight: 10 lbs 14 oz
Manito writes, “I would consider these to have a similar attack to maple wood for sure. The macho has a very responsive open tone and super crisp and loud slaps. The hembra is beautifully resonant but without noticeable overtones. I like to build bongos with that old school gut punch style tone on the hembra with little to no ring. A very sort of Cuban sound.
The geometry of the shell design also contributes heavily to overtone ring. Most drum makers don’t take into consider that they are building resonating chambers where the dimensions really need to be in harmony for the sound to be smooth. For me that fact is a passion and I work very hard to craft not only the most visually beautiful but, more importantly, the most sonically beautiful instruments. I actually came very close to keeping them for myself.”
I recently upgraded the skin to 1.8mm Middle Eastern Steer on this old oak Caribbean Rhythms requinto. While the shell is constructed of wide staves, its out of round. The hardware leaves a little to be desired, but hanging in there. manitopercussion.com
We recently had the opportunity to work on these Requena bongos. Manito made new 304SS lugs, and I upgraded the skins to amber Middle Eastern Steer- 1mm on the 6.5″ macho, 1.4mm on the 8″ hembra.
I hear this all the time. “I bought these new very inexpensive natural skin heads on eBay or Amazon, and they broke after a week.” I always try to find out as much as possible about the failure. Is the seller reputable? What type of skin is it? How thick is the skin? How much tension was on the skin when it failed? What sort of environment were the drums in when the skin failed? Often, they neither knew what type of skin they were buying, nor the thickness. Most failures occurred due to a very thin skin under high tension in a very dry environment.
We do the work for you. Longstanding relationships with our suppliers allow us to offer very high quality skins and the proper thickness relative to drum size. Any skins with defects are rejected. We use a long reach digital caliper to measure thickness. We also send the same tool to each of our suppliers, so everyone is on the same page.
Whether you are getting a flat skin to mount yourself or a PreMounted head, you can rest assured that you will get the highest quality and craftsmanship every time. In addition, our flat skins and PreMounted heads carry a 60-day warranty.