Fiberglass vs. Wood Congas?

[invisiblemute]

Hi guys. First off I know close to zero about drums but I'd love to get a conga to practice and learn. Aside from fiberglass being more resistant to warping what are the pros and cons to a fiberglass vs. wood drum? Is there a huge difference in sound? I see some pro and high end LP lines using fiberglass so I'm assuming it's not just a cheap alternative. Thanks.

 

[Rimshot]

They do sound different. Most conga players I know turn their noses up at synthetic drums. There's a sound that only wood can give you. I'm a djembe player and I own several djembes including a synthetic one with a synthetic head. I only play that one at outdoor venues when it is damp or threatening rain. I have it tuned so that it sounds.....okay, but it will never give me the rich full sound of one of my Guinean or Ivory Coast djembes.
There's a technique in conga when you use a stick against the shell. It won't sound the same on plastic. But for banging around and learning to play hand drums the synthetics are okay.

 

[mikeh]

As a rule, a wood conga provides a warmer "more organic" tone. Whereas fiberglass creates a brighter tone with more attack.

Rimshot is correct that most hand drummers prefer wood to fiberglass. In particular for recording.

However, fiberglass work good for live performance, since they do project better thus cutting thru a live mix.

As a rule, wood drums cost a little more than fiberglass and require a little more care. However, the care and feeding of the head is more important - unless you you a synthetic head like the Evans.

 

[dripgoss]

Besides the weather, sound and cost considerations of wood versus fiber (or any other non-wood material) the good thing about wood is it generally "ages" the more you play it, resulting in a warmer, more full sound as time goes on. The moral of that is, if you can find a good set of wood congas on the cheap that have been taken care of by a pro, then you probably get a good set of drums taht are already broken in sonically.