who makes the best set of high quality bongos?

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maskedman72

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i would like to get some top notch bongos and i was wondering what a top quality pair is. toca? lp? or do those brands suck?
the mataor pair looks good. price is not a big issue.
-jay
 
Unless you are a professional pecussionist who happens to be acquiring your own gear for studio and live work, I really wouldn't worry all that much about getting top notch bongos.

Any of the offerings from a major manufacture should be just fine. This includes, Toca and LP as you mentioned.
 
I've got a set of the Meinl mid-line bongos like these

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...195210851/g=home/search/detail/base_id/100582

I think they sound great- pretty comparable to the Matadors. I would definitly avoid the low lines of LP (used to be called CP now called Aspire), Headliners (Meinls low end), or Toca (Toca's upper end stuff is good, but it's all called Toca, cheap or expensive).

For me I really love my Meinl Floatune Congas (more so than Matadors, or upper end Toca I've played), and the Bongos were, as good as any for the money. Most of what you are getting for more money than that is exotic wood, special finishes, and limited editions. Like these:

http://www.meinl.de/percussions/perc_2_8_14.html

I would reccommend at least playing one set of traditional hoop rims, and one with the newer comfort style rims (from any manufacturer) to see which you like better. I think the traditional rims almost always sound better, but they can be harder on your hands.

If you really want the best, and money is no object, I'd say find a drum specialty shop, and you'll probably have to pick a brand that you think you can trust, and special order them, because most dealers don't have the top lines in stock, just the low and middle.
 
How are you going to use them?

Are these going to be used for hand drumming or will you be putting them on your kit to play as an accent with sticks? It will make a difference in how you select the drums and what heads there will be on them. If you plan on playing them by hand, the shell and bearing edge are VERY important and you'll want a slightly thinner skin. There are synthetic heads, but I would only use them for playig with sticks, they have a lousy sound when played by hand, and when you're using sticks it's usually just for accent anyway.
Most of the commercially made bongos are made as stave drums just like congas.Since most of the companies that make them consider these as a casual drum, often not as much care is placed on gluing op the staves and I've seen many brand new bongos by major companies that have seperation. Check them thoroughly before buying, or unless you are an advanced woodworker and have the necessary strap clamps and adhesives, you can sometimes buy a second hand set and do some work. If the heads are blown, don't throw them out before you soak them and get the rings out. These can be used over on another head (you buy the skin,soak and stretch) This way you have more control over matching the proper skin thickness to the drum and your style of playing. (a good source for buying skins and hand drum building supplies is at www.africanrhythmtraders.com)
Hand drumming has been my major concentration for the last 15 years and I'm just recently getting my chops back on the kit
after allowing my set to collect dust for way too long.
 
thanks for all of the info!!! these will be used for studio recording only and i would like a high pitched ringy sound like on a high tuned lenge or balaphone 12x24 djembe.
sounds like there is more to a simple pair of bongos than just going to the guitar center and gettin whatever they have got. does evans make real goatskin heads that are thin for bongos?
im shure they would sound better than the heads that come with them.
 
maskedman72 said:
thanks for all of the info!!! these will be used for studio recording only and i would like a high pitched ringy sound like on a high tuned lenge or balaphone 12x24 djembe.
sounds like there is more to a simple pair of bongos than just going to the guitar center and gettin whatever they have got. does evans make real goatskin heads that are thin for bongos?
im shure they would sound better than the heads that come with them.
Click to expand...

If you are going to play them by hand in an acoustic situation,goatskin is definitely what I would reccommend.Especially since you said you are looking for a high pitched ringy sound. I have never seen any natural skins made by Evans, so I don't know. LP does make bongo skins already mounted on the ring and Bauer is another.
A lot of the skins for bongos are made from calfskin which is much heavier and warmer sounding. I personally prefer goatskin as in my doumbeks and djembes. I rehead drums for people regularly and always have a bunch of skins around of different types and thicknesses. If you really want to get a honed response to your heads,you can rehead these drums yourself after a little practice.
Unfortunately most of the big stores don't stock any kind of selection of mounted replacement heads. You'll have to deal directly with a specialized supplier, or go the route of soaking and mounting your own from raw skins. Check with LP and see what they have to offer.
I have a pair of Matadors and they are the best of the readily accessable bongos (although I have reheaded them to my taste).
-Rimshot
 
that would be great to get goatskins for bongos. i bet that would make a world of difference in sound. those skins they come with are way to thick and dont produce nice slaps like a goat. i can get the skins locally but i have no clue as to mount them. wouldnt you need a dual hoop ring systm to mount them on like a rope tuned djembe has? the matadors look nice but what about the playing edge? i dont want to kill my hands. i see that lp has comfort hoops that look hand friendly.
 
All of my djembes are rope tuned.
I buy them directly from Ivory Coast or Guinea and often re-head and re-rope them myself.
The bongo and conga heads are mounted the same way, but it's not neccessary to rope tune those because you already have hoop and post tuning (this makes it easier). You just have to soak the heads(skin) until they are soft and maliable, stretch over the shell and then slde the ring over keepng it as close to the bearing edge as possible (you'll need a skin several inches in diameter larger than the shell) pull up the excess and fit the hoop over it and tighten it until it is under tension. While it is still wet pull the excess skin to tighten it and then leave it alone for a few days until it is thoroughly dry (don't trim off the excess yet) When the head feels dry to the touch it is still probably wet under the hoops, so patience is important. Then you can remove the hoop with the head mounted in it and check and see if it is thoroghly dry, trim off any excess right at the point that you can still see the skin at the opening of the hoop. You are removing the head from the shell to break the seal between the bearing edge and skin (the natural glue in the skin often seals the head to the shell and makes tuning difficult) reseat the head on the shell and tune. I always try to use skins where you can see the thicker part of the back stripe of the hide running accross the center of the drum. It takes time, but you must be patient. The reason you don't trim off the excess right away is so if the skin slips too much while drying, you can resoak it and stretch again.
Sorry about the long post, but there's no way of telling it any shorter.
-Rimshot
 
great info!!!!!!!!! i will have to do this!!!!!! cowhide sucks! i found a photo online and like you said its no different than mounting a djembe head.........id say it would be way easier given that there is no rope to toy with. thanks!!!!!!!!
 
Best Bongos

I have played lots of different bongo drums. My favorite is the set made by Cali Rivera (JCR Percussion, Bronx, NY) which have each drum made from a solid piece of wood and covered with mule skin.

As far as the more main stream bongos, I prefer the Meinl Free-ride series, upgraded with their buffalo heads, instead of the standard cow head.

I agree that traditional rims are more accurately tuned, and your hands will get used to them after awhile... I prefer traditional rims over any of the "comfort curve" type.

Although I believe wooden congas sound much better than the fiberglass, the fiberglass bongos sound pretty much the same as the wooden ones, and they travel much better.

The key to sounding great on a set of bongos is to have the heads tuned properly and learn good hand techniques, i.e., sharp slaps, quick rolls, etc.
 
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