What is a similar drum from LP?

[Mr.Grumpy]

I might be looking for a mate for a Toca Limited Edition Conga. I know that LP and Toca are owned by the same parent company so I was wondering what the analogous LP model is.

Thanks

[BMac]

Hey,
I don't pretend to be an expert on all Toca and LP products. For example, I didn't know they were commonly owned. Here's the main difference I've noticed between my Tocas and my LP's. Bear in mind, I have mid level models of each at best.

LP:
I have a Matador tumba and a CP conga. They're 28 inches tall. I mounted thick steer hides on them myself. The hardware is close fitting to the wood shell. So you wouldn't want to mount the skins deep or overstretch the skins. I love the sound of this close fitting arrangement. I had to have a few different kinds of congas around to hear the difference. There is such pure simple tone with this arrangement. I typically play lower drums and play support role while others improv and jam. I think this close hardware, shallow mount, arrangement serves the soulful tone anchor role that I typically assume when playing with others. Somebody gotta hold down the fort you know.

Toca:
I have a matching conga/quinto pair. They're 30 inches tall. The hardware has big internal diameter ... so there is a lot of space between the hardware and the shells. I can reach my fingers deep into the space to carry the drums securely. I would be more likely to drop the LP's if I carried them that way. I mounted thin-to-medium steer hide skins on the Tocas ... same material and supplier as the LP's but different thickness. The sound of the Tocas is brighter or more complex than the LP's. But I don't like it as much ... too many frequencies or something. However, I think some players, especially hot-doggers, might prefer this. I think the two sets go well together ... the LP's for the time-keeper-anchor-rhythm player, the Toca's for the hot dogger.

Assuredly, part of the difference in sound between my LP's and my Tocas is due to skin thickness ... I got thicks on my LP's and thins on my Tocas ... but I don't think that explains it all. The angle of the skin trailing away from the bearing edge of the shell and to the hardware is very different from my LP's to my Tocas ... and I think that contributes A LOT to the sound difference ... just a theory. The skin on the toca is shaped more like an upside-down pie shell expanding down ... the skin on the LP doesn't expand away from the shell so much. This issue is determined by the construction of the shell and hardware ... not by the skin material or thickness (although the angle is affected by the depth of the mounting of the skin). I wouldn't shallow-mount skins on the Tocas ... the head would be almost flat.

My Mopercs are somewhere in between the LP's and the Toca's on this subject ... but I like my Mopercs much better than any others. It's hard to explain the better sound ... it's just kinda magically musical ... I don't have words ... I just get emotional when I play ... I didn't say I cry ... no ... I didn't say that. But if anything, the Mopercs are shaped and sound more like the Tocas ... but better sound quality ... whatever that means ... I can hear it but can't say it. It's like the Tocas died and went to heaven and became Mopercs or were re-incarnated as something better. Both the Tocas and the Mopercs are brighter and more complex than the LP's. I'm not cutting on the LP's or the Toca's ... everything's price-related you know ... $$$.

If I were looking for a mate for any particular conga ... I'd go back to the same maker as that conga. I wouldn't mix a set. Now bear in mind, I like for each conga set to sound different from each other conga set when several players play together. That works best when each set is matched both in drum construction and skins (material and thickness). That said, I can't tell the difference between my LP-CP conga and my LP-Matador tumba other than the diameters of the shells and the shapes of the plates that attach the hardware to the shells.

If I wanted to find a mate for a Toca ... I'd look to other Tocas.

My two cents!

Cheers!

[Mr.Grumpy]

Humbug.
I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that EVER SINGLE low-end wood or fiberglass conga comes off of the exact same assembly line, no matter what "brand" it's supposed to be. I'm willing to bet that even the higher-end drums from sister companies might have a few things in common although that bit about the shell designs being different has me thinking.
Thanks for the input m8!