sweet sweetness is on its way to the saw

[nickpilarski]

I made my order today and am going to get 3 ISLA congas in cherry; quinto, conga, tumba. I AM SO EXCITED and if any of you have pics of your cherry ISLAS, send them over!!!! I cant wait.

[bongosnotbombs]

Cherry is a great wood for drums, I have 3 cherry wood drums, one
is an Isla requinto and the other two are skin on skins.

I think Tonio has some cherry Islas, you should look in one of those long
Isla threads.

[nickpilarski]

i was thinking about getting a requinto to but am unsure how do you like yours?

[nickpilarski]

bongosnotboms, i have a question. is your isla cherry stained? In comparison to your other 2 cherry drums it is darker. Or is that just the picture?

[bongosnotbombs]

It's not stained. Wood is a natural product man, your gonna get variations like that.

[docarroyo]

Looks stained to me also, because of the variation in wood hues manufactures of drums use stain for a uniformed apperance. Most raw lumber is light in color Mahogany, Ebony, and Rosewood are natually darker and even they require stain for uniformity. Cherry is not natually red in hue thats a misconseption implied by its name, its usually stained to attain its color. Just my two cents. In any case good fortune with the tumbadoras.

[onile]

Alafia Abures Mi!
I hope that you are all well and abundantly blessed!

When I ordered my "Islas," I ordered them in Cherry wood with an "Early American Walnut" stain. I'm not sure, but Mario may just stain all of the cherry congas by default with this stain if you don't request something different. Hey! but I could be wrong!

Stay blessed!

Onile!

[bongosnotbombs]

My Isla conga is not stained guys, not even a little bit. Nor are my SOS drums.
Totally natural except for whatever clear protective coating these makers apply.
Even the wood on the inside of the Isla is much darker than that of those SOS.

Actually none of my drums are stained, including my oak Gon Bops and oak Resolutions.

I do remember Mario commenting on how dark the wood for the drum became in
the shop while he was gone on vacation. But the drum is not stained, I had asked for it to be left
natural and unstained. Cherry does darken and age over time, this one just happened to get darker
much faster for some reason, I kind of suspect the air quality in LA.

The requinto is a great sounding little drum, my friend has one too and it sounds really good. Congamyk on here
just got one too.

If your going to be playing rumba a lot I can recommend getting the requinto.

[ddehass]

Cherry darkens naturally, but I have read that the darkening can be accelerated when exposed to light especially sunlight.

[Tonio]

For clarification:

Isla site does state that they are Early American Walnut stain. As BNB has noted and I can atest to that they are not stained. The inside wood is the same color.

Mario uses cherry heartwood, SOS uses different species or the outter wood.

Most american cherry wood has a white exterior grain, and the interior heartwood is darker, and can become almost reddish. After oxidation, it may get even darker.

On one of my Isla cherries has few staves with a small portion of white grain.

T

[nickpilarski]

Tonio can you post some pics. What sizes do you have and do you wish you had any extra drums

[Light Seeker]

For further clarification:

Mario has told me time and time and time again that he does NOT stain his cherry drums... EVER. He even once mentioned to me how onile asked for walnut stain but that he did not stain them because he doesn't stain his cherry drums.

[Tonio]

Tonio can you post some pics. What sizes do you have and do you wish you had any extra drums

Nick,
sure I can post some piccies It wil have to wait till tonight though, or you can look at Onile's pictures. Though he uses bariles
I have a traditional complete set : quinto , segun, tumba.

Do I wish I had other drums? Why yes, and I do have more, and plan on getting more

T

[onile]

For further clarification:

Mario has told me time and time and time again that he does NOT stain his cherry drums... EVER. He even once mentioned to me how onile asked for walnut stain but that he did not stain them because he doesn't stain his cherry drums.

You mean........................he lied.....................to..................me? How could he??????????????????
Thanks Light Seeker, you're the bestest friend ever! See you at band camp!

What ever happens, I must not cry..........................
Awwwwww!

[Light Seeker]

Now, now... let's not jump to any conclusions. I'm sure he didn't lie to you. This has got to be some kind of misunderstanding.