Kings and questions for the experts

[congabluedog]

Hey Fellow Conga Lovers and Players,

I have been a member for a year and have really enjoyed this Forum. I said Hi a long time ago but rarely post so most of you don't know me. Anyway I am a Special Ed. Music teacher here in Brooklyn and I love these drums and the music. Anyway I was lucky enough to have been able to get these awesome drums recently listed on craigslist. I am sure some of you saw the listing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these drums. Their sound is truly amazing and I think the condition of them is excellent. But I have a few questions for the experts.

I tried to research the answers here but not much info or conflicting thoughts. Here goes: How do you clean the skins? I have an amazing set of "top shelf" wood drums and the heads were really dirty when I bought them I used water and a clean rag and really got the grime off but feel that I somehow stripped the skins of natural oil by doing this. They don't feel the same. Is this possible? I went ahead and cleaned a tiny bit them anyway with a little water but PLEASE give some advice.

My other question is how do you deal with lugs without ruining them. When I bought my SOS drums, which are also amazing, Jay told me to use WD40...It was his choice of lubricant. A lot of people here don't like it. I feel if Jay uses it it can't be all bad. But I want to be really careful with these because replacing lugs will not be easy...they are so unique. I did do some WD just to get them moving and none of the lugs thank God are stripped. So PLEASE advice from the experts. I know there is a topic on this already but not enough info. No real answers.

Best advice on cleaning up chrome?

There is a one inch crack on bottom of the conga....How would you patch?

OK..I will be posting more soon....I bought some AMAZING drums from Dario and Paul this past year and will be posting pics of them soon. I have also had some great help and interactions with Mike from L&H. He is such a good guy and he did an awesome job on a couple of my bongos. So I will be posting pics.

Thanks to everyone, Jacqui

[docarroyo]

Congratulations Jaqui great score I didn't have the cash or I would have gotten them, I wrote him to trade other gear but he didn't want to. In any case gentle water and a scrub towel, replenish oils with a little olive oil and you should be good. Call me if you still have my number or write me if you don't, maybe I'll come down and we could jam. Izzy

[congabluedog]

Hey docarroyo...really nice to hear from you. I will try a little olive oil and I still love that MINT Pallisades LP I got from you some time ago now. I don't think I still have your # but would love to get together in sometime in nyc or jersey. (would love to see that Vergara that I missed seeing when you dropped off the drum ) Thanks, jp

[KING CONGA]

Great looking set of KINGS. I recently restored a set old CP Classics, very dirty heads, hardware oxidized. I used a dampt cloth and rubbed the heck out of them, they cleaned up very nice, then I conditioned the skins with "Manteca de corojo", let me tell you, the skins look totally rejuvinated and feel awesome, I'ts not possible to have removed the oils, at least not all, as most of the oil is actually impregnated into the skin. As far as the hardware I would recomend that you try steel wool before anything else as that would be your safest bet, steel wool worked great for me.To lubricate the lugs I have been using a teflon base lubricant, one that I use on my window crancks, it works very well and last, I believe, longer that WD40.
Here is a picture of my restores Lp's to give you an Idea, what you see of the skins is what they look like all arround. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[bongosnotbombs]

Nice Kings!

I use bicycle chain lube for my lugs. The high tech stuff, that is serious lube.
It doesn't break down and has teflon and all sorts and doesn't gum up either.

For the crack it has to be fiberglass and this stuff we called q-cell we used for
surfboards. The q-cell is a powder you mix with the resin to fill gaps and cracks,'
then put a patch of cloth inside and out. Use a heavier weight cloth.

You can get a black pigment to mix with the fiberglass and q-cell to get it to match.

[Bongobilly]

Nice job on those CP's King Conga. I just purchase a Gon Bop Ash conga on E-Bay that was brand new but it had a 15 inch crack in it. So i repaired the crack and if you really look good at it you can see the line of where the lacquer separates. I was going to relacquer wet sand and buff it out but for now i will just leave it alone ,it looks more like a scratch.

[pcastag]

I saw that one, looks like you did a really nice job with it! Good price too. how's the sound on those ash drums?
PC

[congabluedog]

Hey thanks for the suggestions...I have never even seen oil of palm..I will take a look for it. Bongosnotbombs...is the fiberglass stuff you are talking about the same stuff they use to fix damaged cars? Could I get the fiberglass at an auto shop? What about the q-cell? What does this do? Is it some type of bonding agent and where would I buy it? Has anyone taken pics of a fiberglass drum fix that they would be willing to post? Thanks

[bongosnotbombs]

Q-cell is a powder that you mix with the fiberglass resin to make a paste. It might be called different names The paste is used to fill in the gap that you have on your drum. Fiberglass is sold all over, you can get it at autobody shops I'm sure. Home Depot, Ace Hardware, etc.

http://www.foamez.com/qcell-filler-p-325.html

[Bongobilly]

Pcastag: I like the sound, I think im gonna by a Tumba to match. I have an 70's Gon Bop Quinto since new and this should be the last congas i'll buy. Maybe.

[pcastag]

Wow, that sucker is clean! A tumba would round the set out nicely!
PC

[Bongobilly]

Thank's: Man im trying to hold on buying the tumba but im jonesin real bad It's like crack cocaine baby! Al of the sudden i gotta have more conga's.

[emveeone]

Nice find... Here is a set I recently restored..

[congabluedog]

Your set looks beautiful...I saw your post on your Kings....Then I got the fever...Did you restore yourself or did you get them restored? Does anyone out there have a pin stripe quinto they might be looking to sell or trade for a drum? I would love to have a set of three.

[Omelenko1]

I had my Kings and sold them a few years back. They had a unique sound to them, no overtones like most fiberglass drums. They were good for an accoustic setting, like a small "son" group with a tres, guitar and bass. Whwn I played them in a salsa setting with horns and loud amplification, they didn't project loud enough, like say Juniors or Skin on Skin. Nice unusual congas. Photo of my set.

Dario