Anybody own Toca L.E. Congas???? - Or anyone know how they compare??

[JerryA]

I'm thinkin of buying a three set of Toca L.E.'s I like how they look and they seem to be the best that TOCA offers. At first I was lookin into buying LP Classics but the TOCAs are a bit less.

Can anybody tell me what the difference in sound is between those two sets of drums.

Right now I am playing an LP Performers Series set and am disgusted at the way they sound.

P.S. not interested in Giovannis, Meinl, or Pearls, or any other brands.

[JerryA]

I mainly want to know how they compare with LP's.

Since they are the best TOCA congas, I figure that the slaps, open tones, etc. should sound really good, right?

I've visited many stores here in Orange County, California and nobody has TOCA's that I can try. I've also searched online trying to find videos or audio clips that I can see/hear and haven't found any of TOCA congas.

I notice that their shape is different from LP's, alot narrower. Is there much sound difference because of that? Are the heads of good quality?

HELP!

[slapadrum]

There are not too many Toca supporters on this website so you may not get much feedback.The Tocas I tried out were just under the limited editions I was personally not impressed.I have some matadors by lp and am very happy with the sound.The performers that you have comes with substandard hardware and poor quality heads.It could be the heads that are making them sound lousy.Have you played around with tuning them up higher?
If you are buying new drums have you considered matador I play with a guy who has a full set of lp salsas (just like the lp classic but 2" shorter for seated players) and he has some matadors Before I got my matadors I tried them both out head to head and also played them at the same time to compare sound.I really like my matadors if you don't wan't to spend the extra for classics you owe it to your self to check them out.If you are on a buget you might put a new head on just one of them and see if that makes the differance I have heard that Issac from Funky Traditions has some mule skin heads that are smokin it's a thought anyway.
Happy drumming
Chris

[JerryA]

Thanks for your feedback. Until I have the money for a new set, I guess I'll keep my mind open on all other congas.

As far as the performers go, I think that LP makes the shells with 2 plies of wood instead of three. They also make the aspires with 2 plies. But w/ the aspires the head diameter is smaller than normal (10in quinto, 11" conga). So with the performers it seems that the 11" quinto is the same as an 11" aspire conga. So that means I cant tune it up and get a high sound that a quinto should have. In order to change the heads, I bought new rims (very expensive), but even with the new heads they sounded like crap.

Does anybody else have comments on the quality of TOCA. I can't imagine them being that bad.

Or does anyone know where I can drive to (in so. california) to check them out for myself??