Wich congas to buy

[Jure]

This is probably most common post but any way i would need some help!

I am a beginner in playing congas and i own 10" & 11" congas like LP Aspire. Bad skin and wood but for practice are ok! Now i would like to buy a new one and i cannot decide what - Lp Wood Matador (quinto,conga,tumba) or palladium but for now just 2of them becouse they are very expensive and wich one you think are the best combinatinon! It could be even something else than LP! Please help!

Thanks
Jure

[ABAKUA]

Hey Jure, Welcome!

If you are a begginner, concentrate on 2 drums first. No need for a third just yet. And practise practise practise!!

Now on to your topic,

Big difference there from Matador to LP Palladium! hehe you are looking at 2 extremes, from an intermediate drum to a top of the range drum!
I have 3 Classics and 3 Palladiums - soon to be 4, great drums.
I very much believe in getting drums to last a life time.
LP Classics are awesome also, as are Giovanni Hidalgo Galaxy series.

Matador are good drums, of an intermediate level, skins can be good, but even better if you upgrade the skins to something of higher quality.

LP Palladium, well do a search, these drums are covered a few times, one of these threads can be found by CLICKING HERE!

Now, it also depends on your budget and what you want vs what you can spend.

I cant talk you out of Palladiums, they are fantastic. See the thread I linked you to for my thoughts.


Now, Pearl also make some great drums at a good price. Check our their professional series. Raymond and JC Johnny Conga from here endorse Pearl and may be able to give you some info. Me, Im an LP man so thats what I endorse and lean my students towards.

Meinl also make some good products, but make sure you get some good skins with them.

JCR congas are awesome also, but not sure of their availability in Slovenia.

Gon Bops original line are great too if you can find some second hand...

What brands are available to you in Slovenia?
List them here, and we can give opinions based on our experience of them.
Have you had a chance to shop around and test out a few different drums?

I personally have a preference of wood over fibreglass as I love the warm crisp tones of wood. Too many ringing overtones in fibreglass drums for my liking.

Search through this forum category and the other categories, and you will find the discussion of your topic covered a few times.

Keep us informed!




Edited By ABAKUA on 1125575778

[Jure]

Abakua thanks for anwser!
I am aware of the diference from Matador to Palladium!
You see the money is problem but example if i buy now 3 matadors for aprox. 900usd (for all 3 congas) i will probably need beter ones in let say 3years from now so maybe is better now to buy 2 palladiums for. approx. 1100usd so i dont need to worry to buy or change another one for at least 5 years or maybe even much more!? Ok i would buy all of 4 palladium but just 2 for now!

On second hand i would buy Matador wood conga,quinto,tumba so i can take them anywhere not to worry for them that much as i would for palladium. And i would have 3 of them (palladium just 2 for begining)

Maybe any one knows how long the gio palladium are on the market and or when they are coming a new one if they?

In Slovenia we have probably all brands! I can get here LP,Toca, Meinl, Pearl,... but i also have friends traveling to US quite common so they can bring me probably anything!

I would just like to buy the best thing and than play as much i got free time!

[ABAKUA]

Well if you can afford the Palladiums, then I say go for it.

Have you had a chance to play them? Just get some cases if you worried about taking them places and getting damaged. Battle scars give the drums character! hehehehe
But yes, its nice to have pretty looking drums also. I take fanatical care of my Palladiums. My Classics have almost 15 yrs of battle scars on them though.

Any of the LP top of the line series drums will last you many many years, my Classics Ive had for almost 15yrs, they are still great drums, and have many many years ahead of them still.
The Palladiums will be around long after I have passed on, I dont really see myself getting other drums anytime in the future, but hey, ya never know.

Did you end up checking out that thread I linked you to in my previous post?



Edited By ABAKUA on 1125580528

[Raymond]

Sorry about the plug...but Pearl Elites are a great alternative here...specially if price is your concern...(Check the thread from drumptramp about his new Pearl Elites)!

Saludos!

[Goran]

Hi,
I was looking for some info and fortunately found this forum

I'm a bass player but looking to ad a little something to our music so for a year or so started practicing with percussion instruments like the (Indian) tabla, frame drums etc. Actually the bass guitar is staying in the corner ever since, think I'm hooked :p

I'm considering to ad a conga set but being an absolute beginner in this I'm a little confused about what to choose/buy for my first set.

We are not into Latino music or Indian or Arab, just want to ad some „flavor“ to the compositions here and there avoiding midi instruments as much as possible.
I was thinking about the Palladiums but I'm wondering if buying such an expensive set is too much for this? On the other hand I would dare to say it is always a good choice to buy the best one can at the moment... more fun and easier learning too.. At the end of the day one finds himself always upgrading the gear so ultimately it could be the less expensive choice to go for the best on the first place. Especially considering that it will be in time used for recording, not only for fun and practice.

Alternatively I was considering something like LP classics, Pearl elite or the best Tycoon lines...

Palladiums look bigger and heavier than others, but as I suppose they will never be used outside the studio and consequently will have to be transported only between the studio and home so it should not be such a big problem. Tough I'm not sure if all four could fit in the car

What I wanted to ask is of course your opinion about this choice considering our needs.
I've never played congas and I don’t have a place to try, learn something and than test different models – it’s the problem of living in a small country and fare from the capital I have no idea what is the actual difference between all these models and whatever I decide to take I'll have to order it before seeing so I depend entirely on the suggestions of experienced players like you.

Some suggestions about the stands are much appreciated too... Do I need them at all? If I do which would be enough for these models? I suppose Palladiums could be too heavy for „regular“ ones, but I'm not sure there is much sense in spending on some top of the line ones like those on the pictures if they won’t see much stage.

O yes... gig-bags too... I know LP has bags designed for the palladiums. Are there some other like the Gator or something like that you would suggest?

And everything else a newbie should know..

Thnx

P.S.
I was writing this in Word before seeing the topic of my “neighbor”.
So I suppose it answers the Palladium choice question, but I’ll post it all anyway, just to be sure

It was suggested that too congas are enough for start. Which ones are this two?
Thanks again.

[Percussionista]

Hey Goran, with all of your specifications on how you will be using your congas, i would highly suggest starting with something like MEINL congas. They have a model that is Luis Conte's artist series. They come with traditional rims and excellent heads. They also come with "conga savers" to prevent scratches on the body from the lugs. They sound amazing on the floor seated, and just as bad ass in stands. They only come in a natural finish though. But the price is just right for proffessional model congas!

Hope this helps?

[Percussionista]

Goran you need to start with the Quinto and the conga. Which is usually an 11" and an 11.7". You can go smaller for the more cuban soloist sound, but this is good to start!

[Goran]

Well I mentioned only LP and Pearls because I can get them easily enough, though I know only one shop in the country that has LP and one that has pearl elites. Personally I liked more some other brands mentioned around here like Moperc or Timba, but importing with the shipping and almost 30% of taxes from the states would be too much for an already very expensive par of congas.

In music stores here they have usually Toco or something like that if anything at all... Haven't seen Meinl products jet.
Congas are not played so much around here. Can't remember that I've seen anyone playing them besides a bend Cubismo. I might be wrong not being that much into cuban/latino music but it is certainly not so popular to have all this brands and models easily available.
But Italy or Slovenia (Jure said he knows them to be available there) are jus abut a hour from where I live so I could probably find it tere.

Why is the quinto/conga combination be the best choice in your opinion? In other topics here it is usually said that the best set is the quinto/tumba being the classic setup and covering the widest range of sounds. But considering that we are not doing Latino or Cuban music I got the impression that a conga/tumba could be the best choice.

[Goran]

I finally decided on Palladiums and got all four of them.
They are great, but real heavy

Have them for two days only (actually two of them, the other two arrived yesterday) and just barely managed to get my first decent slaps and a basic tumbao pattern.
Have to go with videos, living in a small place has it's advantages, but having conga teachers easily available is certainly not one of them

I'm a little confused with the head measures.
Wanted to ask the LP customer support, but maybe I got it all wrong. So if you don’t mind I'd like to ask you first about that.

What confuses me are the different measures in the catalog, the "paper/advertisement" attached to the congas themselves and my personal measurements.

In the catalog this types and measures are listed:

LP860Z 11" Quinto
LP861Z 11 ¾" Conga
LP12 ½" Tumba
LP863Z 14" Super Tumba

Attached to the congas it is written:

Giovanni Hidalgo Palladium Series Congas

· 32" tall drums made of Natural Ash Wood

· Comes in four sizes: 9 ¾" Requinto, 11 ¾" Quinto, 12 ½" Conga and 14" Supet Tumba

· Traditional shape & Retro design with unique exterior bands (going back to the days of the Palladium)

etc, etc


I suppose these are the head measures?
Or are measures taken in a different way?

When measured mine this is what I got:

Super Tumba: 14"
Tumba: 11 ¾"
Conga: 11"
Quinto: 10 ¼"

The names (Super Tumba, Tumba, Conga. Quinto) are as on the boxes.

I suppose it is possible that being hand made it could have a tolerance, but especially the Conga-Tumba difference is barely noticeable, I 'm never sure which one is Conga and which is the Tumba only by looking at them, and that does not make much sense to me. And why is there a difference between these two statements about the measures by the LP itself??

Thank you an I hope you are not bored by such newbie questions :p



Edited By Goran on 1140879717

[onile]

Alafia Abure Goran!
I hope that you are well and in an abundance of blessings!

I guess those must be Taiwanese measurements, or where ever it is that LPs are being made these days!
You know, Abure Abakua, myself and several others on this forum own a pair, or set of Palladiums, and you are right, they are heavier than they should be. If you are a player who is giggin quite frequently (traveling), these drums would be a hassel to drag along.

I am in the process of selling my set (4), because of this very reason, they are too impractical. They do sound great though, this I say with great committment. I too measured the heads, and found the same as you, that they were mislabled, I have two Supertumbas (14"), and two Tumbadoras (11 3/4", which should be 12 1/2). Go figure! I guess that's the world of mass production. LP has got some serious issues with product if you ask me!

Many blessings!
and enjoy your drums, they are beautiful none the less!

Onile!

[Goran]

Thank you for the answers and good wishes...

At the moment there is no much need of traveling, they stay at home.

Eventually I'll have to take them to the studio once a week or so. It would be easier if I was not on the third floor (no elevator). It's not just that it is heavy and takes a lot of space in the car, but I'm afraid I'll damage them, especially the skins on the (narrow) stairs... Well.. at least I'll never again complain about taking the amps an bass up and down
But next time I relocate it will be the ground floor

They are great looking no doubt. I would prefer slightly «reddish» tone of the wood though.

Eh a listed 12 ½ would be nice.. maybe some day I could try to find one...

wish you all the best

P.S. what does Alafia Abure mean?

[onile]

"P.S. what does Alafia Abure mean?"
In part, it means perfect peace my brother!

Many blessings and have fun!

Onile!

[mangorockfish]

Alafia Abure Goran!
I hope that you are well and in an abundance of blessings!

I guess those must be Taiwanese measurements, or where ever it is that LPs are being made these days!
You know, Abure Abakua, myself and several others on this forum own a pair, or set of Palladiums, and you are right, they are heavier than they should be. If you are a player who is giggin quite frequently (traveling), these drums would be a hassel to drag along.

I am in the process of selling my set (4), because of this very reason, they are too impractical. They do sound great though, this I say with great committment. I too measured the heads, and found the same as you, that they were mislabled, I have two Supertumbas (14"), and two Tumbadoras (11 3/4", which should be 12 1/2). Go figure! I guess that's the world of mass production. LP has got some serious issues with product if you ask me!

Many blessings!
and enjoy your drums, they are beautiful none the less!

Onile!

Just curious as to what you are going to replace your Paladiums with?
Mango'

[onile]

Alafia Abure Manorockfish!

I've actually purchased some GonBop California series, 2 Supertumbas (13 1/4"), and 1 Tumba (12 1/4"). They really sound great, I've replaced the skins on them immediately after receiving them. In fact, I used two of them today at a concert I played. Wow! what a sound, and they project outwards to!

Many blessings!
Onile!



Edited By onile on 1140920657