congaplace.com

Posted: **Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:56 pm**

Slapped a mule skin on an old gon bop oak I picked up for about 100.00, been about six weeks and it's really starting to break in. Man I love the sound! Must get more!
PC

Posted: **Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:20 pm**

pcastag,

Mule skin the bomb? So, I've heard!

Posted: **Sat Aug 18, 2007 10:10 pm**

Mule skin is awsome for drums. I just don't get where all the skins -Venezuela mostly are being produced? Don't the natives need them mules?
Are they so modernized that they don't uses mules anymore to the point of being a by-product. Even if they have gotten modernized, what other use other than transportation would a mule posses?
T

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:13 am**

Tonio , conga heads my brother.

And didn't Mc Donalds sale burgers at one time made of horse meat and people didn't notice? ???

Paz Olsongo

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:16 am**

Mule seems like the schnitt! I hear there may be a review coming from Charlie on mule skin and the macho on his bongos. Should be interesting but everyone seems to love it.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:08 am**

I have to agree with Tonio. I have pondered this question before. My conclusion is that they must wait until the Mule is either too old or too sick to be productive before it is taken down. I can't believe that they would just raise mules for their skins.. As with American cattle, they are used for food, milk, cheese, etc...and so by the time they are slaughtered they are reasonably young, and their rawhides young and fresh as well. I am not putting down muleskin at all because many people have proven that it is great on drums and bongos without a doubt. I am just on the same thought wave as Tonio wondering where all these Mules are coming from?
p.s...I have 2 sets of bongos with muleskins and they sound great.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:36 am**

I think thats part of the reason the mule skins cost more,
less mules than steers, that and they seem to come from
far away.
We have plenty of steer here in the US, but not so much mules.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 5:44 am**

I recently talked to my wife's cousin in Venezuela and he said that mules there as in many other Latin-American countries are not raised for their skins as it wouldn’t be profitable; they are used for the transportation of heavy weights in rural mountainous areas, because they are stronger, more obedient and more docile than horses. He also thinks that if the skins being sold in the U.S. are coming from Venezuela, then they must be coming from their border with Colombia where drug-dealers use caravans of mules to carry huge loads of drugs through the jungle, one-way into Venezuela, since they never go back empty --That’s profitable.

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:29 am**

HELLO TO ALL,

JUST WOULD LIKE TO LET YOU ALL KNOW, THAT I HAVE POSTED MY MULE SKIN REVIEW YESTERDAY. IT'S IN THE BONGO FORUM
UNDER BEST REPLACEMENT HEADS FOR "MACHO".

I HOPE YOU'LL LIKE IT.

THANKS,
CHARLIE "EL COQUI" VERDEJO

Edited By yambu321 on 1187529358

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 4:44 pm**

Is there any way to tell from examining the skin whether it is mule or some other species, or do we just have to take the seller's word?

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:59 pm**

JORGE,
MULE SKIN IS TOUGHER IN NATURE, THAN JUST ABOUT ALL THE OTHER SKINS. THE THICKER IT IS, THE EASIER IT IS TO DESTINGUISH IT FROM THE OTHERS, BECAUSE MULE SKIN HAS SOME INTERESTING MARKINGS, THAT IS UNIQUE TO IT. THINNER SKINS, MAY AT FIRST LOOK SIMILAR TO COW, OR NON-BLEACHED STEER SKIN. ONCE MOUNTED THOUGH, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO TELL.
MULE TENDS TO LOOK DARKER, AND TOUGHER, THAN MOST COW, OR STEER SKIN.

I HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEWHAT,
TAKE CARE BRO.

RESPECTFULLY,

CHARLIE "EL COQUI" VERDEJO

ALSO,
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY "MULE SKIN REVIEW",

IN THE BONGO SECTION UNDER: "BEST REPLACEMENT SKINS FOR "MACHO" :cool:

.

Edited By yambu321 on 1187564942

Posted: **Sun Aug 19, 2007 11:24 pm**

Ya voy pa ya hermano!

Posted: **Mon Aug 20, 2007 1:08 pm**

Just remember skins very and some mule skin just bombs, and is not 'the bomb'.

I recently replaced an expensive mule skin I'd tried on my gon bop quinto. I'd given it a year, the sound sucked, so I replaced it with a good SOS bull skin head and now my quinto sounds like it should. The bull skin sounded good as soon as it dried.

Posted: **Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:03 pm**

I just ordered a Mule for my Conga . will let you guys know how i feel when its fitted and dried out .

marco

Posted: **Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:57 am**

Hi,
Charlie, thanks for the description. I have not used mule skins before, but have put 20 or 30 cow, steer, and bull skins on various congas (mine and others') over the past 35 years. I am trying to learn how to decide what kind of mule skin to put on a drum. I just read your review of the mule skin on your bongo macho.

How do you choose a mule skin for a particular drum? For example, in choosing a mule skin for a conga, would you recommend using a mule skin that is thinner, the same thickness, or thicker than the cow, steer, or bull skin you would choose for the same drum? Or are other factors more important than the thickness of the mule skin? Do you pay attention to the number of "veins" in the skin, the stiffness, dry vs oily, clear vs opaque, or any other physical characteristics?
Jorge

Edited By jorge on 1187661517

congaplace.com

Mule skin is the bomb!!!