ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Manufacturers, brands, skins, maintenance, stands, sticks, michrophones and other accessories for congueros can be discussed into this forum ...... leave your experience or express your doubts!

Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby Jaisen Torres » Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:23 pm

OH & ONE MORE THING FOR THE RECORD LETS NOT FORGET THAT ,EVEN SOME OF THE MOST REPUTABLE COMPANIES OUT THERE HAVE LITTLE TO NO WARRANTY TO THERE INSTRUMENTS... PLUS IM NOT GONA MENTION ANY NAMES CAUSE I RESPECT & APPRECIATE THEM ALL , BUT MOSTLY ALL HAVE HAD THERE OWN ISSUES OVER TIME LIKE, THERE DRUMS BEING KNOWN TO CRACK , GO OUT OF ROUND , CROOKED HARDWARE , JUST TO MENTION A FEW , & IM SAING IT FROM EXPERIENCE , I HAVE HAD A TASTE OF EVERY PERCUSSION COMPANY OUT THERE FROM MASS PRODUCED TO HANDMADE.
WELL LIKE I SAID I JUST WANTED TO PUT MY FEELINGS OUT THERE, TAKE CARE FELLAS....
Jaisen
...
Jaisen.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby Mr. Conga » Fri Feb 03, 2012 9:09 pm

I AGREE WITH EVERY WORD JAISON T. JUST POSTED...100% ....i agree with every word on post regarding this Isla matter.
No one has made a big deal about Gon Bops and how many reconstructions we ourselfs have had to make, no one talks about the valjes that have terribly gone horribly out of shape over the years, there is no big thread about how expensive TIMBA percussions are and how they dont honor their warranty even though is still up on the website.

As JAISON MENTION ALL MAJOR HAND MADE COMPANYS HAVE HAD MAJOR ISSUES AT SOME POINT!....


If i would have wrte what Jaison did for the first post he did recently on Mario....everyone here would have said i am joining his choir, or trying to rub Isla, but is not like that....Marios is a truely good person, oves to help people if you happend to be in contact with him.
As a musician i would honestly say he is with in the top 3 Rumbero percussionist in all of California, even though he dosnt like to admit it, or receive recognition for that.

Many here have never meet him in person, nor experinced his character, when doing a Rumba himself, but if you all would, all of you would respect the man a lot more.

As all major hand made companys had their issues, i just hope Mario builds up, to where all of his productions are top notch, and very importantly since he seems to be a man of his word , i think fixin all past issues would be the best, to start fresh this year 2012.
To resolve most of the legitimate past drum defects, and not ignore them like they are something special on the drum, or make an excuse, to replace or fix at no expense to og costumers.....that way here people who own Isla will not have that bad taste in their mouth, of seeing how they are taking care of new costumers only, but they didn't get a good drum.

And then ISLA can start fresh, a brand new company delivering great products from now on!!!
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby onile » Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:53 pm

As many of you know, I have posted pics of my Isla drums.....although I made some alterations to them soon after I received them (crowns, and cueros), I never thought about sending them back to Mario. I can understand how buying something on-line and getting less than you expected can be extremely upsetting. When I received my first 3 drums, got them out of the boxes and tuned them, my 1st concern was with the pliability, not playability of the crowns. They were wayvy and gave me concern, so......I changed them up. I had some traditional rims and had them modified to fit my Islas, afterwards I replaced the skins, which were not bad at all to begin with, I changed to mule. Now, I have some of the sweetest sounding drums added to my playing collection. It was the 4th one that I had ordered and it arrived with a wormhole, when I took it out of the box, and set it on the floor......bam! there was a little less than two spoon fulls of sawdust that fell out. The drum was a bit heavier than the other three, and the base (opening) was a bit wider, but daaaaaayem! It sounded, and continues to sound soooooo sweet!

I voiced my experience here with some of my fellow forum members, but I would never think of sending them back, or asking for a refund, hell I paid for them and they're mine! I have only had friendly experiences with Mario, not ever met him in person, but I can only imagine that he must be under incredible stress and pressure to meet the demands placed upon him.
I wish him well, and am sure that he will......as Gloria Gaynor said......"he will survive!"

I hope that those of you who have yet to be compensated for poor workmanship, or whatever you may have experienced with Mario, that you get satisfaction/compensation.

here is one of his quintos singing in a rumba:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwFjHIR9 ... re=related

Respectfully,

Onile!
Que Nsambi les acutare pa' siempre!
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby Mr. Conga » Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:02 am

Cool to hear you are satidfied, and happy with them online. At least the worm whole did not affect the sound of the tumba. :D


On the video that requinto looks like it has the original hardware, not the update you did of classic rims, and looks like a mule skin.
Is that right?

That requinto truely sings!
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby onile » Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:00 pm

Actually Papa, that's not my quinto.....it's a video I found while surfing Youtube, I thought we all might enjoy hearing one of Mario's drums in action. I'm sorry if I misrepresented myself, didn't mean to!

Suave!

Onile!

Estas son las tumbadoras mias de Mario.......
(these are my drums from Mario)......
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby windhorse » Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:49 pm

Like Onile, I heard their drums and loved the sound (They are still the best sound I've ever heard), so ordered a set of bata. It took over a year, which is fairly long, but not terrible for boutique drums. The immediate problem was the Iya was crushed. There was a minimum of packing material, so it flung around in the box during shipping. An inexcusable move.
I sent the broken parts back to Mario, and he sent it back. (mind you, not a new one, just the old one re-glued) Unfortunately it was still close to falling apart.
The heads of all the drums were mounted flush with the crowns, and problem here is that I live in a very dry climate where, instead of stretching, heads that come from wetter climates actually shrink! So, to get the right tuning, I would have to play ON the crowns. Then, upon taking the heads off for remounting we noticed the bearing edges were badly wavy and much of the stave work had to be re-glued. In essence, the entire set had to be completely re-assembled. At present I have wonderful refurbished beautiful sounding Okonkolo and Itototele, but the (now rebuilt solid) Iya is still yet to be re-headed when the weather warms up in the Spring.
Like Onile, I don't hold a grudge. I won't ask for money back. I just want good sounding drums. So, I'm making it happen with some wood working friends around here. I got lemons, so I made lemonade.
But, I can't endorse what doesn't work out of the box. And I can chalk up my experience as a lesson in drum construction.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby rhythmrhyme » Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:00 am

Wow, that's even more discouraging than I imagined. I thought Mario was putting out inconsistent work, not that EVERYBODY got drums that have issues. The posts that support him as being a "good guy" read to me like "charity case" and "nobody has held him accountable". Astounding! I need a vomit bag. I don't care how good a musician he is, he ripped me off - plain and simple.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby OLSONGO » Mon Feb 06, 2012 4:03 am

I always liked the woods that he used, but he didn't make that...his hardware and craftsmanship lives a lot to be desired for. Mario may be a super guy, friend rumbero and all that..but a craftsman and designer he is not, business is business and money now days is hard to come by...so one must expend it wisely.
Peace
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby Mr. Conga » Mon Feb 13, 2012 10:22 am

OSOLONGO he is actually a designing engineer, and Architect by University diploma.

What kind of degree do you posses? .....that you shut down the man for not being a designer or crafstman.

Not all architects will desing your everyday house you see in any regular neighberhood, not every artist will make a pretty lanscape mountain and tree picture.

There is something actually call abstract art, raw art , and post modernism.
....there is a difference between taste, and choices, but an artist is an artist to its own art and niche.

No one cannot say that Picasso was not an artist, a craftsman, or photographer by trade, simply because they don't think or make things inside the box, as the other person trying to interpret or judge a piece. Just because Picasso was so much art of scribless and lines in different color, looking like they were made in a sloppy rush, does not mean Picasso is not an Artist, is abstract art at the end of the day, and is a good thing you have the variety of artist there is, and pictures to look at, just because i don't like all, or agree with them, or comprehend them, does not merrit me to say they are not an artist, or designer in their on taste of choice

-Mr. Conga

"To each his own"





.........................."CADA CABEZA ES UN MUNDO !" -HECTOR LAVOE
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby vinnieL » Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:24 am

Mr Conga with all due respect I have spoken to Mario and got the same line that he is an engineer. If this is true then he must be a mediocre engineer as his work does leave a bit to be desired. Mario's degree must not be in structural engineering.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby rhythmrhyme » Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:07 am

vinnieL wrote:Mr Conga with all due respect I have spoken to Mario and got the same line that he is an engineer. If this is true then he must be a mediocre engineer as his work does leave a bit to be desired. Mario's degree must not be in structural engineering.


Hey Vinnie - I put this issue to Mario when I first got my drums. I felt the product I received was not consistent with his background as I understood it from various online posts. From the engineers I have known, it would take less than a day in a CADD program to get all the stave dimensions dialled perfectly for a number of different sized drums. This would have resolved the joint issues and given him the ability to put out consistent product ad infidium. He never responded to me on this issue. If you look at Moperc's site (another carved stave manufacturer), you'll see that he has stacks and stacks of pre cut staves. I anticipate that he may actually get them mass produced somewhere, or that he has an assembly line system to ensure they come out with perfect dimensions. From there the assembly would be very straight ahead. I say this because I was actually a finishing carpenter apprentice for a few years in my 20's. I made circular staircases and rails and spent a lot of time working with circles and slopes, glue. Once the staves are cut right, any second year apprentice could assemble the drums after a bit of instruction.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby vinnieL » Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:36 am

I hear ya.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby bengon » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:42 pm

Anybody hear from Mario recently? Guy owes me some hardware that he said he shipped in January, which was the last time I could get in touch with him. Mario, please contact Ben if you read this, or if your buddy does.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby dende » Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:19 pm

bengon wrote:Anybody hear from Mario recently? Guy owes me some hardware that he said he shipped in January, which was the last time I could get in touch with him. Mario, please contact Ben if you read this, or if your buddy does.


ive had the same problem, leaving message after message and email, but not a word. i really wanted to speak with him.
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Re: ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Postby KING CONGA » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:04 pm

Sad situation indeed, just when I was considering ordering a requinto from him :cry: .
Keep an eye out, sometimes he puts drums on ebay.
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