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=relatedRespectfully,
Onile!