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Hello Percussion people: I have 2 Junior conga's since the 80's . I had to repair one , the other was refinished about 1983 in an ebony stain and still look's great! The repaired one was a redish stained color and i cant decided if i should stick with that color or stain it ebony too. What do you guy's think.

It is only personal, but I really prefer clear color on congas.....


B

Yeah i was thinking of leaving it natural too. Just looking for opinons, Thank's

All the Juniors I have ever seen have been stained, usually like that other one you have.

Looks like the dark junior conga was stained with the steel bands on.
I noticed some finish buildup around the bands. If you want the set
to match you may have to refinish the other junior conga too and
take the bands off is possible so there is no build-up. Is up to you
how dark you want them. Me I would not go too dark since I see
the bared drum wood grain is somewhat dark already and would
not like to obscure the wood grain figure too much.

Alafia Abures!
Espero que todo este bien con to'ito ustedes!

As was just stated, almost all of the drums are stained/finished dark like the other one you have there, I'm personally waiting on a set from Matthew Smith to match the drum I currently have from him. Check out the contrast of the bands and the light natural color of the wood!

Suave!

Onile!

here's another shot of it.....
(BTW! Isaac from JCR had orginally taken the picture for me when he picked it up from Matthew Smith)

Thank's Guy's : Yes Ritmo the tumbadora was refinish by me back in 1983. I didn't take off the band's cause i was afraid that i could'nt get them back on. Look's like i will leave it natural & redo the tumba. Would you believe i paid $150. back in the 80's, got it new at a store on 42 St. N.Y.C The tumbadora was $100. from some one who was also taking lesson's. It had some goughes in the drum but was almost new too.

Vaya Bongobilly,

Here are two Junior Tirados just like yours, when I first got them they were natural mahogany. I sold them down the road because at the time I had 8 Junior congas. Eventually they came back to me after a few years and when I got them back they were ebony stained. Junior used to ebony stained some of his congas.I have all makes from the big boys, Jay, Matt and Junior but Junior was a personal friend of mine so his congas to me are very special. Here are the photos. The first photo is Junior at home with his congas. The second photo is how my set looks now after I got them back. The last photo is how my set looked initially from Junior. Goza tu tambo' !

Dario

Here are the rest of my Juniors. One set original, the other ebony as well. I have 2 original and 2 ebony. JUNIORMANIA.
Moforibale al jicamo.

Dario

Bongobilly wrote:Thank's Guy's : Yes Ritmo the tumbadora was refinish by me back in 1983. I didn't take off the band's cause i was afraid that i could'nt get them back on. Look's like i will leave it natural & redo the tumba. Would you believe i paid $150. back in the 80's, got it new at a store on 42 St. N.Y.C The tumbadora was $100. from some one who was also taking lesson's. It had some goughes in the drum but was almost new too.

I think natural will look great on them Juniors. Are they mahogany?
Basically $250.00 for (2) Juniors what a steal even in 1983. You have
a set of great drums. Keep us inform of your progress with your Junior's
project and post pictures. Take Care.

waouh, the natural look on these drums look just purrrrrrfect

Omelenko1 Did you also watch Junior make any of these drum's. I wish i met him when i was living in New Jersey.Im into the constuction of drum's.

Junior lived on Havemeyer St. in Brooklyn, he was his bulding's superintendent and kept his workshop in the bulding's basement. It was a small basement and it was full of congas, bongos, batas and barriles de bomba all made by him. He was a one man operation, I visited him on a number of ocassions while he was working. Junior was the pioneer conga maker in the States, starting his craft around 1963. Here is a photo of his business card.

Saludos,

Dario

Bongobilly wrote:Hello Percussion people: I have 2 Junior conga's since the 80's . I had to repair one , the other was refinished about 1983 in an ebony stain and still look's great! The repaired one was a redish stained color and i cant decided if i should stick with that color or stain it ebony too. What do you guy's think.

Junior used real Caribbean or Honduran mahogany, which is such an incredibly beautiful wood without any stain - just oil or a clear coat of poly. Darkens over time becoming even richer in hue and nuance. A coat of clear is all you need. Put a dab on yours somewhere near the top and you'll see how great it looks, even right away.

Here are some photos of my old unstained Juniors (which Dario has again, though they've been renovated and stained dark since I owned them). Just the wood and clear coat: