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Jacqui (congabluedog) bought a set of 1966 Gon Bops from me that belonged to Mongo. Mongo had me sell them for him in the early 80's. My friend Julio bought them but never ever played them, they were just decorating his Florida room for over 25 years. Mongo had them in LA in his ex wife's house and she threaten she was going to dump them. Mongo shipped them to me in Miami and I sold them for him. The thing is that on the inside of the shells, the name "Armando Peraza" appears. My thought, they were Armando's congas when he played with Mongo's band. Armando played with Mongo in the late 60's up until early 70's, when he joined Santana.
Jacqui, when you have a chance, if you could post a photo of them like you did your Kings, so that we could admire them. They had the same heads from when I had them and they still sounded wicked. They are real quality Gon Bops from the glory days of Mariano Bobadilla. Very Cuban looking.

Saludos,

Dario

Hey Dario I LOVE these drums and if I am not babysitting tomorrow night you will get some nice shots...if not Thursday night for sure. Sorry I haven't posted a thank you sooner but these Gon Bops are mint as far as I am concerned for their age and the history is priceless. Thank you again. Jacqui

Can't wait to see them! What kind of wood did they use?

OK..Hot off the Press: Mongo's Gon Bops in their new home. Dario I stole these babies from you!!!! Thank you Thank you and Really...Thank you again! Does anyone have any knowledge of Armando playing these Gon Bops? Bongobilly I am almost certain the wood is mahogany but I am no expert...Dario would know for sure.

Very nice!

Jacqui,

Those tubs look real nice. I remember playing salidor for Mongo when they arrived in my house and Mongo took one of the tastiest quinto solos ever, that was about 27 years ago. Mongo was the ultimate master on quinto and on bongo' his slaps sounded like machine gun fire. You got some gems there, I hope the spirit of Mongo and Armando spill over. Thanks for the photos!

Dario

Nice! Where do you live again, im sneaking thru your back door to get them! Ha. Ha. Notice how in the inside you see those 4 or five line's across the stave's Al La Mr. Flore's work. What size's are they?

I've got a similar set, without the Mongo-Armando history & karma, but mine have the square side plates. Does anyone know when the Gon Bops side plates changed to the ones with the rounded sides? I always thought it was in the early 70's but if these are from 66 then I must be wrong.

Bongobilly wrote:Nice! Where do you live again, im sneaking thru your back door to get them! Ha. Ha. Notice how in the inside you see those 4 or five line's across the stave's Al La Mr. Flore's work. What size's are they?

It was Mr. Bobadilla, (Mariano). Mr Flores (Tom) was the owner of Valje. Mariano Bobadilla owned Gon Bops.

I think what he was saying was that the cross-grain cuts inside the Gon Bops were similar to the cuts used in Valjes. I never saw those cuts in a Gon Bops before, but have seen them in my old Valje and other Valjes I had the opportunity to look at closely. Those cuts allow the wood to bend more easily, but in my experience also led to cross-grain cracking on my Valje. Valjes have more of a diamond shape with a bend where the cuts are (about halfway up), so I don't see the point of the cuts in the very rounded Gon Bops style drums unless the wood was super thick. That does not look like the mahogany Gon Bops used in the 70s when I bought my Gon Bops. Not saying it is not mahogany, just not the same kind of wood as later Gon Bops.