congaplace.com

Hi.

I bought this drum yesterday in London. It's a red Gon Bops 14" Super Tumba. It has the original skin and sounds fantastic.

The Badge Reads:

Model No.
Irakere

Unit No.
TT2XL-4125

Does anyone know anything about it?

Obviously it was made for Irakere (at least that's what I'm hoping!) I can't find any footage on youtube of this drum with the band. My guess is it was originally made for Andrés Mirana "Negrón." I have some footage of Anga playing some red drums at Breckon Jazz Festival (1992/94) but these aren't Gon Bops and look to be Cuban Made. I don't know much/anything about Negrón except that he played for Irakere and Isaac Delgado.

Would be great to know:

*What date the drum was made.
*Who it was made for originally - if the Irakere badge really means that it was made for them.
*If there is any footage of it being played (would be cool!)
*If anyone has the other 3 drums.

Here's a couple of pictures:






Thanks!

Will.

Wow, awesome find!
I would say it is a timeless masterpiece you should never ever let go.
Usually the production date is somewhat hidden in the 6-digit-code code of the "unit-no.",
but in this case it has only got four numbers, which confuses me. Of course the "TT2XL-"
eats up all the space
I am afraid I cannot tell you much, but judging from the crown and sideplates this drum
is most likely from the late 1970s or early 1980s.

BTW, are you new here? If so, then welcome!
You announced yourself with an extremeley rare to find tumbadora
Congrats again, brother - my thumbs up too !

Thanks Mike!

If this is what it appears to be (still can't believe my luck) then I'm fully aware of what I have and I will never let it go. It's found its way to a good home.

Yea, I'm new to this site. Thanks for making me feel welcome!

Will Fry... jeez, they will let just about anyone join this forum!

Hey Will,

Is that a small drum or is it just far away
What a result, how does it sound?
Welcome to the forum.

Thats a great find will ! How much did you pick it up for do you mind me asking ? And welcome to the forum man , seen some of your playing on youtube , nice chops bro

ABAKUA wrote:Will Fry... jeez, they will let just about anyone join this forum!

Mmmmmmmasula....

I knew I'd find you here... Come on, you of all people must know something about this Drum. Got any good footage of Negron with Irakere?

(ps. Nice Cuba Photos bro).

Dicemanb wrote:Is that a small drum or is it just far away

Hey Dicemanb,

It's quite a big hand and the drum is far away. I'll try and take some better pictures today.

It sounds awesome!

niallgregory wrote:How much did you pick it up for do you mind me asking ?

Thanks Niall!

Yea, I have to thank a friend of mine, Dan who saw it and gave me the heads up.

I bought it in Drumshack in Croydon, London. - www.drumshack.co.uk
It's a cool little shop and they put everything up on line as well so worth checking for future gems.

It was going for £225 and the owner was a nice guy and gave it to me for £200. Not bad, considering he knew a bit about what he had.

The drum's obviously seen better days and there are at least a couple of little cracks in the base, but none of them are serious. It's chipped/scratched all over the place and there's a little nick in the skin - but again nothing serious. Still it's small price to pay for a piece of Latin Jazz History and an incredible sounding Tumba. It's an inspiring drum to play and having that name on there makes me work a little harder.

Might one day get around to restoring it but at the moment I like all the scratches. It proves that she's lived a little.

A snip Brother, enjoy.

Dice

£ 200 is a snip man . a great buy , fair play man ..

Is this my drum??

It's really hard to see but there are a few closer shots near the end of the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ8K-9ztWLc



It's Negron on Congas, the drums are RED and I can't see any steel bands... Side plates look like Gon Bops but hard to say for certain. I'd be grateful for a second opinion.

*Can anyone tell me anything more about Negron? I know little about him other than that he left Issac Delgado to play for Irakere. Anyone out there know what albums he played on for example?
*Has anyone got any more footage with Negron in the band or him playing with anyone else?

Thanks!

Will.