congaplace.com

Look how people treat their congas
Abuse over time:

Taken from a current ebay listing.

And besides I am not too sure if it is a GB model at all...

What a weird place for wear! Looks like they took the skin off and then the puppy chewed the bearing edge.

I saw this conga on ebay and was tempted to tell the owner the origin of the conga was vintage" playa azul" and or in other words as mexican as Pancho Villa . Just my 2 cents.

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True it doesn't look like the Gon Bops we know but it could be a very early one - the side plates look right and the wood looks right too. It also looks like it has been sitting in water - that edge looks rotten to me.

This is a crime that tears me up inside. A drum....has a soul.

Really really doubt that's a Gon Bop comga drum. The hardware, the metal peices, the shape and wood are all wrong. The only similarity to a Gon Bops are the rectangular shape of the side plates.

Does not look like either Gon Bops or Playa Azul. I have both and this does not match. The ears look too long for Gon Bops but the side plates kind of match.

The Playa Azul has a much different crown but the side plates did vary. BNB has a Playa that has a matching crown ro mine but it has different sideplates.

I wondered if this might be Cuban, Mexican or who knows?

A real shame. It looks like the termites got a feast.

The wood look like fur, the drum has the handle strap brackets, my guess is Mexican. I've seen some very early Gon Bops and the all look different than this. One sign of early Gon Bops is the corners on the lugplates have a straight cut bevel and not rounded like later Gon Bops. Really doubt this is a Gon Bops.