congaplace.com

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I'd say leave the bands off. Not sure why you would want to put them on there. Drums without bands are fine.

VGA has Stainless hardware and SOS does not.

I would consider Stainless to last longer.

Just my 2c

Tis true I know, but how's a guy to get banded mahogany drums these days without going to Ritmo?

Isla Percussions offer Mahogany drums with aluminum bands and st steel hardware.... the first pic shows my set while still in Belize... I requested 4 instead of the standard 5 bands.
http://islapercussions.blogspot.com/search/label/Congas

The hardwares, they are odd, unnatural shape around the crown with too many angles. I have tried to get over this but it is imposible.

alternatively you could try and contact VGA and see if he is willing to put bands on.

I'm guessing by the time you shipped the drums to Jay and he shipped them back, plus the extra labor involved you would probably add about $200 to the cost of each drum. For your 3 drums that's $600 total for a feature the original drum maker doesn't think is necessary for his drums.

Nice Islas.

I think your drums look realy clasical with 4 bands instead of 5, i told Mario he should keep making his congas 4 band with the big Isla badge and the handle.

I think they look beautifull like that super retro, like Vergara, and Junior drums, which i want one.

Analysing most drums closely, i think Mario does the best job on putting the bands on super fitted, as they will never strip down trough the years. He puts on the sturdies bands.

I wish he was in Caly, and would put bands on congas and pick up othe projects.
I wanted a gon bops banded.

I second no bands.

I wanted less bands to have more of the mahogany grain show...
Are the VGA rims similar to those on Volcanos? If so, I'd throw a clean mahogany up against any of the beauty wood used in HI!
That would be a classy set.

s'chopp wrote:without going to Ritmo?

Do iiiiiiiit.

Jerry Bembe wrote:VGA has Stainless hardware and SOS does not. I would consider Stainless to last longer.Just my 2c

With all due respect, the regular hardware will out live you and the next person that might own your drums I have never heard of S.O.S hardware going bad because it's old, in fact, if anyone has any pictures of this condition please post them. my 2 cts

Hardware is an issue of maintenance. If you don't abuse it it will last no matter the material. case in point those 38 year old Gon Bops I just put skins on. The hardware was still strong and serviceable, maybe a little pitting of the chrome and some surface rust on the threads. They certainly weren't babied. With a little more care those drums would have been even better. 38 years is a pretty long lasting instrument. I expect my well maintained SOS to last as long, I hope I'm still playing when I'm that old.

I do think the stainless steel is an appropriate application for Volcanos in Hawaii.

KING CONGA wrote:

Jerry Bembe wrote:VGA has Stainless hardware and SOS does not. I would consider Stainless to last longer.Just my 2c

With all due respect, the regular hardware will out live you and the next person that might own your drums I have never heard of S.O.S hardware going bad because it's old, in fact, if anyone has any pictures of this condition please post them. my 2 cts

Point well taken. Anything that is maintained will last longer.

Stainless is a superior metal to regular steel. I have Gon Bops that I do love but there are issues with peeling of chrome plating of the hardware. Polished Stainless Steel does not have this issue.

Peace

SOS has a track record while VGA is new on the block. I respect and give credit to anybody who trys to make a living in the Music Biz. These hand builders do much more than these mass produced "product". Hand builders put their sweat, blood and a little soul into their "instruments".

Peace

Bands should not be needed for VGA drums, the shells are well made & I doubt you are flying around the globe much w/ these drums, so leave them clean & as light as they are for a great clean look to match the sound. But....regarding the Isla drums hard wares, The stainless steel is great but the finish work to the tuning system could be better. They contacts on the crown are small and do not distribute the stress evenly around the crown so they could bend / warp out of shape from the tension. As far as I know, I believe Isla is re designing some hard ware issues. 5 bands are not necessary, 4 bands do the job. If you add these thick bands, they add weight to the shells and they do choke some resonance and snag clothing. This is why most drum builders try to engineer to shells to eliminate the need for bands. Pearl & Lp finaly made a banded drum, in efforts to look like folkloric style drums but the Lp Paladiums ( copied from Skin on Skin / Ritmo design ) is already a huge , tall, heavy drum shell and the bands add to the dead shell resonance. Pearls version is lighter but not so impressive. In my opinion, a modern designed stave drum should not need old style bands. The staves should be locked in place in some fashion and use modern adhesives. Banding would be redundant.