Ideal belly position?

[s'chopp]

What would your ideal belly position be? Extra fat?

I think a few inches below centre. And fat but not too extreme. Curving in more toward the base than at the top, like a Volcano but with the belly not so low.

Your 2 cents is highly valued.

[s'chopp]

[ABAKUA]

[KING CONGA]

How about this one ? Any takers

[s'chopp]

marcelo, I could have guessed!

[ABAKUA]

Cant lie, Ritmo are my favourite drums out there.


However, regarding the belly position, I would have to add in that SOS, JCR, Junior Tirado, Pan con Queso, Requena, Moperc, and Volcano all have the body shape I prefer in congas.

Cannot say Im a fan of the positioning of the belly in Valje, VGA, Fat, Isla, Gon Bop (modern series),

[jorge]

Are people's preferences purely based on looks, or can anyone describe a consistent difference in sound based on high or low belly position? I know it is not easy to account for all the other factors, skins, size, bottom hole diameter, wood type and thickness, etc.

[ABAKUA]

My opinion is solely based on their appearance. Sound etc totally different matter.

Gob Bops, Valje, Fats, Isla's etc etc all sound great with nicely matched skins & proper playing technique.

[Mike]

What would your ideal belly position be? Extra fat?
I think a few inches below centre. And fat but not too extreme. Curving in more toward the base than at the top, like a Volcano but with the belly not so low.
Your 2 cents is highly valued.

Taking a look at my own collection, I´d say I prefer the belly slightly low,
but I have never ever chosen any conga for that reason because I do not
find the shape to be the first and foremost factor.
It´s all about the sound, man!
And I would guess the belly position is responsible only to a minor degree for the sound.

Anyway, this LP set of mine sounds fine:

But much more these Delaportes:

And of course vintage Gon Bops still rule:

Which really differ in the belly position from the present-day GB California series:

[KING CONGA]

My favorite is without a dout the traditional cuban shape such as my Requena but I must say that the Valjes really appeal to me.

[JohnnyConga]

Nice!!!....

NEW VOLCANOS.jpg (8.86 KiB) Viewed 5299 times

[s'chopp]

Are people's preferences purely based on looks, or can anyone describe a consistent difference in sound based on high or low belly position? I know it is not easy to account for all the other factors, skins, size, bottom hole diameter, wood type and thickness, etc.

This is what I hoped for, firstly superficial then down to the nitty gritty. Leedy2 mentioned that having the belly in the middle is best for a heavy bass?

[Marcus]

Thinking that a lower belly would tend to supress a tone and a higher belly would project for a brighter tone. When I say supressing a tone I am thinking of the higher frequency component of a tone. A lower belly would force the tonal sound waves to either travel farther or bounce across the shell more times allowing the properties of the wood to absorb and reflect. Of course wood type and belly poisition might be the variables. Solid shells resonate more so maybe the belly needs to be lower. A softer wood maybe benefit from a belly being a bit higher.

I do not think that conga makers will share this secret however there are a lot of vintage congas on this forum to have a very indepth discussion.

...marcus

[Mr. Conga]

TOO ME THE MORE BELLY A CONGA HAS THE NICER, AND SEXIER IT LOOKS, TOO ME IS LIKE THE CONGAS BUTTIE, NOT BELLIE.

I really like the buttie of Junior Tirados, and specially the old school J.C.R LATE 80'S EARLY 90'S .
I LIKE IT IN THE BOTTOM MIDDLE..I ALSO LIKE THE BUTTIE OF SOME ISLAS.

SPECIALLY THE REQUINTOS , AND TRADITIONAL CUBAN CONGAS.