Gon Bops info Request

[Loman]

Can someone please tell me about these Gon Bops. I do believe one is a 11" and the other is 12 1/4" with not cracks or seperations, and I was told that they are made of mahogany. Can you tell me how old they are? What are they made of? Should I expect any maintenance issues? and how much ar they worth?

[Jerry Bembe]

I have the same pair of Gon Bops. They are Luan wood "Mahagony". Very resonant and light weight wood. The hardware is the International series (Gon Bops comfort curve) and was the top of the line wood and hardware at the time of manufacture.

I personally think these are excellent congas but the head is a bit more difficult to tuck due to tight clearances.

The issues of maintaining this are typical of Gon Bops but these should be fiberglass wrapped on the exterior so they should not crack like some of the other Gon Bops. The fiberglass wrapped are the least likely Gon Bops for cracking issues.

Nice find and condition from the photos. How do they sound?

Enjoy

[Loman]

Thanks for the info Jerry.

I noticed how tight the heads are cut to fit the rim and I can see it being a problem when its time to replace them. I normally tuck my own heads but I'm not sure how good of a job I will do with this style of rim. Do you know if Gon Bops still have any pre-tucked heads sale?

Jerry my congas are not fiberglassed wrapped on the inside. I will and pics when I get home.

Congas sound and warm with nice bass tones, sound great. But, while tuning I noticed that the lugs do not have many threads left to work with even though the heads dont seem to be overly stretched.

Do you know how old these tubs are?

What do you think that they are worth?

[Mike]

Loman, they are wrapped with fiberglass on the outside!
It should be very messy and hard to remove that layer, I would
leavethem in the original state if I were you.

Excellent drum, probably from the 1970s or rather 1980s,
depending on what number it says on the badge.

With the right skins you do not need anything else...
Those skins look at least fine.

To the lugs: I would probably exchange them for new ones.

Just my 2 cents.

[Jerry Bembe]

The Fiberglass on the outside helps keep the drum together.

These look like great drums to me. I have used additional washers for the thread issue. I plan to try cutting a short piece of 3/8" tubing for some of these applications where I need more than 2-4 washers for tuning. Poossibly the thread issue happened when it was tucked. This is a common issue though.

I have a correction, I have a IC (10 1/2") and IT (11 1/2") sizes. Yours are 11" (ICL) and 12 1/4" (ITL). These would make an interesting set together.

Gon Bops Mahagony Teardrop model

[Psych1]

I see you are not getting any answers as to how much these congas are worth. IMO they are terrific congas and are worth a lot. But old Gon Bops usually cost a lot less then they are worth.

[Mike]

I see you are not getting any answers as to how much these congas are worth. IMO they are terrific congas and are worth a lot. But old Gon Bops usually cost a lot less then they are worth.

That is surely right,
if you want to sell those beauties,
it is difficult to say how much they would yield.
i would say with bit of luck you might get 800$ or even much more,
with less luck far less.

For their beauty they are priceless, invaluable for many of us here,
but it depends pretty much on where and how you are selling IMO.

[Omelenko1]

They are probably the best Gon Bops made. WARNING, do not remove the outside fiberglass coating, if you do they will crack instantly. I have had 5 of them. No longer have them. That model was the top of the line with the teardrop crown. They are good congas but they don't compare with SOS, Junior or Ritmos. I also had old Tom Flores Valjes, which I always preferred over Gon Bops. Here are photos of mine.

Dario

[Bongobilly]

Those Gon Bop's for sale look great! As we speak i am refurbishing two of my own. Price wise, you will pay more than back yesterday when they were new of course. Probably more than $ 600 less than $700.00, Tucking the head's are harder but you can do it. You will need some Visegrip's to pull on it real tight, and for the lug's you can buy spacer's from a good hardware store. I believe the one's i used were 3/16's 1/2 inch long