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Hey guys post a pic of your best sounding drum and tell us about it. Looks don't matter, price doesn't matter, rarity doesn't matter, make or model doesn't matter. SOUND! Your best SOUNDING drum!

Just one drum; quinto, conga, tumba, super tumba, bongo or bata.

Right here this Valje tumba made duirng the 60's is my best sounding drum. It has more bass than any conga I have ever heard. As much as a cajon! It's a big drum 31" and 12 1/2". If you hit this drum hard you can get that rattling feeling in your chest, hit it soft and you get this beautiful mellow tone, but the bass not is just so full and deep, it always fills out the rumba so well, especially when you give the drum that little lift with your legs to hit the bombo! BOOM!

I think I bought it for about $225 in Oakland. It originally had a crack, then cracked again but I fixed it up no problem! Got a new set of lugs from Ralph at Resolution. I've had the same head from L&H on it for about 2 1/2 years. Just an awesome drum. I have quite a few nice drums that sound great, but this Valje is something special.

My Volcano's....they also
look different , in different light...

My Gon Bop's requinto on the left . It cut's right through everything! Pop's like a bell! Bill Confer head.

Humbly submitted, this is one of the best LP congas ever.



Just my opinion, this 11 3/4" conga has a fuller bass tone than many tumbas and super tumbas. Sorry for the inverse image from my webcam.

I bought this online and when it arrived it had a chunk missing from the bearing edge. I saw prior to the purchase that the head had some damage so the bearing edge damage made perfect sense. The seller disclosed this so it was all on me for buying a used as-is-item. Well, I was able to fix the head with filling the cracks with epoxy and the bearing edge was repaired with wood filler. The wood filler shrunk a bit when it dried so I filled the cracks between the wood filler and the shell with epoxy as well.

I was a bit disappointed at first but I was rewarded for my efforts. If I was stuck on a deserted island and I could have only one conga, I would consider picking this LP Cherry Armando Peraza Valje conga.

Nice thread, Geordie.
It is like the question "Which conga would you like
to have on a lonely island?"...

Well, IF I had to make a choice, it would be the Gon Bops conga
on the left in the picture.
Reason: Tuned not to high, the beautiful cow skin I bought in Britain
a while ago resonates fantastic, and the drum produces a cool
vintage sound.

Every morning from 0600 until 1000 balloons fly over my village. Sometimes they fly low right over my house. Most mornings when I am here I drink coffee on my patio and play. Most of the time I play these old LPs that I have had forever. Of all the bongos I have had these are still my favorite. All the hardware except for one lug is still original. For a big bongo they are very lightweight and easy to hold. With thin goat on the macho and medium cow on the hembra they sound great. And, mainly, because we have been together so many years and have grown up together, we make beautiful music together. And, these days, we always have ballooners for a morning audience.

Great drums guys, seems like most of them are vintage, except for Johnny's. Hey JC, which of your Volcanoes sound the best, does one of the 4 stand out?

ALL of my Volcanos sound great, not one more than the other..another example of the sound being produced from these drums is the fact that the 'inside' of the drum is as smooth as the outside of the drum, which enhances volume and sound..JC

I have 3 favorites and can't decide which I like best in the set.

This is like asking which is your favorite child.
I love them all, they each have their own unique sound.
KK

This was easy, my Isla Quinto. I still play my LPs or Tocas for gigs, but when I play with friends it is the Islas for sure. My friends Gon Bops Tumba is comparable to my Isla Tumba but the Isla Quinto is a stand-out!

POST REMOVED BY THE AUTHOR

Nothing I have compares to the sound I get out of this baby, true rumba sound al estilo habanero/matancero.


IMG_0171 by pcastag, on Flickr

Very early sonoc, cuban cedro, refurbed by Matt Smith $$$ but visually, historically and most important sound wise worth every penny. Drum originally cost me 300.

Psych1 wrote:Every morning from 0600 until 1000 balloons fly over my village. Sometimes they fly low right over my house. Most mornings when I am here I drink coffee on my patio and play. Most of the time I play these old LPs that I have had forever. Of all the bongos I have had these are still my favorite. All the hardware except for one lug is still original. For a big bongo they are very lightweight and easy to hold. With thin goat on the macho and medium cow on the hembra they sound great. And, mainly, because we have been together so many years and have grown up together, we make beautiful music together. And, these days, we always have ballooners for a morning audience.

Nice view.

My favorites now SOS trio, quinto conga and tumba (11, 12, 13) cherry wood from 1992, Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY.