congaplace.com

Just picked up a Sol Percussion quinto yesterday. So stoked. Sol seem to be very hard to find, the only ones I see for sale are huge super tumbas or a complete set of 5 with a bongo for $1 million dollars!! Sol was one of the most innovative drum builders if you ask me. This is a truly beautiful sounding drum that belonged to Sandy Perez back when he was endorsed by Sol. Just enough patina to give it character. I'll be tinkering with it a little bit. This drum is destined to be my main rumba ax. Yes, I know this thread is useless without pictures, Ill be posting those later on.

Yep, you defo know how to make us curious!

alright, here it is. A very solidly built drum, just sounds great! A little sanding, a little oil and maybe a new coating on the hardware. The LP lugs are of course not original. Sandy is not known to be easy on his drums, nor was the previous owner, I'm guessing a very thick skin with no detuning put the originals out of commission. I'll probably keep them, not sure if Akbar has or makes replacements.

What a privilege to own Sandy's old drum. I am sure you will do it justice and nurture the little bit of anya that may have found its way into the drum.

Cool drum!
The skin is on the thick side indeed.

The almost belly-less shape is also interesting.

Mike wrote:Cool drum!
The skin is on the thick side indeed.

The almost belly-less shape is also interesting.

Yes, this is one of the models Sol made with the belly higher than your typical drum. One of Akbar's innovations. It is a pretty slender drum. The skin is quite thick, probably thicker than this drum needs, given solid construction of the shell, though it does sound great, very little sustain with a clean and clear voice the way a rumba quinto should sound.

Here is a comparison shot with one of Akbar's Gon Bop 9 3/4" requintos and a Resolution 10 1/4" quinto. The Sol is a 10 1/4" drum. Sol had 3 lines of congas, the Rumba Conga, the Classic Conga and the Sol Conga. This drum is of the Sol Conga line. They were the ones with the high belly made of oak. The Classic conga had a similar belly but was made of mahogany and had bands. Windhorse has a set. The rumba line had a belly lower than the Sol and more closely resembled the classic Valje shape.

Nice find!

Yeah nice find ! Like you said you only see the bigger tumbadores for sale.

This almost looks like an ashiko except for the thick skin. Nice find!

bongosnotbombs wrote:

Mike wrote:The almost belly-less shape is also interesting.

Yes, this is one of the models Sol made with the belly higher than your typical drum. One of Akbar's innovations.

Akbar told me that the almost straight down top section and then a conical drop to the foot allows for the most bass, but then the clear slaps and tones. Apparently keeping it wide at the top is best for the bass. He thought that bellying out in the middle cancelled itself out, thus snuffing itself out.

If you compare a gon bop to a Sol, you will definitely hear the result of Akbar's cleverness.

windhorse wrote:

bongosnotbombs wrote:

Mike wrote:The almost belly-less shape is also interesting.

Yes, this is one of the models Sol made with the belly higher than your typical drum. One of Akbar's innovations.

Akbar told me that the almost straight down top section and then a conical drop to the foot allows for the most bass, but then the clear slaps and tones. Apparently keeping it wide at the top is best for the bass. He thought that bellying out in the middle cancelled itself out, thus snuffing itself out.

If you compare a gon bop to a Sol, you will definitely hear the result of Akbar's cleverness.

Akbar is right I guess, and as a comparison, my Delaporte 10" quinto has got similar features and an incredible bass
as well as crystal clear open tones and crisp slaps.

Bass would seem to be a lower priority than quality of the slaps and tones in a quinto. Equal loudness contours (google it) and subwoofer physics tell us that for acoustic situations the quinto player is at a big loudness disadvantage for bass notes, relative to the tumbador and tres dos players.
BNB, how does the bass of that drum sound?
And what does Sandy say about that drum?

Well I just happen to have 2 Gon Bop quintos to compare this drum to. A mahogany 9 3/4" vintage Gon Bop and a new oak Gon Bop also at 9 3/4" also by Akbar. The Sol is a little bigger at 10 1/2" and has the thickest skin.

I have to say, Akbar may indeed have had the right idea. The Sol does have more bass. Not only does it have more of a bass sound, but the bass note resonates through the drum and has a sustain to it, like you might expect from a tumba. In comparison, the bass notes with the Gon Bops die almost immediately.

I don't really look for bass sound in my quintos, but there is nothing wrong with having it either. The other notes on the Sol are exactly what you'd expect, crisp slaps with clean and clear open tones. The thicker skin does demand a little more technique to get the slaps, but that skin also reduces the sustain on the open tone like you want for rumba. It's a phenomenal drum, sad that Sol is no longer being made. Not only do they sound great, but I appreciate Sol and Akbar for the fresh approach to making congas while still paying respect to tradition.

I haven't been able to talk to Sandy about the drum, but Sandy has been playing Akbar's drums for years.

I just compared the bass of the Sol with my Resolution quinto. The drums have the same size head. The Resolution has a deeper bass sound than the Sol. The Resolution also has a thinner skin and the wood of the shell is thinner.

Here's my Sol Classic quinto in the hands of friend Mike Spencer.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/10287309/Bamboche/GuagBamFeb5.mov
A really nutty flavor with sharp crispness.
No high sustained ring.
Not the classic sound of the 70's - 90's where some of the quinteros used those mini-drums (I'm thinking of Jesus Alfonso) to get super high tones,, but more like the sound of 50's and 60's where recordings sound lower and less sustained.