congaplace.com

Hello Everyone, I picked up a pair of Palisades Park fiber glass congas, 11.75" conga and a 12.5" Tumba. I'm pretty excited about them. I'm not sure how to figure out how old they are and also I think that the skins need to be changed. The tumba sounds o.k. but the conga has a bit of a Djembe sound to me. Now granted. I'm still learning how to play and tune but I was thinking of changing the heads just to preserve the original ones. Does anyone have an idea of what would be the beat skins to put on them? They are in excellent condition and I really want to care for them well. I'm also wondering what to use to clean them up with.I've attached some pics just to give you an idea of what they look like.I appreciate any help I can get. Thank you!

Yeah man! Those are the original skins! Nice! You've got at least three options with relacements.
1. Pre-tucked Lp heads, water buffalo, easy to install, sound OK
2. Synthetic- lots of options, easy to install, sound pretty good.
3. Self or custom tucked cow or mule- best sound, in order to keep your original skins you'd have to get some counter hoops (the ring inside the skin)

To clean you could use some car polish on the fiber glass, turtle wax or something like that, you can use 0000 steel wool on the chrome if needed although some people don't like to use steel wool.

Nice set of historic drums enjoy!

Thanks for your help,I appreciate it.Would you happen to know where I can get those rings from? I like the idea of the mule skin, I don't know but it seems like the thicker the skin the better?

I wouldn't necessarily say that, depends on the drum and the sound you're going after. You can get rings from rythm traders, there's a whole list of places to buy skins from on here.

http://www.rhythmtraders.com/African-Dr ... s-p34.html

rafitoconga.....Manito Percussion will make you the skin hoops out of 1/4" stainless steel for 12.00. That's a great deal.

http://www.manitopercussion.com/custom-hardware/

Those models are from the 60's..when Martin Cohen started his factory out of Palisades Park, New Jersey, right across the Hudson river from Manhattan...Palisades Park also was known for the amusement park called "Palisades Park"...that was around back then and which now high rise condos now sit...Great find!...

Thanks agian for all of your comments, I greatly appreciate it! I haven't stopped playing them since I got them. I can't wait to put the new skins on, being a family man, I have other priorities but the skins will come in time. I sold a pair of Toca Traditionals(blonds) to make some room for these. The guy I sold them to is blind and wants to play. I've been trying to show him some basics, but Ive never really had this type of challenge. This may not be the right section to ask this question but I know you guys are veterans, any ideas on how to help this guy along? Again thanks for sharing your knowledge with me, it's been a tremendous help! God Bless you all!

Great find, not only some original Palisades, but also with the original skins! Now thats pretty rare. If they measure 28" tall, they are the 'Original' line by LP.

Abakua, they do measure 28 inches tall. I feel like a kid at Christmas time!

Thebreeze wrote:rafitoconga.....Manito Percussion will make you the skin hoops out of 1/4" stainless steel for 12.00. That's a great deal.

http://www.manitopercussion.com/custom-hardware/

Thanks for the info on Manito, I'll definately look him up!

I just tried to put on an 11.75" nuskyn I had on my Toca traditional on my PP Conga but the rim wouldn't clear the skin. I gave it some force but I didn't want to bend the rim. Oh well, guess I got to get what it needs without cutting corners.

What i would do with those skins would be to clean the heads with rubbing alcohol to take the dirt off of them...second I would get some shey butter or "manteca de corojo" and put a 'thin' film of it rubbed completely over the heads and sides too...the drums are also tuned way down until no sound can really be produced...then I would sit them in the sun for about 6 hours and let the butter/manteca melt into the heads....then after that put them in a dry place in the house and let them sit for 2 days without tuning them up...then after the 2 days wipe off an residual oil and then tune up...I have heads on my congas that have lasted me over 20 years....natural heads too...so this is what I would recommend...it will bring back the life of the skin and you will hear the difference once they are tuned...

@ JohnnyConga, thanks for the tip, I was wondering if that's the same stuff that is used on baseball gloves? We have a couple of Latino stores here in Ohio where I may be able to find that "Manteca de Corojo", if thats where I can get it. Also, I'm sure you've seen my posts about wanting to change the heads, do you recommend that I keep them on, and also I've noticed that certain parts of the collar are longer that other sides. I'm sure it's from not tuning it correctly, but can that be corrected? Thank you!

JohnnyConga wrote:What i would do with those skins would be to clean the heads with rubbing alcohol to take the dirt off of them...second I would get some shey butter or "manteca de corojo" and put a 'thin' film of it rubbed completely over the heads and sides too...the drums are also tuned way down until no sound can really be produced...then I would sit them in the sun for about 6 hours and let the butter/manteca melt into the heads....then after that put them in a dry place in the house and let them sit for 2 days without tuning them up...then after the 2 days wipe off an residual oil and then tune up...I have heads on my congas that have lasted me over 20 years....natural heads too...so this is what I would recommend...it will bring back the life of the skin and you will hear the difference once they are tuned...

Well I would give it a shot with the old skins first to see if they can come back to life...i also forgot to mention African Palm Oil is also good..but put a 'thin' coat on the heads with your fingers, Palm oil is very dense oil..but works just as well..as the others...I would need a photo to see what your talking abut the collar...

Applying a layer of shea butter, exposing the skins to the warm sun and then wiping off the residue
might do the cleaning and nourishing trick with the original skins.
I would personally keep them. In the old days the skins were said to be really nice and thick.