Workhorse set scored (Matador Fiberglass)

[ABAKUA]

So Id been trolling around looking for a workhorse set of Tumbadoras so I dont have to use my Cuban solid shell drums for every single gig, I want to preserve them and save them for the top gigs and recording.

I had my eye on these 2nd hand Matadors, they ended up going at a decent price, stands included as well as bags $600 pick up about 40 minute drive from home.
I will pick them up on Friday after work as I cant get out there any sooner.

11.75" & 12.5", usual 28" tall model with trad hardware. I brought back some fairly chunk awesome spare skins from Cuba, will replace the conga/tres golpes head asap, and will suss out the tumba/salidor once Ive had a chance to play it. Might end replacing both heads.

Perfect for what I was needing! They dont seem in too bad condition for their age. Conga skin is pretty stretched out, Tumba dont look too bad.

pics below. (click on image for larger view)

[jorge]

Buying more drums again? Dude, all you really need is longer arms.

[RitmoBoricua]

They fit the bill perfectly, workinghorse.
Nice score.

[KING CONGA]

Congratulations ABAKUA. That sure is a nice set of Matadors. Dig that hardware too, OLD SKOOL, you dont see it as offten anymore.
Those stands are very nice as well, what make are they?

[Gallichio]

Good deal!

[congamyk]

Excellent deal, nice set and those stands are good too!

[ABAKUA]

Well I got em home, they are in fantastic condition, few small marks here n there, but hardware perfect, no cracks in shell.
The skin on the macho was wasted stretched, I looked through my stored away gear from previous LP handout and found an 11.75" skin I had spare from my previous Classics.
Straight fit onto the Matador. Tuned it up and found disturbing overtones.
Off cam the skin, and the side plates bracket for the stands, and I inserted some soft foam sheet I had in the shed, mounted everything up and done! No more overtones.
The drums have some major projection and volume, and sound great.
I took them to my Timba gig last night, 4 x 30 min sets, rocking! Effortless to play. All pro's no cons, but I still prefer my solid shell Cuban drums, amazing sound.
these will be great for my day to day gigs, oh and they weigh next to nothing!
Some pics below from when they came home to meet some of the family.

[CongaTick]

Except for the trad rim. those are my tubs. IMO, cannot beat the Matador glass for road work and overall kickass utility. They always come through on all levels. Mazel Tov.

[KING CONGA]

Congratulations once again!. That arsenal looks sweet

[Jerry Bembe]

Nice tip about dampening overtones. I like that you included a photo of the foam inside the drum.

[juancho]

Marcelo,
Is there a big difference between your matadors and these? besides de color stand and bands?
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/msg/3328198022.html

[congamyk]

Marcelo, how you get the foam to stay put?

[ABAKUA]

Marcelo, how you get the foam to stay put?

I roughly measured from the bottom of the screws holding the side plates down to the inside of the edge of the bottom lip. Wedged it in there, pushed it up against the inner walls and it stayed put.
With the other drum, the bit of foam was a bit longer, did the same thing, but the top of it went just passed the screws, so I pushed the foam down, screws perforated the foam and repeated the same steps, stays in there fine, it dont move or fall out.
There's also some foam tape which can be used, we have it at the place where I work, but I didnt want to be sticking things inside the drum only to find it didnt work. If I get my hands on some of it I might use that instead.