congaplace.com

maelopr wrote:I've been searching for a pair to match my bongos, they are from the same series..

Well, that would be precisely the set Abakua and I happen to own,
only with a natural finish.
Mine is "cognac", Abakua´s "bordeaux" - and I am talking about colors, not fancy beverages

Those Woodcrafts were a limited Meinl anniversary edition in 1998 and are pretty hard to come by these days.
Good luck though, and that is a very nice bongo set of yours by the way.

Thanks!!! Yes I have to say the wood on my bongo is something else and the sound more than makes up for it being a bit oversized.

Mike wrote:I am really enjoying those beauties.

Hi Mike, I saw that you wanted to sell your Woodcrafts a few weeks ago (advertisements at eBay and at Thomann). Why?

p.a.dogs1

The same problem as always, too much stuff
and unforeseen expenses. But I was able to sort
things out and can keep those outstanding drums.

Mike, if you are interested in selling I would be keen to buy, even if I need to pay freight from Germany! I simply must have more of these!

Look at those, Marcelo:
Well-used, but still decent old school Meinl Woodcrafts...
And they are wine red like yours.

http://kleinanzeigen.ebay.de/anzeigen/s ... ref=search

http://kleinanzeigen.ebay.de/anzeigen/s ... ref=search

Appr. 530$ for both drums might be OK I reckon.

EDIT: I suppose the handles are not original?

Interesting, is the seller located close to you at all?

Yes, he (or she) is pretty nearby. I can check out for you if the drums are still available if you want.

Mike wrote:And the conga is slappable like nothing, and that at a size of almost 12" (11.9").
Most congas I have played on are usually undersized (i.e. less than 11.75" diameter of
playing surface), but not this heavy monster. The tumba is really 12.5" and yields an earthy punch.

P1110048.JPG

P1110055.JPG

So this is a gorgeous set that does not leave anything to wish for
- except maybe or rather definitely new (cow) skins one day.
For the time being, these oak barrels kick a** !

A side note on the head sizes of those old Woodcraft congas:
They seem a bit odd, as they are a tad oversized:

Conga: 11.9"
Tumba: 12.5"

And at the weekend I happened to come across an old original Meinl woodcraft
conga which had something like a 11.2" playing surface - rather a quinto then?

Well, even if bigger is not always better, a large diameter is not bad though.

I just ran onto this perfect complement of my two Woodcrafts,
even if it is an older version:


Soundwise, the skin on that conga is plain awesome,
strong opentones and very crisp attack with some, but not too
nasty overtones.

I just could not resist, as it was such a sweet price.
And what a sweet-sounding little drum that is
Sorry, Abakua, I knew you would have been keen on
this drum - but you have got enough Woodcrafts now

By the way, the hardware is less sturdy
than with the 1998 anniversary model,
but the oak shell is like a tank and the
wood matches my other two perfectly,
which are a tad taller. I don't care.
This conga sounds amazing and just feels good.

I just wonder when this one was produced?
I guess around the late 1980s maybe. There
is no badge, but the handle tells me it is
the older original Woodcraft, as these came
with handles.

Very nice. Congratulations.
Cheers.
K.C.

KING CONGA wrote:Very nice. Congratulations.
Cheers.
K.C.

Thanks, K.C., and I must say
it feels like coming full circle now
with that "German set" of mine.

A heavy bunch though!

Conga-tulations Mike! Nice find.
As Id said on PM, Ive found another Tumba (x 1 of) in one of the northern states, an old percussionist friend has it, but he is refusing to part with it, Im still in negotiations with him for him to let it go to me. hahahaha.
It will be mine I tell you! Need to complete my set to have 5!

Here is a pic of my Woodcrafts together. You are right, sizes are slighly oversized, Tumba being close to 13" as well as the others being oversized.
My set consists of: 1 x Quinto, 2 x Conga, 1 x Tumba.

Cheers, Abakua and again, a very nice congregation of your Meinls!
By the way, an expert at Meinl dated the production of my conga back to either 1985 or 1986,
and he pointed out that Mongo had a Woodcraft oak set of exactly the same kind.
FWIW, the word he used to describe the drum was wunderschön.