My practice and get away spot!

[Juaort]

This is where I go to get away and let go of stress as well as have fun doing what I love! I practice here on my Bongos and Congas. I listen to my record collection. My man cave is my sanctuary.

What does your favorite spot to play and get away looks like? Please share.

[Juaort]

These beauties got a new set of skins from Manito Percussion earlier this year.

[Greensail]

Hey Juaort, just came across your post. We downsizing a bit with kids gone. Bedroom is now my cave. Plenty of room now - first time in 15yrs I have had a dedicated area to play. Also have a fantastic wife who often says maybe you should go play your drums for a while. Also have a set of Gio Galaxys. yes, it's a disease.

[Juaort]

Hi Greensail. Great to hear from you. Hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy. Yes! Down sizing and making room for the drums is a great thing. I went through it a couple of years ago myself with my two girls. My wife got a Glam Room lol and I got a man cave. I’m digging your set up!! Those Mopers look sick!! I have a set of their Cubano Series Bongos and I’m very impressed. Enjoy your new space brotha.

[scavard]

Hi Juaort,

I just stumbled upon this thread and I really like your spot! My spot is in a very old rehearsal room with my band. It is not as nice as yours but it is the only place where I can practice loud. I try to practice there once or twice a week and I love every second of it I will try and take some pictures later.

Anyway, I think I have a very similar pair of congas as you do. I am not exactly sure what models are they but I will try to take some detailed pictures as I am very curious whether it's the same model.

[Juaort]

Thanks Scavard for the compliment. Yea, I’ve been blessed with having a dedicated spot for me to practice and continue to learn. We’ve sense moved out of that house and relocated out of state, so I have a different spot in the new house, but I have a spot to continue to do what I love. I’ll share pics soon. The Conga set on the pics are LP Classic models 11 3/4” Conga and 12 1/2” Tumba. Got those in the 80’s with the help of my Grandma. She basically funded the operation lol! Those will go to the grave with me.

[scavard]

I hope your spot now looks and feels even better!

I managed to take some pictures of the mentioned pair of congas. These are 11" Quinto and 11 3/4" Conga. I would give anything for a matching tumba..

Anyway, how do you like those comfort curve 1 (if I'm not mistaken) rims? At first I was hurting a bit, but I'm trying to adjust my technique so that I would not hit the rims at all if possible. I was also thinking about giving them the classic look with traditional rims, but it's just an expensive idea for the future

[Juaort]

Are those Wood or Fiberglass? It’s hard to tell from the pics. The comfort curve rims are designed to hurt the hands less. Traditional rims do hurt the hands more, but I like the look, that’s why I swapped them on my set. It’s a personal preference I guess. The skins the congas come with tend to be pretty good. But changing them to Steer or even Cow just make the drums sing and sound better. If you can I would advice to do it. I changed Mine and it made a huge difference in sound.

[scavard]

They are wood and quite heavy actually. So you swapped the rims on yours for the traditional ones? On the photos you still have the comforts right? I also see a difference between the comfort curve 1 and comfort curve 2 which should be even more comfortable

[Chtimulato]

Hello everybody.

I practice in the bedroom or in the attic (which is in fact a mezzanine floor above the bedroom). This means Madame has got to be somewhere else in the house when I want to practice... ☺

Re:comfort rims, it's a matter of taste. I find them ugly, and also swapped to traditional crowns for my Giovannis. But some people like them. One of the drawbacks of comfort curve rims is that they give a "flattering" impression to beginners, making them feel it's easy to learn and play... With traditional crowns, you need to adapt your playing, and it's part of the learning process.
Since it's rather difficult to find traditional crowns as spare parts here (in France) and shipping from the USA is rather expensive, I had mine made by an iron worker (who is also conguero, which is very helpful).

BTW, I believe comfort curve rims have not so much to do with "comfort". It's rather a commercial or marketing argument in my eyes. They are molded, which is certainly cheaper and quicker to produce than traditional rims, which have to be formed, and then have the "ears" (the "Vs") welded or riveted on them... ☺

Another drawback is that people say they make skin changing more difficult, at least for the 2nd generation. But I never tried it out in the flesh.

Stay safe, all of you.

[Juaort]

Agreed. Never liked the comfort curve. Once I was able to afford traditional Rims I swapped them out on my LP Classics. I’ll share pics shortly.

[Juaort]

Ok, here they both are. Adding the Traditional Rims took these to the next level!!

[scavard]

Wow I love it. That's exactly what I wanted to do with mine. Maybe it will come to that in the future as the rims are so expensive..

[Chtimulato]

Maybe it will come to that in the future as the rims are so expensive

And sometimes also difficult to find. I sugest you to go to an iron worker with some pictures, ask him to make crowns and flesh hoops, and to bring him your congas too, so he can figure out the measurements.

[scavard]

I honestly don't know any iron workers, but I could at least look around.

Anyway, how hard was it to mount new heads on the comfort curve 1 rims that you had before? I know it is different when doing this on traditional vs comfort curve 2 rims, so I'm wondering how is it with the older comfort curves..