LP Vintage bongó: repair & restoration issues

[Cochise]

One thing I noticed is that I have an almost identical pair I picked up recently. When my friend Dario (omelenko) saw it he freaked. Small differences though for example the bottom rim and the center piece,but as ritmoboricua said nice and light.

[Omelenko1]

EMPINGAO!!!!!!

[RitmoBoricua]

Nice set, I have not seen too many of them.
The bottom rim is different, you can swap the
aluminum bottoms for cuban style steel bottom
rims if so desire on vintage LP bongo sets. I see
yours has a nice coat of clear finish mine did not
have the clear gloss coat, it just had the regular
oil finish all the original Gen I mahogany have.
Also noticed how my set is bit darker and redder
so I am thinking it could be a little older. Your set
from the angle of the photo seems it does not have
too much clereance between the top rim and the
head. Thanks for sharing.

[Mike]

The clear finish reminds me even of my Raúl bongó
which also features quite a thick coat of varnish.
Also the bottom rims are similar:

[salcero1]

Mike, I must say that is one hell of fine restoration job you undertook. They look fantastic and brand new. The hardware, skins and finish compliment the set asthetically beautiful. My hat is off to you Sir on such a painstaking yet fully rewarding job well done. Peace.

Jorge.

[Mike]

Mike, I must say that is one hell of fine restoration job you undertook. They look fantastic and brand new. The hardware, skins and finish compliment the set asthetically beautiful. My hat is off to you Sir on such a painstaking yet fully rewarding job well done. Peace.

Jorge.

Thank you so much for your kind words, Jorge.
Yes, ´painstaking´ is a good word to describe the effort I put
in that dear mahogany bongó, and I did the refurbishing process at
a time when any manual labor was a good way of distracting
me from the nasty tinnitus I was suffering from. Playing was
not possible for me for several months, that was a really hard time,
so I had to focus on getting joy of life from the beauty of the instruments
themselves. Call it Latin percussion therapy...