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Posted: **Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:02 pm**

Cali, JCR, is the king of bongo' making, that's his specialty. Other renown bongo makers were Junior Tirado,Ismael, Carlos Landaeta (Pan Con Queso), Jay Bereck and today Matt Smith.

I got bongos from all of them,simply because I love the instrument and I have dished out the bucks. My hats off to all of them for their craftsmanship.

Out of my collection,here is a beauty from Jay,mostly known for his congas, not many bongos from him. Macho 6 3/4",hembra 9", Cuban style oak wood.

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... bongos.jpg

Posted: **Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:06 pm**

Wow, what a gorgeous pool beauty :laugh:
Is it mule skin on both macho and hembra?

Posted: **Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:07 pm**

My prized trophy, Mongo's 1954 Vergara. Cuban cahoba solid wood. Macho 7", hembra 9". Ahead of its time for size in 1954, cutom made by Mongo, who wanted an oversized hembra at the time.

Edited By Omelenko on 1201555958

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... _Mongo.jpg

Posted: **Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:10 pm**

Mongo con su Vergara.

Saludos, Dario

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... bongo_.jpg

Posted: **Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:37 pm**

Always love that picture of Mongos beauties Dario, it was my screen saver for a while. I think the larger Timba bongo was pretty much modeled on those. I bought a set of the timbas after staring at your photo for so long, it was the nearest a mere mortal like myself could hope to get !

But obviously nothing like the same and I still admire this picture, I always wonder if it's them I can hear when I'm listening to Mongo and there are bongo involved. The Afro Indio album is a favorite and features some great bongo work of his.

Barrie

Posted: **Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:59 pm**

Mongo always used it, also his bongoceros used it for recordings. In Afro Indio is Mongo on bongos and also "Peachy", Mongo's bongocero at the time. Pablito Rosario, Mongo's bongocero for many years also loved and used them for years.

Originally, Mongo had these made for Willie Bobo on a trip to Havana to visit his mother. Mongo related to me that Vergara said " you guys are crazy, why do you want the hembra 9",it must be a New York thing". At the time the hembras were traditionally 8 ". According to Mongo, Vergara made the shells in about an hour's time, the hardware was made at a welding shop in "Barrio Chino", a Chinese neighborhood in Havana.

Willie Bobo, Tito's bongocero at the time, recorded the famous "Ti Mon Bo" with these bongos in 1956.

Saludos, Dario.

Posted: **Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:44 pm**

Do you know what Mongo's skin preference was for these ?

Posted: **Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:51 pm**

Mongo, being an old school bongocero from the era as far back as when sterno cans were used for tunning, had "pergamino" heads on both hembra and macho. Pergamino in English I think is kip hide, a very thin hide, which was ineffective on the hembra. Many times I suggest to put mule on the hembra, me, Pablito Rosario, Humberto "Nengue" Hernandez, his last bongocero. Pergamino on the hembra is just too thin, but Mongo would not have it any other way. After his passing, I sent the bongo' to Junior in Brooklyn who refinished it, rechromed the hardware completely and of course, put mule skin on the hembra.

Saludos, Dario

Posted: **Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:11 pm**

Dario
You have some nice drums my man! :cool:

Posted: **Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:23 am**

How good are those Skins & skins if they are not play ? For the ritmo drums by Mathew Smith, who else has 1 of his Bongos ? have they been road test ?

Something too fancy may look good on a shelf but may be too fragile to stand the giging use.

Posted: **Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:13 pm**

Both SOS and Matt Smith bongos project incredible sounds. These guys are ultimate craftsmen, they used the finests of woods, their hardware will last 100 yrs.
There is no mass produced bongo' out there that comes close in sound.

Saludos, Dario

Posted: **Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:58 pm**

Dario the question is who other than you has 1 & can talk about sound comparison ?

Mass produce are out of the question.
For instance, there are many Bongos made by Jcrs, Junnior Tirado out there that have been produce over the years, also many from Colombia,Gon Bops, Valje, Mopercs ect so we can compare 1 versus the other or between the same brand. But......

How many Bongos has Mathew produce over let's say last year ? How can we compare them based on the quantity out there & the owners opinion of the instrument ? ( sound, skins,durability ,detailing, ect ? )

Your opinion is respected but other opinions are need in order to evaluate.

Edited By caballoballo on 1201707017

Posted: **Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:16 pm**

Both Jay Bereck and Matt Smith are know for their quality custom work on congas, congas being their "bread and butter" product. Aside from congas, these artisans make incredibly beautiful and well crafted bongos, batas and tamboras always following the guidelines set forth by the pioneers, the likes of Gonzalo Vergara from Cuba, Ismael Ramos from P.Rico and Catarey from the D. Republic .

Jay and Matt alongside Junior (RIP) and Cali Rivera (JCR) are sticklers for perfection and purists when it comes to keeping the tradition from the masters. You don't see them making gold plated hardware or comfort curved crowns, they want to keep that classic Vergara / Ismael look and quality, "hecho a mano" approach that assures highest standars.

QUE NO SE PARE LA RUMBA ! Dario

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:49 am**

HOLA DARIO

1. MY RESPECT TO YOU AND THAT BEAUTIFULL COLLECTION YOU HAVE
2. YOU AND MARIO ARE ABOUT THE ONLY GUYS WITH SO MANY COLLECTABLES PIECES LIKE THE ONES YOU GUYS HAVE.
3. NOT TO MANY PEOPLE IN AMERICA, PUERTO RICO ETC, ETC. HAVE THE VERY VERY VERY HARD TO FIND BONGOS. YOU HAVE TO BE PROUD OF THOSE PIECES
4. I WILL BE GETTING A SKIN ON SKIN BONGO LIKE THE ONE YOU HAVE TO PLAY IT ABOUT 3 TO 4 TIMES A WEEK FOR AN HOUR OR 2 A DAY. I WILL LET THESE PEOPLE HOW GOOD THAT BONGO IS.
5. QUE VIVAN LOS BONGOCEROS Y MIS SALUDOS A LOS QUE YA NO ESTAN CON NOSOTROS.
JULITO TX

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... bongos.jpg

Posted: **Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:58 am**

Julito,

The Skin on Skin you're getting from Mario is just like mine in the photo. The Skin on Skin is the bongo' that I play when I'm asked to play bongo', the gigs I get far and in between (Miami is a dead town when it comes to salsa and Latin jazz) are mostly on congas. I have played the SOS in a sexteto format with tres and two trumpets, no piano and the SOS bongo sounds real sweet and on account it's oak (roble) it sounds very crisp. I has a mule skin from Cali on the hembra and cow hide on the macho. Suena con coj..es ! You are going to love it. Que vola' con ese bongo LP preistorico ?
Is as old as the one you got from me.

ROMPE TAMBO', Dario.

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Rare, hard to find Skin on Skin - Jay Bereck bongos.