JCR bongos - one-piece mahogany shells: for sale

[taikonoatama]

Hey,

I'm sadly parting with my awesome JCR bongos. I just don't play bongos enough to justify keeping such nice ones in the closet.

Let me know if you have any questions.

James

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0319397407

http://picasaweb.google.com/taikonoatama/JCRBongos

[umannyt]

Hi James,

Gorgeous bongos! I wish I were in the market for those beauties. At present, I still have my Gon Bops CA bongos which are sufficient for me and which I absolutely love!

Btw, I noticed your congas behind one of the pictures of your JCR bongos. What are they? JCRs, too? I don't believe that I saw them when I drove over to your place to pick up the JCR timbales that I had bought from you. I just remember your Valjes and the fiberglass congas.

And btw, I love the old-school sound of the JCR timbales. One time, I brought them to a jam session (R&B, funk and Latin rock music) in Tracy, CA. One of the percussion cats who brought his LP Giovanni congas noticed the JCRs and gave them the "wow" look. He told me that he had heard cool things about them and that that was the 1st time that he had ever seen a pair before.

Anyway, should your potential customer(s) need any reference as to how well you take care of your instruments (and you do), please tell them to email me. I'd be more than happy to vouch for you.

Best regards,

[taikonoatama]

Thanks for the kind words, Manny.

I'm glad you're enjoying those JCR timbales - they're pretty amazing drums, with a lot of soul.

The drums seen in the photo behind the JCR bongos are oak Skin on Skins. I got them directly from Jay a couple of years ago and love them.

I used to own a set of JCR congas, which were very nice, but sold them to buy my King Congas (and because they were just crazy heavy and a pain to haul up and down the stairs).

James

[KING CONGA]

The drums seen in the photo behind the JCR bongos are oak Skin on Skins

Hi Taikonoatama could you tell me a little about your experience in buying your skin on skins? How long was your waiting time? Would you mind posting a couple of more pictures Thanks.

[bongosnotbombs]

If anyone is on the fence about these bongos, I've played them and they sound incredible..
Slaps like you would not believe. A really excellent bongo, my money is tied up in other projects
or I'd would get them myself.

[yambu321]

THE SHELLS ARE ACTUALLY BY CARIBBEAN RYTHM'S. JUST LIKE MINE, AND THEBREEZE.
THE CENTER BLOCK WAS STAMPTED BY, I GUESS JCR. THE HARDWARE AND THE SKINS ARE ALSO BY JCR. THE SHELLS ARE GREAT, AND SOUND EXCELLENT. BUT, THEY ARE CARRIBBEAN RYTHMS SHELLS.

CHARLIE.

[Thebreeze]

Charlie is correct. I guess we all know by now that JCR does not make the shells, but completes them with his hardware and skins and thus the end result is a JCR Bongo. But we also know that there is nothing wrong with this in any way. His end result bongos are legendary in my opinion and nothing will ever take that away. So I have to say to taikonoatama that whoever gets your bongos will have a very nice set of JCRs. If it wasn't because I have the same bongos as you but with Matthew Smith hardware and El Greco mule skins, I would have sent you a PM a long time ago.
p.s. I will post pics of my bongos in about three weeks on my other thread when I have all the issues ironed out.

Will.

[yambu321]

THEBREEZE,

I'M PROUD OF YOU BRO, YOU DID THE RIGHT THING.
BOTH MATTHEW SMITH, AND JCR MAKE GREAT HARDWARE.

BOTH OF YOUR GUY'S BONGOS ARE GREAT EXAMPLES OF OLD SCHOOL, NOW.

CHARLIE.

[Isaac]

Regarding the Caribbean Rhythm Bongos & JCR Bongo Shells.

Unfortunately your information is only half right.
If you were to put a Caribbean Rhythm mahogany shell
next to the JCR of the same wood you'd see & feel specific
differences in the shape, inside finising and most important,
the bearing edge. It would be better to believe you
have a JCR shell, when you may not. The Dominican shells
are very thick & heavy in comparison. They have a more pronounced taper
and a smaller bottom, so that regular lugs may not fit well.
The one currently on eBay is definitely a JCR. (Taikotanama's)
Some of the other recent pics here are likely Caribbean Rhythm
shells only...can't say without holding them up close.
I'm sure in the right hands they all sound very good.

Isaac Gutwilik
Percussionist / Sales Rep. Tradicion / JCR Percussion

[bongosnotbombs]

I don't know if it's 100% right to say they are Caribbean Rhythm shells,
Caribbean Rhythms might have outsourced their shells as well, it's possible.

If a sub contractor makes shells for Carribean Rhythms according to their specs,
and also shells for JCR according to their specs, aren't the end products are still different and
different brands? One is JCR and the other is Carribean Rhythms.

JCR put their stamp on the shells, skins and the hardware as well. They are not a one off like Will's
which are not branded as Matt Smith's but have Matt Smith after market hardware. Of course there's no
doubt Matt makes his own shells.

[Thebreeze]

I think that we should nip this whole thing in the bud. Are you then saying that Cali had Caribbean Rhythms make his shells to certain dimensions and shapes that would suit Cali's preference for bongos? Or are you saying that Cali actually lathed his own bongos in his Brooklyn shop out of blocks of mahogany and Caribbean Rhythms must have copied his design to a tee? I ask this question to see what your answer will be because for one thing, even though you are the JCR Rep/salesman, etc..
I know people from New York that have been going to JCRs shop for many many years and they have told me that they never saw Cali making any bongo shells out of blocks of wood in his shop. So please let's hear what you have to say about this specific issue and I am sure that the truth will come out after a short while.
p.s...I am working on getting more info from other people in this matter and will post as I get it.

Don't anyone get me wrong here...Every time this issue seems to be resolved, someone adds more mistery to it as Isaac has just done. So if anyone knows if must be Isaac. Please share with every one on the forum exactly what it the truth??

[bongosnotbombs]

Will and James, I copped your photos to make this comparison.
The bongos look pretty close to the same, but Will's look thicker to me.
The JCR's look a little straighter, especially the macho IMHO, I don't know maybe not..it's close.
The center blocks are different for sure.

Also Will's are shown here refinished, his bongos originally looked a bit different.
I'm not trying to prove anyones argument, just a comparison...

[Thebreeze]

Please see the past post titled "JCR Bongos - Any way to tell their age? " I just put it on top of the list. Here is a picture of an older set of JCR Bongos I had and notice the severe taper on the Hembra?. This is a JCR Bongo. Read Isaacs post there for some insight on them.

[taikonoatama]

I'll just throw in the full measurements of my set here for everyone:

Outside diameters of shells:

Hembra
top: 8 1/4"
bottom: 7"

Macho
top: 6 3/4"
bottom: 6"

I got mine second-hand a year or so ago and do not know their age. Maybe the shells were turned/lathed in the Dominican Republic and not the Bronx (not sure if it's still legal to import Caribbean or Honduran mahogany lumber). It's likely that in a country like the DR that others besides Caribbean Rhythms turn shells. I have no idea of the real source of the shells - bottom line is they're some fine JCR mahogany bongos.

[Thebreeze]

James jcr bongo measurements are 100% exactly the same as my Dominican mahogany shells. Same measurements on top, and bottoms.

Will.