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Leedy,

I think this is a good subject to dig into it. Do you have any examples (youtube) or can explain the proper way to hold the bongos and posture while playing. Also proper way to hold the cowbell, after awhile some of them big cowbells get heavy on the hands. I can see where doing things the wrong way has the potential to do damage to muscle, tendons, bones, nerves etc. Some of us are not really professional players and can learn something from the players that has been doing this professionally for a long time. That's the benefit of having experience pros like JC and yourself in the forum.

I've started using a stand to take some of the weight off. Not all the time but about half the time especially when playing a very heavy bongo, like my El Piernas, for a long time. I have 3 of the seated player stands, Sonar, Meinl, & Pearl. They all have their advantages but with the Pearl you can put the bongo on and take it off really fast & easily. I haven't had any physical problems yet from playing but I don't want to push it.

Psych1 wrote:I've started using a stand to take some of the weight off. Not all the time but about half the time especially when playing a very heavy bongo, like my El Piernas, for a long time. I have 3 of the seated player stands, Sonar, Meinl, & Pearl. They all have their advantages but with the Pearl you can put the bongo on and take it off really fast & easily. I haven't had any physical problems yet from playing but I don't want to push it.

I am glad you mentioned "seated stand", thank you. I was thinking about it yesterday as an option to keep some of the wear and tear at bay. Never used one before but I probably should get me one before too long. Also with the stand you can minimize the chance of dropping the bongo and doing damage to the drum itself.

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I think playing some of them over sized bongos put a lot of strain on the body.
I can think of the Pearl Elite bongos with the heavy duty hardware. That's a large
and heavy bongo to keep in between your legs comfortably, a good candidate to
keep in a seated stand. Them old LP mahogany bongos come to mind when I think about
a good,, light and comfortable bongo to play. Perhaps in way it was a good thing when bongos
were tack-on heads, no hardware and the head sizes not too big.

But then you have to carry the sterno!

Also, I've never dropped my bongos but I have kicked over a stand with the bongos on it. The Pearl stand has a very small base. When you take a break you have to take the bongos off or lay the stand down

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You know when I wrote about the tack head bongos I was thinking about Jose Mangual Sr. (Buyu).
I have seen photos of Jose Mangual Sr. while playing bongos and there is a charisma that come
through his posture,same thing with Carlos "Patato" Valdes. They radiated this charisma, pride,
and hipness behind them drums that made you want to pick-up bongo or conga and learn how to
play them. I wonder if Jose Mangual Sr. posture and ergonomics while playing the bongos can be
considered good?

Love that picture. I noticed how Buyu has another set of bongos standing-by his side. He was taking
no chances.

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I've gotten rid of bongos just because they were too heavy or too wide to hold comfortably.
I also made sure to get a throne that goes low enough for my feet to rest comfortably on the
ground when I'm holding bongos with my legs.

I think a lot of mainstream bongos now are made for stands. There are probably as many guys playing bongos
on a stand up stand in combination with congas on a stand than there are sit down players.

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I think the Pearl Elite is heavier and wider than the LP Generation 3 due to the hardware.
Too accommodate the comfort curve hardware the Pearl Elite center block is wider than
usual. The lugs on the Pearl Elite are heavy duty gauge. The LP Generation 3 comes with
traditional hardware only making it a bit lighter and smaller than the Pearl Elite.

That''s a good point, Bongosnotbombs. Perhaps some of this mass produced big bongo sets
are meant to be mounted on a stand rather than played in a traditional way.

Leedy,

Them Pearl Elite look good on that seated stand. Cuco, what you don't have?

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leedy2 wrote: lol : I don't really know there is so much junk at home and in warehouse that I don't know what I have

I tell you must live by "The one that has the most toys wins".

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