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So I have a set of Gon Bops California coming. Store display that have probably never even been tuned. Should be here on Thursday.

So I will put the little bit of Aciete Culebra that I have left on the heads. Should be just about enough. But what if anything should I treat the shells with? Looking around I found some lemon oil for guitar fret boards. Would a little of that on a rag wiped in the inside of the drum be a good idea, or do you have better ideas.

I was going to sell my Matadors to help defray the cost, but reading on here made me decide that I need a kick around set. One that can be left in the car etc. I did sell an unused window AC unit on CragsList this weekend so I feel better. For some odd reason it went real quick I'm looking at either the Meinl pro bag or the Drum Seeker for home storage and careful around town carrying and the Matadors might just live in the car while the Gon Bops will live a pampered life.

Congratulations on the new drums. Sounds like you were able to get a set with skins and not plastic heads. I've got a California Gon Bops quinto which is just a phenomenal drum, it came with a remo head, but I have skin on it now. I haven't "treated" it or any of my drums on the interior with anything. The only one I know that does that is Charlie on the board here, he uses olive oil I think.

I think keeping the Matadors is the way to go, it's always good to have a "kick around set" or a back up set.

I've been drooling over the pictures of them in a 2007 catalog since, well since I got the catalog. I admired the design of the current hardware since I first saw it on a friends set of 3 Sol congas over 10 years ago. Elegant, simple and nice use of standard materials.

These have the horse macho and cow hembra. I don't have anything against others using synthetic but I plain don't like it. Don't like the feel of it on the drums that I've played, it feels greasy after you play for a while to me. Looking forward to upping the ratio of not rubberwood in my collection and the lighter weight too. Sometime down the road I might put some better heads on the Matadors to see what that does and work on evening out the hembra's bearing edge some more.

I am so jealous of the Rumba scene that you have in SF. We do have folks around here that know it but no regular get together, and we've never really had the singing and some of the time no clave and palittos even. I have a friend there that is always trying to get me to come down to SF but finances are tight. I used to be a rock n' roller and pretty much dropped saxophone and guitar on September 27, 1996 when Grupo AfroCuba did a show and a two day workshop here so Rumba is how I got started in this.

Ah, I didn't realize you got a set of bongos, for some reason I thought you got a set of congas. The GB bongos are cool too. Charlie has a pair of those as well. I've played the California bongos several times. Very nice.

"OUT FOR DELIVERY" Just walked the pup up and down the street a bunch of times so as not to miss the big brown truck.

Congratulations on a great set of drums. Be sure to post some pictures for us conga Junkies.

Big brown truck came and left me with about two hours before I had to get ready for work. I'm a very happy boy and love the sound and the lighter weight. Has a dryer sound without so much ring and I can play much softer on these and get more out of them. Actually I am going to have to learn a lighter touch with them. And that's without even having them cranked very tight. They are almost comfortable enough to play as is but after a while I tuned them down and rotated the lugs to fit in my knee joints the way that I like. The skins were super dry of course and I just put some extra udder balm on my hands to start. As the clock headed towards that time I tuned them down, put some grease on the lugs and some oil on the heads and put them away.

I looked back and forth at the Drum Seeker and Meinl Pro bags on this thread and have a Drum Seeker bag on the way. Looked at other options of course. Lower price and the fact that I'm going to baby these are the reason for the choice.

I just got a second chance on an Ebay auction for an 18" Ludwig kick drum and should be driving up to Columbus to pick it up this weekend. After that I need to keep it in my pants for a while. My wallet that is. So for now it's off to the woodshed. New toys are fun but never as important as the three P's.

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Well the skins were dry. I just dipped my finger in it and smeared some on. Didn't use a whole lot.

Years ago on the rec.music.afrolatin newsgroup someone was talking about using Aciete Culebra on drum heads and said to go down to your local Botanica and get some. He was from NY, NY and I made a smart ass remark about not going down to my corner Botanica here in Cincinnati, OH. He said to give him my address and he sent me some. I put it on some congas and it did seem to liven them up. Other than the fact that the name means snake oil, I have no idea what it actually is.

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Advice taken. But as I get older my skin is drying out and there are times when I can tell that the drums are absorbing the oil from my hands. My drums do tend to live inside in climate control. My favorites are udder balm - the real kind that you get from the farm store, and the funky shea butter that is less refined and actually has small chunks in it.

Aciete Culebra: a joint lubricant as for arthritis or the like? Any idea what is actually in it?

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ROBERTHELPUS,

CONGRATS ON YOUR PURCHASE OF A PAIR OF GON BOPS, CALIFORNIA SERIES BONGOS; YOU'VE MADE A GREAT CHOICE!
THEY ARE WELL MADE, COMPACT, COMFORTABLE, AND WONDERFUL TO PLAY. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR YOU TO ORDER A SKIN FOR YOUR MACHO, AS A RESERVE. THE HORSEHIDE ON THE MACHO IS VERY THIN AND WILL NOT LAST LONG TERM.

REMEMBER DON'T GO THICK ON THE MACHO, THIN IS BETTER FOR THE POP. I TRIED BOTH MULE AND CALF, ON THE MACHO, THEY ARE BOTH EXCELLENT BUT I AM HAPPIEST NOW WITH THE CALF SKIN ON BOTH THE MACHO AND THE HEMBRA I BOUGHT FROM MICHAEL AT L&H PERCUSSION LAST YEAR.

MICHAEL OF L&H IS THE ONE I TRUST FOR ALL MY DRUM SKIN NEEDS.

FOR DRUM MAINTENANCE, I RECOMMEND OLIVE OIL. JUST A NICE LIGHT AND EVEN COAT EVERY NOW AND THEN. IT'S NATURAL, NON TOXIC, AND DOES A GREAT JOB. IT'S EVEN GOOD FOR YOUR HANDS. USE IT THROUGHOUT THE DRUM. INSIDE, AND OUT, HARDWARE AND SKINS. (NEVER OVER DO IT THOUGH). ALWAYS WIPE THE SKINS AND SHELLS WITH A CLEAN DRY CLOTH BEFORE USE.

HAVE FUN,
YOU'RE BLESSED WITH VERY FINE SET.

CHARLIE.

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SOUNDS GOOD!