COMFORT OF EL PIERNAS IN TRADITIONNAL POSITION???

[JOHNNY6]

Hi,I hear from a lot of you,that EL PIERNAS,sound good but are heavy...besides their massive weight,are they otherwise comfortable to play in seated traditional position, hardware and size wise ???(Please only respond if you actually own one...)/and do you rather go with staves ones,or 1 piece(if they still exist as 1 piece),and palo santo or guayacan?and lastly is the macho's edge sharp or rounded?Thanks for sharing the knowledge.Johnny6.

[Psych1]

I've had one for about 6 or 7 years and have another one on the way. Everything about it is heavy - the wood, the crown, the lugs, the thick skins. You can get a cast aluminum bottom or the heavy steel bottom. I always played it in the trad position and, although heavy, I found it comfortable to play. But these days for any extended play I play it on a Meinl seated stand.

HR is mainly a hardware guy now. He still makes shells but also gets some from others. I don't believe he made any of the new solid shells. Mine is Palo Santo staves. Most of the ones being sold now are other woods.

Palo Santo and Guayacan are just different names for the same wood. There are a lot of other names for that wood. It is an extremely hard wood and was once used to make bearings that would hold up better than steel. I believe it gets even harder as it ages and dries over time. The density of the wood makes it heavy but also reflects the sound so that a Palo Santo drum projects differently than any other wood.

The El Piernas is a great bongo.

[JOHNNY6]

Thanks P1,that's really helpful.Where u happy with their original skins or did u change them?and also is the macho's edge sharp or rounded?Thanks again.J6.

[Psych1]

Both skins are thicker than I have on any other bongo but were great skins and I kept them. Still have the original hembra skin. I only changed the macho because the original one ripped - the shells can take it so I often cranked it up very high. The bearing edge is flat - rounded a bit at the edge. The shell is just under 3/4" thick. The new one I have coming might be different.