Street Warriors Bongos

[caballoballo]

Saludos,post pictures of the Bongos that you take to Rumbas,to the streets for beating, to low end clubs, to anywhere that you do not care if they get scratch, fall, rip apart,crack,stole on the worse case, etc,etc . These are the ones I got, an Old Lp from Garfield N.J and a Matador Custom from Asia. The others I own (Moperc,3A,Timbas Del Valle)only go out for special ocasion gigs

[Thebreeze]

These are mine, a set of black fiberglass Meinl bongos with a mule on the macho and cow on the hembra. Very dependable.

[salcero1]

My choices John Rodriguez model and Juan R. Figueroa model. Durable, good sound and nicely weighted although the Figueroa model is about 1lb. lighter. Either one would do the job.

[caballoballo]

This is nother one I could take anywhere. The Lp is taken out of that list. It is an old warrior and deserve to have better ranking.

[Thebreeze]

salcero1, nice bongos! haha. Good to see you here again my friend. Glad you are enjoying your bongos. Those Dandys are sharp. I really like the color scheme, and I know that they must sound nice as well.

[salcero1]

Yes sir still here, The Figueroas have that beautiful skin and deep tone that an hembra should sound like. The dandy's I've experimented with Remo Fyberskins, Skyndeeps and the natural heads they came with. I have to say the Skyndeep sound best for synthetic heads and believe it or not the skins that came with the set are of nice quality as well. They sound very good although I guess the Hembra could use a little more conditioning and breaking in to acheive the sound I seek. I've adapted your style in giving the bongo a certain distinct look with super gluing a metal jacket lapel pin to the centerblock of the Dandys. It's the commonwealth seal of Puerto Rico as seen in the photo below.Good to hear from you as well. Peace...

Jorge.

[Thebreeze]

That's a nice touch, looks great. Happy drumming Jorge!!

[Jaisen Torres]

this thread would get better if members would post some pics & respond... im sure there is a lot of nice sets out there.

[maelopr]

Well, here are mine, 2 Meinls (I'm sort of a fan of the brand), w/remos all around to pound away without worries...a 400 series and old German Woodcraft 7" & 9"....

[roberthelpus]

I m a very bad person. I left my first set of bongos - 90s Matador with traditional rims - in my Grand Cherokee for about two years. Detuned of course. I just pulled them out and they are no worse for the wear.

The hembra has the original skin and the macho has an LP "Hand Picked." They don't sound too bad as is. I oiled them up with a bit of Udder Balm and they now sound better as they were pretty dry. They are louder and brasher than my Gon Bops California series and not nearly as responsive. The GBs are just so much warmer and nicer sounding. I guess if I had to really project in a unmiced or poorly miced situation I'd use them. One of these days I will try some better skins but no hurry on that right now.

Please talk me out of just leaving them in the car again.

[Mike]

Finally I jumped on the train as well
and purchased a "street warrior" bongó,
as both my LP mahogany and the Raúl
are too dear to carry around outside.

Well, in my case I stumbled over a *brandnew*
Meinl Livesound bongó with 7 and 9" shells.
That series has ceased to exist for quite a while,
so it is a vintage set again, but I was able to buy
it at a ridiculously low price

[roberthelpus]

Saludos,post pictures of the Bongos that you take to Rumbas,to the streets for beating, to low end clubs, to anywhere that you do not care if they get scratch, fall, rip apart,crack,stole on the worse case, etc,etc . These are the ones I got, an Old Lp from Garfield N.J and a Matador Custom from Asia. The others I own (Moperc,3A,Timbas Del Valle)only go out for special ocasion gigs

Now hold on there just a minute. Those LPs have current Gon Bops or old Sol hardware. What's the story. We demand full disclosure.

[caballoballo]

Robert, yes, you right, those crowns were from a set of gonbops I use to have. Once I put them on the Lp and they fitted perfectly giving that Bongo an excellent look. So they stayed on the Lp.

OKAY, Robert & Mike, where are the pictures of your warriors? I

[roberthelpus]

I kinda figured that they just aren't that interesting to look at. Golly, other than a logo change you could even go to a music store and see the same thing.



Imagine these with an almost worn off LP hand picked logo on the macho skin. The hembra head looks almost exactly like mine, uncannily so, except the graininess has been smoothed off. Of course the gold (colored) plating is coming off in places confirming my general dislike for gold plating on musical instruments in places that see rubbing or wear in general. I also spin my rims around so that one lug tucks into the bends of my knees on each side. Spun in opposite directions so that the macho is raised and the hembra lowered, orienting the drums somewhat evenly distanced from my hands.

Years ago, a friend and I compared these drums with his older generation IIs and the only non-cosmetic difference we could see is that the LP skins were of better quality. Different carving on the outside of the shells but I don't see that as having any practical significance.

Now if y'all insist I will gladly take a picture of the actual thing

[RitmoBoricua]

My 1980's Cosmic Percussion.