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Here is a link to some bongos on ebay with the brand name of Sonoc which I understand is a Cuban brand.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cuban-m ... _720wt_917

Does Sonoc make lower end bongos as well as high end? I take a good close look at these and I see low quality tuning lugs, and the rest to me is nothing to write home about. So without trying to offend anyone that would defend this brand, what it the big deal? Give me a set of HR Bongos all day long. Those are quality drums from everything I have seen and heard about them.

They are sitting at a whopping $.99 at the moment. So far nobody else has "gotten it."

Someone else can weigh in on whether they are actually "Over 50 years old." That sticker looks a bit more modern to me than that.

Here is another one, supposed to be Requena. To me these
set does not have curb appeal and look cheaply made specially
the hardware. We know well is not the arrow is the Indian.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970s-Vintage-C ... 1101721677

Here is the Chief Indian with the arrow I preferred:

Its da wood baby! Some of the later cuban drums ( and those are defintely later) didn't have the best hardware. C'mon , this is post embargo Cuba, dude you should see what people have to get by on over there! Havng said that to me it's all about the wood! My sonocs are old enough to have some really heavy duty hardware on them, but the later ones didn't have the real heavy duty rims or tuning lugs. but the wood? Ask Dario, he has a set made just like those with the alternating caoba and cedro.

I know wood has a lot to do with it, but I think that would be an argument that would suit Conga Drums better since with bongos you are not talking about much wood to begin with, and the bottoms of bongos are wide open. More important for bongos to me are the skins. I am not a professional bongocero, but I know a good bongo when I play it, like most of us on this forum that have bongos and love to play them. One of my favorite sets is a "Fiberglass" set of older Meinl Bongos. Being fiberglass makes them " solid shell ", and Having excellent skins on them gives them a great sound. I heard Omelenko mention how nice some bongos he has sound. Here are his own words...
"I don't know what makes this bongo' or SONOCS in general sound so loud and clear. Must be the Caoba and Cedro combination." I am no specialist in wood characteristics but I seriously doubt that a combination of two woods is what gives them the good sound. Put on some lousy skins, and the sound is not there. As far as the wood goes, does this mean that if you use 100% cedro or 100% caoba that the bongos will not sound as good since it must be the combination of the two?????? Where is the sense in that?? A good quality bongo needs 3 things ... Quality hardware, Quality skins, and Quality shells, wether wood or fiberglass. As far as combinations of Wood goes.....pure cosmetics.

p.s... Please don't get hostile anybody, I am not looking for bad vibes, just stating my opinon here.

welll, I've payed quite a few different bongos. The wood to me most certainly plays a large part in the character of the sound, as much as the heads do and most importantly the player. Walnut to me is the best sounding wood I've heard for bongos. If wood made no difference we'd all be perfectly happy with matadors con plastico o buen cuero. But we are not , which is why we spend money on really nice solid and stave woods. My 2 pesos.

To recap my last post....

A good quality bongo needs 3 things ... Quality hardware, Quality skins, and Quality shells, wether wood or fiberglass. As far as combinations of Wood goes.....pure cosmetics.

As far as the Player goes, "That is a given" We could never compare a beginner to a pro could we?

So In what you said, I agree.

p.s....Don't knock Matador Bongos. A friend of mine has a set, just like you said, with synthetic heads, and they sound great. I play them when I go over his house. The problem with Matadors is when you get them new, the heads are horrible. But the wood is good, the hardware is good too. Just replace the heads and you have a nice set that you can play on any stage. I have seen it many times.

I didn't knock them at all, I'm just saying if that were the case then.....

if half the wood is one type, half the other then most DEFINITELY it's going to have an impact on the wood portion of the sound. Whatever that is.


Remmber, cats can jam on a door with some spoons on a table. So yeah the groove makes it happen. BUT people spend $$$ for quality WOODS! Like african mahogany, honduran when you can get it, caoba, walnut etc.

Sooo, the thing to me about the sonoc sound is always the wood, the cuban wood, grown on the red cuban earth, just like the tabaco, nothing like it, the rum, the women, the music. It's very special.

Caoba and Cedro are both very melodic woods, why do you think the likes of Tata, Los Muñequitos and Yoruba Andabo played SONOC, the wood has a lot to do with it. I have different quality bongos and they all sound great and different. This particular set of SONOC sound awesome, incredible projection, very crisp macho sound and in this particular set the hardware is superior to the ones shown on Ebay.

Yes, the riveted hardware. Nice , like them.

OK, Now at least my question has been answered, It does look like Sonoc did make lower end Bongos since the hardware on the ebay bongos is inferior to Omelenko1's bongos. That is what this thread was about to begin with. Bottom line.....
Where the bongos come from, or who made them is not the important thing. The important thing is are they Quality through and through.

you can pay top dollar for prize woods and workmanship such as Tom Alexanders Volcano's but you do not necessarily get the best sound. I have both sonoc and volcano and yes the hardware is inferior yes the workmanship in the stave joining is inferior but The sound from the sonocs is a big cut above and they are gorgeous to play it could be the shape and also the wood of course ,I'm talking congas here so for bongo this might have less of an importance.

Come on people, 50 years old Bongó? what would you do with it? put it on display? If you take it to gig or just regular high tune Macho play,the wood may collapse on you. Because it is old & made of whatever wood does not means is going to sound better than one made yesterday of the same wood & same specs.

Agree with salzfaas! I've never played SONACS but I have some Requenas. Cheap wood, crappy hardware, cheap goat skins. But, they sound great. As good as, maybe better than, some of the "best". Must be the mojo.

Those SONOCS are not 50 yrs. old, they are from the 80's. Don't know what makes them project so good, maybe the cylindrical shape or the wood, but they sound better than most of your custom made bongos.