new company making solid shell congas

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new company making solid shell congas

Postby Anonimo » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:34 am

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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby Derbeno » Sun Dec 19, 2010 4:16 am

Actually they have been around for many years out of the same location in Culver City city in LA. They import the solid shells from Mali (i believe) and mount the skin and hardware in the shop.

I have played these congas in their shop, sound good but they are quite heavy.
Echale candela, p'afinar los cueros
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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby Anonimo » Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:02 pm

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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby ASByo » Tue Jul 05, 2011 2:05 pm

You should really check out http://www.manitopercussion.com. They also are a newer company making hand-crafted, solid shell congas and other drums and percussion instruments. Really high-quality pieces of work. I highly recommend them! The owner, Manito, is a top-notch guy who will literally bend over backwards to not only deliver you your drum as described, but to make sure you are further well taken care of. Nice guy and great company with beautiful solid shell congas.
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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby Tumbas » Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:25 am

ASByo wrote:You should really check out http://www.manitopercussion.com. They also are a newer company making hand-crafted, solid shell congas and other drums and percussion instruments. Really high-quality pieces of work. I highly recommend them! The owner, Manito, is a top-notch guy who will literally bend over backwards to not only deliver you your drum as described, but to make sure you are further well taken care of. Nice guy and great company with beautiful solid shell congas.


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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby congabluedog » Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:27 pm

Wow..This site is really impressive. I never considered solid shell because I was concerned with the drums cracking. But these drums are really beautiful and very reasonably priced. I am going to give Manito a call. Has anyone bought these congas and if so, was there any issue with cracking? Do you guys thing these drums can endure the intense climate changes in NY?
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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby Anonimo » Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:10 pm

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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby Manito » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:11 pm

Hi guys,

Great conversation! Thanks to ASByo for the mention! I just wanted to chime in here and give a little more info about my drums and solid shells.

Regarding cracks...I will say that the only drums I have ever owned that have cracks are stave drums. I know, I know, the solid shell drum guy stands behind solid shells, go figure. The only solid shell drums I have seen cracked were not dried properly (only air dried), or the shells were not culled during drying because there was too much work invested in them. I am able to select only the best roughed shells to make my drums from and at the end of the kiln drying process, I know which shells are still under stress. Those stressed shells do not get used to make Manito Percussion Drums, they get culled to make wood planters or tables which don't need to vibrate perfectly to become the best drums.

My drums are built using several processes to remove the stresses in wood. First the roughed out shells are boiled while still green. This is a wood turning technique which essentially anneals the wood by making it plastic so the stresses can relax before the shell is dried. Then each shell is kiln dried down to 8% Moisture Content then equalized and conditioned. When wood is reduced to 8% moisture content and then sealed with clear coat or stain, 99.99% of the potential for internal movement (internal movement causes cracks) has basically been removed. Even moving from areas of high to low relative humidity or vice versa can only change the Moisture Content of the sealed wood by hundredths or even thousandths of a percent. Such a small change will not result in a crack. This is how fine furniture is made so that it lasts a lifetime. My drums are built to last several lifetimes, though you may need to put new heads on every now and again... :wink:

That being said, with any wood instruments, art or even furniture, there is a small chance of developing cracks as time passes. Those cracks are due to internal stresses present in the wood which either are not or cannot be mediated by the builder. It doesn't matter so much how big the individual pieces are, ie, solid shell being one big piece of wood, and stave drums being many small pieces.

Stave drums have a decent tendency to crack either on glue lines where glue fails, or in the staves themselves because the glue holds together better than the wood grain. I always wonder where the mention of so many Valje Bauer, or Gon Bop etc. splits goes when people talk about solid shells being prone to cracking. I have fixed split LP's, Valjes (LP and Flores), Gon Bops, Timbas, Meinls, Tocas, various Mexican drums...etc. All stave repairs and mostly on the glue lines.

As a professional percussionist for the last 17+ years, I want to make professional quality drums that can be passed from father to son and down through the generations. I use all hand-polished Stainless Steel for my hardware, cold worked for extra strength and durability. MP hardware simply cannot rust out and the polish is not chrome so it can't flake off if the drum is exposed to humidity. Manito Percussion drums will stand up to NYC, Anchorage, Phoenix, N'Awlins, Atlanta, L.A., you name it...

I will also say on the subject of weight, my Rainbow or Yellow Poplar Congas weigh LESS than LP drums of comparable sizes, and they have hardware that is 3-4 times as strong. If you check out my website, all my inventory has each drum's weight listed in the details.

Thanks for checking out my site and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions!

-Manito
http://www.manitopercussion.com
info@manitopercussion.com
706-614-4563
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Re: new compay making solid shell congas

Postby burke » Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:54 pm

You sir are an excellent salesman!

Not in the market, but if I was I'd take second look after that post.

Cheers

Darrell
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Re: new company making solid shell congas

Postby Thaiconga » Sun Feb 03, 2013 1:55 am

I have never had any cracks in my solid shell congas or bongos.
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Re: new company making solid shell congas

Postby Ebongo » Wed Nov 13, 2013 2:02 am

I have a ManitoPercussion solid drum, and it is one of the finest hand drums made in the world. If you know that you'll be enjoying the instrument your whole life then there is no point with paying for mediocrity, or else buy cheap buy twice.
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