Breaking in new congas - Different techniques

[Sakuntu]

Hey folks-I just bought my first new set of congas. LP Classics-natural with chrome hardware. I've been playing an old matador wood quinto and a Fiberglass LP original conga for the past 15 years and thanks to my lovely wife was able to save up and get new tubs! :laugh:

So i've been trying to break em in. As you can probably guess my old tubs were super broken in and felt great to play. while these new drums sound and look good, they feel way to new and "foreign" to me. I've been playing about and hour every night for the past week and have been tuning em up pretty high to get the skins to set properly. does anyone use any other methods or techniques to break in new drums? Obviously I'm new at having new drums! :;):

[CongaTick]

Sakuntu,

Patience, patience, patience, brother. These drums seem so simple, and yet in reality they are a complex combination of wooden staves, leather and hardware. It'll take a while. You tune up and tune down and keep the head occasionally oiled and play them and it'll happen. I've had a pair of LP Ardientes with mules on them for almost 2 years, and they're just now getting to where they and I are in synch. It's sometimes less a question of breaking in your drums than getting yourself in tune with what they offer. Didn't mean to get Zen-ny, but hey....I'm feeling wiggy this AM.

[GuruPimpi]

Nicely put...
so true!

[yoni]

"It's sometimes less a question of breaking in your drums than getting yourself in tune with what they offer" - CongaTick

May sound "Zen-ny", but it rings very true to me. I agree, and think enjoying the new sounds and playing the drum a lot will tune up both the drum and the drummer. The new drum will likely sound even better with time and playing, but no reason you can't start to make it sound nice already.



Edited By yoni on 1171115605