Guess the make of conga

[Simon B]

I've been listening a lot to Los Munequitos de Matanzas, 'vacunao', folkloric Cuban rumba. Can anyone tell me what sort of congas these folkloric Cuban artists use (I'm particularly blown over by the powerful, woody tone of the quinto on this CD). Is it true that a lot of the drums are made very locally in Cuba? Or do they go down to the store and buy a pair of very non-indegenous LPs (which I doubt from the sound, at any rate)?

Simon B

[JohnnyConga]

What I know is that they are local to Cuba. There is even a Tata Guines model conga with 7 keys on them,i have seen a picture of them. The wood is more likely to be Ceiba wood indigeneous to Cuba, and the drums are ususally thick and heavy. The more crudder congas that may be hand made are hollowed out logs in some cases where the middle is cut out and then burned on the inside to solidify the wood. It's an art making a conga, it truly is.....
At your Service...JC JOHNNY CONGA...

[Doctorumba]

Hey Simon B ,I got 4 of those,2 congas and 2 super tumbas.They are called SONOC, which stands for "Sonoridad Cubana".They are very heavy and are madeout of "Cahoba cubana", an extint caribbean mahogany wood indegenous of Cuba and Santo Domingo.Cahoba is on the "endanger species".The drums were made on the "Fernando Ortiz" factory in "El Cerro" neighborhood,which happens to be where I was born.They haven't use Cahoba since the mid 80's,now they use oak when they find it and lately they been using fiberglass.What I did since the hardware looked primitive,I had Junior Tirado in Brooklyn make the crowns and the sideplates for me.Mongo played my drums before he died and he loved the big fat sound they have.The conga can be tunned really high and the sound is incredible.Forget any mass produced drums,the will never compare.I paid dearly for them and have a letter from EGREM (Ministry of Culture) in la Habana.I also have 3 Vergaras made in Cuba in the early 50's, but the ones used by los "Mun~equitos" and "Los Papines" are SONOC. Saludos, Dario.

[Simon B]

Thanks for the info Doc. Would it be possible for me to import, say, a SONOC quinto from Cuba to my home in the UK? How much do you think it would cost?

Simon B

[Doctorumba]

Simon,
I got them from variuos sources,the last 2 I got from Tany,Willie Chirino's percussionist, that traded 4 LP's for them.I'm Cuban but haven't lived there in 41 years.My suggestion call Havana and ask for EGREM,but make sure you ask for SONOC made out of cahoba because I know they are making them of fiberglass now. Dario