congaplace.com

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ONE DOES NOT BUY AN EXPENSIVE, OR CUSTOM DRUM BECAUSE OF NEED.
ONE BUYS ONE, BECAUSE OF WANT.

WITH THAT SAID, IF I ONLY HAVE TWO WEEKS OF EXPERIENCE, VS LET'S SAY, SOMEONE WITH 46 YEARS. DOES IT MEAN HE DESERVES TO OWN SUCH A DRUM, AND I DO NOT.

HOW ONE SPENDS, ONE'S OWN HARD EARNED CASH, IS A PERSONAL MATTER AND NO ONE ELSE'S BUSINESS.

THAT IS WHY WE ALL MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES.

THOSE THAT FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES DON'T NEED TO BOAST, OR LECTURE DOWN TO OTHERS.

ONLY EMPTY EGOS NEED FILLING.

AND THOSE THAT NEED THAT FILLING KNOW EXACTLY WHO THEY ARE.

IT'S ALL ABOUT MAKING THAT WONDERFUL LIFE LONG JOURNEY OF HAND DRUMMING. THE WANTS, THE DESIRES, THE FUN, THE FUN AND THE FUN. THE CHEAP DRUMS, THE BAD SKINS, THE GOOD SKINS, AND THE DREAMS. BUYING THE BETTER DRUMS, THE MAKE OVERS, AND THE REPAIRS. THE BUYING AND SELLING. LEARNING FROM A GOOD TEACHER, AND SO ON AND SO ON.

CHARLIE.

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Hey Leedy, if you see a $200 dollar drum on Ebay- please send me the link ASAP!

All kidding aside I see what you mean.

We all go through phases: the excitment phase of researching a passion, then the action phase when we finally purchase the item, then the acknowledgement phase when we have the item and find that it may or may not be exactly what we are looking for. This can be a car, a watch, or a drum. In this society we look at buying things to make us feel better. Then when we realize that it doesn't we move on to the next item.

For me buying the mid-end LP drums were great. I switched the skins to mule and they rock! I don't need the expensive handmade ones right now, as I play whenever I have the time. I do own a Rhythm Traders ash that was on sale and it's great, may change out that head too. I would love to own those awesome big name drums, doubt I ever will.

It may be frustrating to you to see the expensive drums appear to be cheapened by someone's lack of self buying control. You cannot change people by a chat thread. Sometimes people have to learn the hard/expensive way before learning (we all have done this at some point throughout our lives). Until then, I will look out for such a deal!

Leedy,

Agree with you completely.

You got to love it. You tell it like it is, no sugar coating Leedy. “Verdad Amarga, Straight No Chaser”. Good advice. I bet many people today wish they had listen or had somebody told them the reality of “I Want It” Versus “Do I Really Need It” when they bought all of them houses they could not afford just because they want it, it was their business and their hard earned money. With that kind of attitude and 2 cents get you to be homeless quicker that you can say “Ouch, I Got Burned”. Only if they had listened and went with what they could really afford. Bigger and more expensive is not necessarily better and what you really need.

You know the other night I was watching a whole lot of Giovanni Hidalgo videos and he is amazing and sounded awesome, the funny thing is that in all of them videos Giovanni was playing some sort of mass produced drum in many cases with stock buffalo heads. Same night I was watching Mambo Legends Orchestra videos and Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez got to be the best big band bongocero around his bongo playing was out of sight. But the funny thing again is that Dandy was not playing a “boutique” handmade bongo set he was playing his signature LP set in many cases with stock heads.

I completely understand what you are trying to say Leedy and you are trying to help some of the new kids that might be mislead with all the wonderful information here about artisan handmade drums. In reality lots of times people do not have the means to afford this expensive drums and truth be known you do not have to break the bank to own a descent set of drums. If LP drums are good enough for Giovanni and Dandy,and Pearl drums are good enough for Bobby Allende and Marc Quinones they ought be good for us too, Would not you think? I mean this are what you call “Top Notch Professionals”. Come on this is common sense; is not so much the drums is the player that makes the drum sing.
No wonder so much stuff shows up on ebay and craigslist at cents on the dollar. I have learned to seek the advice from experience people before I jump in the muddy waters. To have people like Leedy, Dario and Johnny Conga on this forum is a very good thing. Experience is priceless.

Hand made drums are a joy to the touch and a pleasure to hear and feel. When I play LP's and such, sure they sound fine, but they feel dead to me. I enjoy supporting humble artisans like Jay and Ralph. I always recommend people to get the best they can afford for the pleasure of having a nice instrument and because the better drums usually hold their value better.

Life is short, as good a reason as any to treat yourself to whatever drums you want. No one needs to justify why they bought the drums they did. You don't need to play 7 days a week to justify having drums by Matt Smith. That's the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard. Giovanni may sound good on his LP's, but he would sound better on some SOS. And guess what? I'm not Giovanni, I can't make a set of Aspires sound like SOS drums. But I can make my SOS drums sound like SOS drums. And nobody can make a set of LP's feel like SOS.

and finally.

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Bongosnotbombs,

The question is "Can you sound better playing your SOS than say Giovanni playing LP Aspires?" Do we need to answer that one. I have seen Giovanni play cooking pans and pots and made them sing. Imagine you and Giovanni trying out for the conga chair on the Eddie Palmieri band. You bring your SOS and Giovanni brings some old raggedy Matadors with stock buffalo heads. Who you think is going to be EP's conga player? You or Giovanni? We do not need to answer this one either. The thruth is you do not have to have SOS or any other artisan handmade drum to sound good.

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I play better with better drums. But still not better than Gio on pots & pans.

Sorry, but this is a goofy topic to me, and now it's disintegrating into Gio playing pots and pans...?
As was stated already, where one spends their own $$$ is nobody's business but their own!

The last time I heard this topic discussed, there was at least some light shed on the subject.
How many string players spend too much $$$ on their guitar collections, amps, sound effects..?
The answer of course is NONE of them... just ask them!

I recently donated my first set of congas (CP's with the cheaper hardware) to my instructor for his youth lessons. He told me that he has been playing them at home lately, as he really likes the way they sound. Great for him, but I was donating them to make room for a couple new drums... my Islas. Sure the CP's didn't sound bad, but no where near the sound of the Islas. I also have a set of Matadors with Remo heads, and Meinl LC's with L&H mules. I now have three sets, with three distinct sounds. I have collected them over the years, and only did so when I could afford to. However, now I feel quite wealthy in the conga department... Thank You Very Much!!!

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Psych1 wrote:I play better with better drums. But still not better than Gio on pots & pans.

In my case I play better with more practice and understanding of the fundamentals.

SpEd wrote:Sorry, but this is a goofy topic to me, and now it's disintegrating into Gio playing pots and pans...?
As was stated already, where one spends their own $$$ is nobody's business but their own!

Agreed. This is a silly topic that makes me laugh.
Too bad the forum seems to be digressing with stupid threads like these.

bongosnotbombs wrote:Life is short, as good a reason as any to treat yourself to whatever drums you want. No one needs to justify why they bought the drums they did. You don't need to play 7 days a week to justify having drums by Matt Smith. That's the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard.

Well said, only a bitter, jealous person would disagree with this.
Play the drums that please you.