HELP!! Conga Cleaning gone bad!

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HELP!! Conga Cleaning gone bad!

Postby COL66 » Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:31 pm

Hi guys.
So this year I decided to learn Latin percussion, and now I'm in love with it! Bought cheap bongos, upgraded to LPs, then decided it was time for congas. I'm a student, so don't have much spare cash. Thus, I bought some used 2007 LP Aspire congas on Craigstlist for $100. They sounded great, but they were filthy. So I read articles, watched videos, etc on how to clean congas.

I thought it was pretty straight forward, so I removed both heads, cleaned everything with a slightly moist cloth, Immediately dried everything off with a dry cloth.

I put on the smaller head first and was pleased with the better sound I got from it. The cleansing really did improve the sound of the smaller drum.

Then I put on the larger head and now it sounds HORRIBLE! Has a horrible ring to it. The sound that comes from it and the sound after, resembles an an electric guitar or an electric bass... reminds me of the deep ringing sound that comes from the back of an old fridge.

So i went back to the internet to try to figure out my problem.

This is what I have tried so far based on what i found on the net.
1. moisturizing the heads with lotion... then..
2. used the string and t-shirt thing inside the drum. then...
3. decided to soak the head in water, as i thought maybe it wasn't sitting well on the drum. then...
4. putting tape on the head. then...
5. taping a piece of sponge to the head.

after all this, still nothing. That head just doesn't sound good any more.

The heads say LP Aspire on them, so i'm assuming they are the original heads. Meaning they are now almost 5 years old.

Any tips? i'm assuming the head went bad because I removed it.

Is it time for a new head? Any way to revive the current head? If i have to get new heads, what's most cost effective one? I know it's based on taste, so this is what I can tell you. I tried out synthetic heads and I hate the sound. So I want a complete opposite sound of a synthetic. I like deep tones with little if any after-ringing noise.

Thank you in advance!
COL66
 
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:23 am

Re: HELP!! Conga Cleaning gone bad!

Postby jorge » Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:20 pm

Skins don't generally go bad just by removing them and putting them back on the drum. Something else must have changed from before to after your cleaning. First a few questions. Are they wood Aspires or fiberglass? Fiberglass drums in general have more ring and overtones, although those should be tamed pretty well when you put a sound absorber inside the drum. If the drum is wood, is the inside unfinished or finished? Finished wood on the inside of the drum can cause more ring. How smooth is the bearing edge, are there any cracks, rough areas or bumps? Are there any cracks in other parts of the shell? Sometimes taking a skin off allows cracks to open up, especially on the bearing edge. What is the diameter of the larger drum head, measured from the outside to outside of the bearing edge? How high or low is it tuned? A larger drum that sounds fine tuned lower may develop lots of overtones and ring when tuned too high. How thick or thin is the old skin? How are you hitting the skin, is your technique correct? Is the drum tuned evenly all around the 5 or 6 lugs? Are you playing the drum in the same room with the same acoustics and ambient background noise as before you took it apart? Sometimes the ring can't be heard over background noise and then when you play in a quiet room it sounds very prominent.

Some of these questions are harder to address over the internet and pretty easy to address in person with a good conga player or teacher. You didn't put your location in your identifying information, so we don't know where you are or whether there are likely to be experienced conga players or teachers near you.
jorge
 
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Re: HELP!! Conga Cleaning gone bad!

Postby COL66 » Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:37 pm

Thank you for your reply! I'm in Philly. Here are some pictures (as you can see the t-shirt thing is still in it). I have a theory, not sure how likely it is: Perhaps for the past 5 years the drum was never tuned correctly, meaning one side was way tighter than the opposite side, so the drum head morphed towards one side. Now, that I tightened all bolts evenly, the drum head is not sitting well due to the morphing. is that possible?

i've carefully inspected the drum and there are no cracks. pulled on the side, hugged it, etc and there are no cracks nor squeaks.

ive decided to soak the head for a while and then i'm going to try to put it back when it is softer.

I study long hours and take multiple breaks during the day to jam, now one of my jamming toys is not working!! :x
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COL66
 
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:23 am

Re: HELP!! Conga Cleaning gone bad!

Postby vxla » Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:56 am

The overtone "problem" really isn't a problem.. it's the proximity of your ear to the drum. The overtones are lost 15 feet from the drum.. what you hear while playing the drum (or most other percussion instruments) isn't what someone in an audience will hear.
vxla
 
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