Cuban Tumbadoras

[Doctorumba]

Matthew Smith tambora merenguera

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[Berimbau]

Hey Doctorumba!
Those Ritmo tubs got me salivating like a dirty old man at a Britney Spears concert! Just tremendous craftsmanship. Now for our next history lesson, would you please post some pix of your Vergaras? I think just about everyone here would love to see 'em.


Gracias,



Berimbau

[ralph]

Hey Doctorumba!
Those Ritmo tubs got me salivating like a dirty old man at a Britney Spears concert! Just tremendous craftsmanship. Now for our next history lesson, would you please post some pix of your Vergaras? I think just about everyone here would love to see 'em.


Gracias,



Berimbau

Yes Doctor...can you do us the favor

[CongaTick]

Sorry, but there ain't no ritmodrums.com. Any other suggestions,

[Doctorumba]

For those interested:

MATTHEW SMITH - CONGA AND BONGO' MAKER
(215) 795-2267

You cna mention me, Dario from Miami, and he can probably
expedite your order.
Saludos, Dario

[Doctorumba]

Mongo lives ! Mongo y Dario

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[taikonoatama]

Who is Matthew Smith? where is he from ? How long has he been making drums? and where is he out of ?....Never heard of HIS drums....."JC" Johnny Conga.... ???

I spoke with Matthew several times this past summer and ordered a set of 3 congas which I hope to receive this fall. Here's some info:

He's relatively young - maybe in his 30's. I think he grew up in Brooklyn and has been making drums for about 15 years. I know he was friends with Jay Bereck (Skin on Skin) and Junior Tirado. I don't think he ever actually apprenticed with either of them, but he did hang out in their shops a lot and learned everything he could.

He now lives in Pennsylvania. He's a one man shop, doing almost all the woodwork and metalwork himself. The wood he uses varies depending on what is available, but African Mahogany and Oak were the two main options when I spoke with him. He does occasionally get ahold of Honduran or Caribbean Mahogany that is already in the USA (I believe it's no longer allowed into the country, being endangered at some level) and other woods.

He also does repair work, custom hardware fabrication (esp. useful if you need a new side bracket for your Junior or whatever), and even complete renovations. In fact, I had a Junior Tirado tumba with a bad see-through split and called him to get some advice and a quote. He said he'd break it up down the staves into several parts, glue it all back together, redo the hoops, and refinish it completely and the quote was very reasonable. I ended up going a different direction with this drum, but I don't imagine there are many guys around who could do what he was proposing, or that you'd trust to do it right. I don't doubt that he would have done a great job.

He isn't really online, so no website or email address at this point. Great guy to talk with, so just give him a ring.



Edited By taikonoatama on 1157393354

[CongaTick]

Thanks "Taiko" for filling in the blanks on Matthew. SInce he's from my "hood" just outside Philly, and his drums have the look of personal craftsmanship so lacking in everything these days, I would really love to afford to order drums from him.

[ironman]

matthew is the best there ever will be, baleeedat...

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[bongo]

i don't necessarily think that drums in the US of good quality were being made until the 70's, (i.e. Junior Tirado)...

You are forgetting Gon Bops and Valjes.

Both were West Coast smaller shop drums, the best the United States had to offer in the 50's and 60's.

Please don't say they weren't/aren't high quality drums.

:p

[zumbi]

ironman, those drums look super-nice but you could have closed the toilet's door :laugh:
speaking of cuban made drums, i own a guanex quinto and i am very happy with it. being a cuban product i don't think it is avaible in the us, tough.
one love,