ISLA PERCUSSION - Discussion, Quality, Experience, etc

Manufacturers, brands, skins, maintenance, stands, sticks, michrophones and other accessories for congueros can be discussed into this forum ...... leave your experience or express your doubts!

Postby onile » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:06 am

Como esta' familia!
Chacho! Seguro que ay amor!

I just received my two drums this very day, and I am very happy with them. The skins haven't totally dried, but they are nice and thick, gonna take a while to break them in. The shells are beautiful on these drums. The hardware, well let me say that you can definitely tell that they are hand made and not mass produced!

I have a gig on Monday, I think I'm taking 'em with me to try them out! I just ordered my third drum from Mario, of course another 13"!

Dice'la verdad mi hermanito SkinDeep, Mario es super-cool!

¿Ay cariño o no ay cariño?

Suave!
Onile!
Que Nsambi les acutare pa' siempre!
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Postby GuruPimpi » Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:06 am

Onile!

You say the skins are dry... You gonna put some palm oil (manteca de corojo) on them?

Pimpi
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Postby onile » Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:57 pm

Alafia Abure GuruPimpi!
I hope that you are well my brother!

Oh yeah! once dry, there will be plenty of "epo" (manteca de corojo/palm oil) on the skins! I did a gig on Thursday at which I didn't put any of it on my hands and damn, did I suffer for it. My right hand was split down by the base of the middle finger, and tips of three of the other fingers as well. It was pretty cold and my hands were relatively dry, big mistake. Well when I got home I gave myself "epo" therapy! I slathered manteca de corojo all over the splits and put on a surgical glove. I slept with it and left it on all day afterwards, and by the next evening, no pain or discomfort and they began to heal right away! "Cabio'sile Pa' Chango!"

So yes there will be some on the skins when they dry!

Suave!

Onile!




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Postby Jongo » Thu Mar 08, 2007 4:11 am

What kind of wood are those Isla congas you ordered Onile?
I like the shape on those Islas, that is going to be a great old school folkloric sound. Some great rumba with those babies
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Postby onile » Thu Mar 08, 2007 7:31 am

Alafia Abures!
I hope that you are all well!

I just got back from my cuartet gig at a local supper club out here, and I took my Isla congas! Daaaaaaamn! They sounded incredible my brothers!

Abure Jongo!
I hope that you are doing very well my brother!
I chose to have them made out of Cherry (mainly for the weight factor), they sound incredible! As Mario stated to me "they sound like Los Munequitos de Matanzas, the original group"!

Well tonight I put them to the test and let me say my brothers they PASSED!
Great drums, Great sound! Very accomodating weight!

I will say this however, the hardware, specifically the crown, is a bit difficult to get used to! Definitley something that can be delt with, the sound of the drums however is well worth it! Mule skins come on the drums! The particular model that I chose was what they call the "Matanzas" model (five bands, and square side plates, no handle drilled into the drum).

Again, I stress that these drums sound very folkloric!

Vaya Boricua!

Mario is a super cool cat to work with!

Suave!
Onile!
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Postby AlexV » Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:46 pm

oye onile que pasa papa! espero que todo esta bien contigo. bueno una pregunta, como suenan las islas? they must be nice and broken in now! post some pics please!
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Postby onile » Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:15 pm

Vaya AlexV!
Como esta familia!

Chacho! Those Isla drums actually are the best sounding drums, no wait, the second best sounding drums in my opinion, the FATS being the first! :D :D :D

I have been using them on almost all of my gigs! They actually have a pretty fat sound to them, much like the recordings of the munequitos. I totally love the drums.

I'm not sure, but I believe they have Mule skins on them, either way the sound is incredible for Salsa, Latin Jazz, and some trio gigs. Not too much projection for the other stuff (guitar amplification and the like), they don't get the hi's one would want on those types of gigs!

Having said that, I'm totally happy with them!

Suave Papa!

Onile!


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Postby onile » Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:16 pm

Que Nsambi les acutare pa' siempre!
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Postby onile » Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:17 pm

Que Nsambi les acutare pa' siempre!
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Postby franc » Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:47 am

alafia abure, onile!
my blessing always!! the skins of your isla congas looks mule!!. could be wrong , but i have some kind of experience which tells me they are mule skins. the texture, the thickness seems mule. one question ''mi querido bro'' how about the price?? tu friend, franc :D
ibúkún,ire,
Franc ♪♪
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Postby AlexV » Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:50 pm

diablo pana. those look like they sound incredible. i'm putting in my order in a couple of weeks w/mario. conga first then tumba later. con los pobres siempre estoy :D . pero anyway those skins look like a really thick steer imo. felicidades onile on the great buy. that's the cherry wood? i wonder how the canoe wood sounds in comparison.
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Postby onile » Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:51 pm

Vaya Papa!

Remember that Cherry wood is very warm in the sound, the drums are well built and coupled with the skin, el sonido esta bestial! The only thing that concerns me is the crown, really weird kind of crown, but very original in that it is clear to see that they are hand made and not mass produced!

Alafia Ni Abure Franc!
Espero que todo este bien contigo tambien mi pana!

As for the prices, well they vary from size to size. The three that I ordered were two 13" ($750ea) and one 12.5" ($675?), I actually don't remember how much the smaller one was, but it was less than the other larger drum.

I gotta' tell you though, despite the comment I made about the crown, the drums sound incredible my brothers.....without a doubt, and Mario is a great person to deal with.

Suave!

Onile!
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Postby ozrivera » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:30 pm

Saludos Hermanos
Onile papa, they look sweet, congrats. i see their prices have gone up as well. not too long ago they were all below $500. but it also seems like a lot more people are buying them. supply and demand i guess. i thought i was ok with my complete set of moperc's and a set of two meinls i have. but, now i wont feel too guilty if buy another set after finding out that others have six or more sets of congas. LOL
como suena el seco? they look like they sound great.
now we know who to ask whenever we need a comparison. He he

take care

oz
Pa-tra ni-pa cojer impulso.
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Postby rodmase » Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:25 pm

Hello all this is my first post, and I would just like to add to the positive things said about Isla.

What often goes unnoticed is the fresh air they have breathed into the handmade drum craft. From the wood they use, to the shape of the drum, etcetera.
When I figure out how to attach photos I will include a picture of my Isla Tumbadora y tres golpes.

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Postby kongo » Fri Apr 27, 2007 8:17 pm

Onile, great looking drums and they are built to last!
I have a few questions:

1. Did Isla change their logo plate?

2. Is the "Matanzas style" drum a different line of drum (they all seem to have the same shape)?

3. I checked the Bongo Mania web site and the Isla drums sell for a lot less. Can this be true?

Oye, compay' I think you are winning the conga drum arms race!

So many drums...so little money.

Suerte
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