Conga Identification - a new one - The Yellow Drum

[taikonoatama]

The Yellow Drum

So I just got this drum for a price ($75) that was cheap enough to take a chance on. I'm under no illusion that it's anything special (or will even sound like something I'll want to play), but it certainly is intriguing. I bought it half-blind (one fuzzy polaroid and a seller who didn't know anything about it), so was actually quite surprised when it arrived that it might have some potential. The question is, what is/was it? One thing is for sure - it's very, very old.

More pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/taikonoatama/YellowConga/

(It's actually a little fatter in the belly than the pics show.)

Height:
29.75"

Diameter:
10"

Shell:
Much thinner than any modern conga - perhaps half as thick, if that. There are no holes in the shell (filled in or otherwise) for the normal placement of side plates.

Wood:
There are so many layers of paint and who-knows-what on the outside that it's impossible to tell. The inside is burnt/charred. There's one place inside where a burnt chunk has come off and though I don't recognize the wood, it doesn't appear to be super dense. The grain is relatively tight with long evenly spaced intervals - it's not mahogany, that much I can say. Overall the drum is not so heavy, but with all the paint and funky hardware, it's hard to really make a call on the wood.

Hardware:
I have to think this is just a one-off - some guy in his workshop just using whatever he could find or repurpose - but who knows. The rim appears to be from a snare/tom rim. Anyone recognize it? 6 lugs and there's a place where it was obviously welded together (after a section of the rim was removed, it would seem). As for the rest of the hardware ... well, it works, even if the tension lugs go straight into the drum. I might want to plug up those holes or something, though. There are 5 bands. No alma.

Skin:
It's trashed, so I really have no idea what this thing might sound like. I've ordered a new one from Stern Tanning.

So that's it.

Here's my best guess:
The profile and thin-shell are classic old-school Cuban, but that obviously doesn't mean it was made there - it is in that style, though.

The fact that there are no holes for normally-positioned side plates tells me one of two things:
1. In the days before Vergara, when mechanically-tuned hardware was not standardized, people tried out all sorts of approaches and this was one that never really caught on.
2. It was originally a tack-head drum (pre-mid-50's?) and the hardware was added at a later date by someone using whatever they could find.

I could find no evidence of holes around the top or the shell where the tacks might have been, but with so many layers of paint that's not surprising. No holes inside, either.

How common was the charring of the inside? I had some Dominican congas where this was done. Was this done in Cuba? I assume it preserves the wood.

Thoughts? Questions?

~Taiko



Edited By taikonoatama on 1177112252

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... drum01.jpg

[deadhead]

Interesting design, never seen anything like that ??? I like the shape of the shell, looks nice. Really nasty paint job on it, do you plan on stripping it?

[taikonoatama]

Really nasty paint job on it, do you plan on stripping it?

Originally I'd thought I would strip/refinish it, but it's really growing on me already. You know when something is so bad it actually becomes good? It's so ugly that I actually think it's pretty cool and I'll likely leave it as almost a piece of folk art. Fingers crossed that it'll sound halfway decent once I get a new skin on it.

[akdom]

Hi

Looks almost like a home made drum.

But at that price, you have an interresting drum.

B

[bongosnotbombs]

Now theres a drum only a mother could love!!!

Really interesting set of hardware, looks like an adapted
set of tension rods one might find in a building or something..

It would take a lot of work to strip that thing down! Paint was designed to stay on, not come off!

Kind of reminds me of those floatune congas by meinl a little bit.



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1176924390

[deadhead]

Kind of reminds me of those floatune congas by meinl a little bit.

Thats exactly what I was thinking!

[Omelenko]

Very interesting tumbadora indeed.The shell looks Cuban. Requena or Vergara ? What is mind blowing is the harware, but looks interesting. I wonder if Frank Mesa, the creator of the first fiberglass conga, was inspired by it. Here is a picture of my Echo- Tones from the 50's. There is a resemblance. Saludos, Dario

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... Congas.jpg

[taikonoatama]

What is mind blowing is the harware, but looks interesting. I wonder if Frank Mesa, the creator of the first fiberglass conga, was inspired by it. Here is a picture of my Echo- Tones from the 50's. There is a resemblance. Saludos, Dario

I think you mentioned that Frank Mesa used to be a boat builder - the tension lugs with that center coupler remind me of boating rigging, such as these turnbuckles:
http://www.hayn.com/marine/rigging/

It's not exactly the same, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's some marine hardware out there that pretty much matches the Echo Tones' lugs.



Edited By taikonoatama on 1176948300

[ozrivera]

saludos hermanos
taikonoatama, the charred wood is usually found on drums that were made from old rum barrels.
which indicates that the barrel is definatly of cuban backgrounds. but the hardware i dont know about. looks like the hardware ive seen on congas from india and the middel east, or similar to some brazilian drums with the long tension rods.
either way its like you said, its so old and unique that it kinda has a cool character.

take care

oz

[taikonoatama]

the charred wood is usually found on drums that were made from old rum barrels.

Yeah, that's what my Dominicans were made of - wood salvaged from old oak rum barrels.

I've reglued and tightened up the cracks in the shell and reworked the bearing edge - it could be oak, though it's really hard to tell. I don't know if rum barrels were made of woods other than oak or not.

Thanks,

~Taiko



Edited By taikonoatama on 1177707429

[pavloconga]

Hey Taiko,
that is one funked out looking drum, sort of reminds me of soviet era military stuff, maybe a missile or a wing mounted fuel tank

No, but seriously, how is the sound of the drum?
cheers
Pavlo

[congalero]

i have pics of your drum. it was in some persons storage and advertised on craigslist in some god forsaken place. i had the same idea about the hardware as dario, but left that to pure speculation. here is a set that i have been trying to i d for a while. the best i can come up with is that they are european. i know to all they will look like fiberglass, but they are thick wooden stave shells - look to be mahogony. i have a 9.75 and 10.75; could be cm. anyone with a clue please let me now as i would like to enlarge the set.



Edited By congalero on 1177826102

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... conga1.jpg

[congalero]

close up of hardware. if you look close you can see the grain in the wood through the dark stain.



Edited By congalero on 1177826008

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... conga2.jpg

[ozrivera]

congalero
i have a friend that has a similar set of congas. however they are fiberglass and thin at that. the tension rod brackets are a dead give away. the brand of his congas are ROYCE. same brackets as yours on the tension rods and the legs, however his doesnt have the same unique design on the V's of the rim.
hope this helps

oz

[CongaTick]

I really like the built-in "spike" stands idea.