Can anyone identify these drums? - are thes gon bops for sure?

[baffleson]

Brothas!, Sistahs! I hope this finds everyone healthy and loving!

Can you take a look at these pics and let me know what these drums are? I was told they are gon bops from the 70s. I'd love get some commentary on these as I may trade my LP classics for them. Is this a wise choice? Open ears.
baf

[pcastag]

Those are gon bops! Pretty old frm the look of the lug plates, but undeniably GB's, I personally wouldn't trade unless they're definitley in round, and you don't plan on playing many gigs where you need loud drums. The gon bops mahogany are pretty soft sounding.
PC

[baffleson]

Thanks for the reply!. What does "in round" mean?

[bongo]

'In the round' means that the bearing edge ( the top of the shell) is truly round and has not become warped through the years.

I have heard out of round drums that still sound very good, but am not sure what it means to the integrity of the shell and the long term life of the drum.

Another thing to look at is the chrome on the hardware. From the photo it looks as if the chrome is in rough condition. A lot of times (especially on ebay) sellers will say that the chrome needs to 'be polished up', but in reality no amount of polishing will fix chrome that is flaking off and pitting, the only thing to do is have it
re-chromed, which is expensive. Polishing up will take the rust off, but leaves exposed metal without the chrome.

The hardware on these drums is the Gon Bop Voodoo style or Super Series, my favorite. From the photo the skins look in good shape and I bet they sound very good. It is true the mahogany is not as loud as the red oak drums, but they do have a nice mellow sound. I would be please to have a set like that as all I have are oak drums at the moment.



Edited By bongo on 1184601678

[deadhead]

They look to be pretty solid and in pretty decent condition from the pics. I would trade if it was me, I've owned Classics and now play gon bops and will never go back. Classics are easy to find, they're everywhere, but a good solid set of bops is much harder to come by. What are the sizes?

[Bongorific]

Those are definately Gon Bops...and I'd trade in a HEARTBEAT. Appears to have been refinished and re-ringed the band might not be original and tags are gone. but still very desirable. HONDURAN Mahagony (sp) is what they are not Luan as previously stated. they are not loud as Classics but that is what mic are for. worth about $300 apiece.

[taikonoatama]

HONDURAN Mahagony (sp) is what they are not Luan as previously stated. they are not loud as Classics but that is what mic are for. worth about $300 apiece.

I've never seen or heard of Gon Bops congas with anything except luan (aka Philippine mahogany) and oak. I believe they experimented here and there, like with the Walnut bongos, and maybe did special orders, but as far a production- level drums, luan and oak are their standards as far as I know, and I've seen a whole lot of GBs. Maybe it was different in the early years, in the mid 50's - I don't know.

I've had Honduran mahogany Junior Tirados and "mahogany" GBs - the difference in the wood is quite clear.

Has anyone else heard of them ever using Honduran mahogany?

~james

[pcastag]

I've never heard of them using anything but luann, I've played some original mopercs that were made of honduran mahogany and definitley very different quality to the wood, much more solid and heavy.
PC

[Bongorific]

I'm saying those are caribean basin mahogany. It is now an endangered species. What you are calling Luan is Philipean. Which is definately a lower grade wood. As far as quality there was several grades of wood available.Furniture grade etc. Perhaps Junior picked AAA grade for his drums, thus some difference. Only when supply became an issue and world goverments steped in did Asian ..AKA Luan come into play. Google Mahagany quite an intresting readhttp://www.woodzone.com/woods/mahogany.htm.



Edited By Bongorific on 1184640263

[chappy01]

Bomgorific,

These are actually my drums (props to my man James) and I can't imagine Gon Bops using any kind of exotic wood. Weren't they the drum makers to the masses? Whatever the case, they are light and very warm sounding. I got them from Robert Felcher who is a respected guy. I refinished them and mounted Sterns steers. They really sing but I can't handle the stress of gigging with them and worrying about them so much. I'm looking for a set of 3 LP Classics that I can put steers on and just enjoy playing them. If they accidently get knocked over it won't be the end of the world.

BTW, this is the coolest forum and I've learned a ton from y'all. Thanks!

Jeff

[congalero]

i concur with james, mahogany gon bops appear not not to be honduran mahogany or any other high grade mahogany. they seem to be a very light weight lower grade wood that is common in the trim work of many homes built in the 20's and 30's here in san francisco, and in the rest of the country - commonly known as luan/phillipine mahogany. the grain of the wood is porous and drys out easily and seems to ding and dent like no other; aside from cedar. there is much shrinkage as well which is why they have so many cracks, hairline in many cases. the joke among many pro drum makers is that when a person comes in to have a split/crack fixed - they say 'this one here or the other 20 you have not noticed'. i have discussed this with mario at isla and with matthew smith of ritmo. now, i am not a wood expert, but i am a general contractor by trade; hence i do know a bit about wood. i also have no less than 10 of these drums - sizes 9.5 to 13.25, i also have mahogany junior tirados and matthew smiths (ritmo honduran and african - juniors appear to be afircan). the owner of gon bop, mariano, was a mass producer of drums. this is why you find so many of these things around. he and tom flores (valje) were in business for a very short time, and tom ended the relationship because mariano just wanted to mass produce drums and tom was into quality and craftsmanship - high end wood and mass produce is an oxymoron. the gon bop congas are great sounding drums, light in weight and have a very appealing shape - or should i say shapes, since they experimented much in this area. however, they do have some issues, some of which i have stated and which tony brought up here. if you can find a set that is not out of round and that has not been abused, you will be a happy camper. just be aware that they are a, let's say, high maintenance drums that seeks spoiling that will love you back. i plan on keeping my International hardware drums, but am going to sell/trade the voodoo. i will be posting those and a number of other drums that will be available to members here before going to other sources. i will also be posting a pic of the interior of my 'mahogany mystery drums' that many insist are fiberglass. i guess a pic is worth more than my contractors eye can see. lol
tony, aka blango has ideas of the wood type, and i have think they are heavy mahogany; we both agree european by birth. time will tell when someone can come up with a maker; but they are a thick wood and not zim gar.

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....;t=2920

cheers

brian



Edited By congalero on 1184739488

[Bongorific]

Hello

you guy are correct the Mahogany that was used for Gon bops in the 70's &80's was from the far east. I got that from Lupe at timba...he worked at Gon Bop for 20yrs.
I'm a little bummed as that is technically not Mahogany. Oh well live and learn.
Still makes a nice drum


Peace
Bongo

[OLSONGO]

Men, I have played in countless of rumbas on vintage GBs and
always loved the sound. My quinto is a vintage GB and its a true Matanza sound.
Tried the new GBs and was not impressed.

Paz OLSONGO

[pcastag]

I don't know guys, those mahogany gon bops sound OK to me and that's about it. Too dry. The oaks are another story. If you want to talk about the true Matanzas sound you have to play a caoba sonoc first. They sound wayyyyy better than the mahog. bops. A friend of mine bought a true quinto (10in.) from a traveling rumba group in canada, much heavier wood, true caribbean mahogany great tight focused sound. To me the mahogany bops always lacked depth in the sound, too one dimensional. I understand why people like them, but you could pretty much get the same sound out of one of the playa azul mexican drums with the right skin on it.
PC

[blango]

I think Brian wanted me to post this for him...

Tony

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