Volcano Congas from Hawaii - Any info

[109-1176549166]

Olsongo,

Wonderful!!! Congratulations!!!

Si, paz y siempre!



Edited By mjtuazon on 1185919303

[congalero]

But, with all due respect to you, owners and other fans of Volcano congas, I believe that the jury is still out as to whether they sound just as good or better than Islas, Matthew Smiths, Junior Tirados, Skin On Skins, Sols or other handcrafted congas. And as a reality check, assuming all things being equal (e.g. great looks and excellent quality), isn't sound the bottom line in judging which congas are the best?


i own all of the above and the volcanos, as well as others. i do not compare one to another, but certainly appreciate the beauty and sound of each. each craftsman/artist has a vision of what they wish to produce and be remembered for. i can only take joy in owning and playing what what i have. i certainly appreciate the quality and design of each. it is certainly nice to have those out there that can feed my addiction.

[109-1176549166]

Abakua,

>Possibly the most beautiful congas ever.

Oh, no, not coming from Borat! His credibility is much too suspect! :;): :laugh:



Edited By mjtuazon on 1185922574

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... t174_2.jpg

[CongaTick]

Manny,

My car analogy starts with my 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage :laugh: for weekdays. On weekends I "spoil" myself with my wife's Toyota Camry XLE . All my drums --appropriately enough-- fit into the Mitsubishi, a vehicle extremely relevant to their level of quality in the conga pantheon. Volcanos, Islas, Matt Smiths!!!! What a fantasy. But you know I would almost cry if I ever had to give up my poorass tubs for those beauties.

[bongosnotbombs]

Yeah thse Volcanoes do sound good, I used to check them out at Harry's Music back when I lived in Kaimuki. That's such great store, I have an awesome ukulele made from someone that works there..............

Anyways back to the congas, they sound awesome, and people are right, mango word is an amazingly beautiful wood, it has a deep grain which almost reflects light back at you, so radically different than the oaks and ash and other stained woods you normally see used for congas.



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1185984133

[109-1176549166]

Manny,

My car analogy starts with my 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage :laugh: for weekdays. On weekends I "spoil" myself with my wife's Toyota Camry XLE . All my drums --appropriately enough-- fit into the Mitsubishi, a vehicle extremely relevant to their level of quality in the conga pantheon. Volcanos, Islas, Matt Smiths!!!! What a fantasy. But you know I would almost cry if I ever had to give up my poorass tubs for those beauties.

CongaTick,

Very funny!!! And cute!!!

[bongo]

I just received a new set of Volcanos I ordered last June '07. Very impressive drums in both sound and appearance.

I'm a lucky man to be able to afford these new drums. They were approximately a $1000 a piece, but I hear they have gone up a little in price.

My drums are the 11 inch quinto, the 11.75 inch conga, and the 12.5 inch tumba. The shell is monkey pod and mango, where Tom Alexander has alternated two pieces of monkey pod then two pieces of mango wood, with the grain of the wood 'book ended' so the grain mirrors the piece next to it. The finish is high gloss, and the hardware is his new style stainless steel. You might note the side plates have a different shape than his older drums, and they have a rubber gasket of some kind between the metal and shell. I took the Remo rubber bumpers off the hooks cause I don't like the look. I felt it livened the sound a tad to take the rubber bumpers off. These drums are gorgeous. As I can't seem to post a photo here, if you want to see them go to myspace.com/bongodoggie

The sound of these drums is phenomenal, absolutely fantastic. I played them side by side with my Gon Bops, Skin on Skin, and Valjes, all of which I have felt were top notch drums. The Volcanos sound better than any of them. The Volcanos are louder, richer in tone, have incredible slaps, distinct contrast between the tones, and they ring longer. I would say the ringing is less than most LPs I have played, but I did not have an LP to directly compare them with. Most LPs the ringing gets to me, but I like it on these drums, it goes with the volume and the tone and it just sounds right. I put one of my Gon Bops in with them and it sounded out of place. The three Volcanos are like meant for each other, their voices unique yet complimentary. My girlfriend also liked the sound of these drums better than my other drums, she said the difference was obvious.

The skins are medium thick Texas steer, pleasant brown in color. The only gripe I have is the heads are too slick to get the Ooooo sound by sliding a finger.... maybe if they get tacky from spilled beer I'll be able to get that sound? :p I tried some rosin and it did not help.

I can't say enough about the sound of these drums. I have been a 30 plus year Gon Bop man, so this has been a relevation, I must say I am somewhat surprized.



Edited By bongo on 1186261699

[Congadelica]

Nice drums Bongo , they look good to eat and beat .

:p

[congalero]

bongo, congratulations on the volcanos; hope to see you post a few pics soon. are all your other drums oak; my assumption.

tom just sent me a pic of the boomba in curly koa that he sold at a namm show. see attached.



Edited By congalero on 1186285398

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... 2_jpeg.jpg

[Tonio]

NIce bongo.

hmm you say they ring?? I wonder if its the marine epoxy Tom uses.
I understand that Volcano's are light in weight vs oak?
Funny how you say they don't match up with your Gon Bops, are you using old GB's with white(bleached) skins?

T

[maSSivdrums]

Aloha Bongo,

Attached is a resized pic of your Baby's.


Keep on Poundin'... Aloha, maSSivdrums

Attachment: http://mycongaplace.com/forum/eng/uploa ... 01ajpg.jpg

[windhorse]

Hey Bongo! Did you have those when I visited you?? They must have come after!!
Dang it!
Guess I'll have to come by and see them next year!



Edited By windhorse on 1186451710

[Tonio]

Can anyone else confirm that in fact Volcano congas ring to a certain extent?

This has me puzzled - could be a deal breaker of alot o cash!!

T



Edited By Tonio on 1186458587

[bongosnotbombs]

I don't remember them ringing an unusual amount or at all really, but I was only
trying them out in the store, I don't own a pair myself. I thought they sounded
good, and were really beautiful.
If you go to the homepage you can hear a recording of what I assume are their drums, they sound find to me. It's not the best quality recording though and not streaming at a high rate I think. Actually all the pages have sound files that load and you can hear them, I'm listening to the Mango Congas now, ahh the internet is a great thing.....check it!

http://www.volcanopercussion.com/index.html



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1186463380

[blango]

I played a set of these really nice looking drums.

They were almost over built.

I have to say, i didnt like the sound of them much. They had really shitty skins on them, out of the factory ???

But i could tell, that even with nice skins, they wouldnt sound all that great.

I think this is a case of a wood craftsman making drums, as opposed to a drummer crafting wood. And how much are they?? can it be true?

just my 2 cents.

Tony