So I bought some new drums... - Meinl Floatune Shinyness

[tactikal]

As you may or may not recall, I had bought some hobby LP's (One Rhythm series)... and sure enough, they sounded bad and then some hardware broke (who welds brackets without filler anyway?!)
:;):

I despaired, as there wasn't much going in the way of quality 2nd hand drums here in Melbourne... and then I found a guy selling his practically unused Floatunes - which I bought.



The difference was just so vast...

I've already done some recording and they sound fantastic - it gave me a physical sense of satisfaction when I listened back to the recording and put them in a tune!!

- Is it weird to enjoy the woody tones so much?? :laugh:

Now there is a question here;
They both sound good, but I am having a really hard time tuning the quinto up.. it has an overtone that confuses the ear...
After looking at them I have realised that the conga has a nice thick skin on it (~3mm) but the quinto only has ~1.5-2mm head on it... Considering that they are made from the same wood, same glue, etc... Is this likely the culprit?

What do you reckon?

[caballoballo]

Tact,yes. A better skin should take care of that . The men is Issac which is a member of this forum,he sales Mule skin. [email]funkytraditions@yahoo.com.[/email] He should be able to select a top of the line skin for your Quinto. In the mean time you may put some adhesive under the skin to cut the ringing. A piece about 4" x 6" sould be a good start. Saludos

[tactikal]

Cheers mate!

I had tried using two smaller pieces of adhesive tape... and that didn't seem to change it... I'll try a larger piece like you said.

As for some Mule-skins from Isaac.. that'll have to wait for a couple of weeks ($$$'s)

Thanks.

[Congadelica]

great news with the new drums. Im waiting for my Mule to arrive from Issac its been 3 weeks since i ordered but its on the way . the ringy skin is a pain .

marco

[CongaTick]

As I've said before, Isaac is an absolute pro, and in my opinion the best resource for quality service and skins. Tac, when you're ready, he's the man. His mules raised my 3 drum utility setup to a different level. If there was a fire, I'd probably drag them out the door first.

[ABAKUA]

Congratulations on the new drums.
The skins may need looking at, but its hard to say without seeing/playing them first hand, it could also be your tuning?
Welcome to the boards, if you are ever in Sydney look me up for a jam!

All the best.

Oh, as much as Isaac's skins would rock, i cant reccommend you import them.
As you may know, Australia has some of the most strict quarantine/customs laws in the world.
A student of mine bought some skins from Isaac and they were destroyed by Customs Quarantine.
They were fumigated, radiated and had chemicals sprayed on them, sadly they were destroyed and useless when they handed them over.

Just a bit of advice.



Edited By ABAKUA on 1190646824

[Congadelica]

Just a thought , Have any of you guys downunder tried Kangaroo skin / These skins are pretty tough I had a set ofrace leathers made from the stuff lighter and more crash friendly than cow hide .

[OLSONGO]

Can you get some bull skin down under?

Is thick and I can attest that it produces a respectable sound.

Paz Olsongo

[tactikal]

Cheers for all the advice guys...
Really sad to see that Isaac's muleskins might not make it out here.. I was about to order some!

I have tried to find muleskin here, and had no luck..

I also thought about roo skins but I contacted a hide dealer here and he said the thickest they get is about 1.2mm... and also that it is actually illegal for them to supply untanned hides.

I then thought about camel hide (as we have feral camels here) and apparently camelskin has fantastic tensile strength...
I can indeed get hides @ only $55 ($42USD) for the whole thing, but the downside is that the hides are generally 5-6mm thick...
This would be simply too thick, right?!

The other option (on the camelid tip) is to use alpaca or llama hides.. they are fairly common around these parts but I'm not sure on the thicknesses and hide-attributes.

As for bull.. I can most likely source some as I have a friend who owns a meat-supply business and he's a cowboy from way back.

Any other ideas are most welcome.

[caballoballo]

Tactical, ask your friend Cowboy to cut the skin samples using the Bull spine as the center, 18 to 22 inches in diameter should be enough. That way your get a consistent thickness. I have use Steer skin before IMHO Bull should not be different .