Which Congas: Tumba, Quinto, or Conga?

[Congadelica]

I can contest , I have a set of 3 meinl marathon classics with mule skins they sound as good as any mass produced tumba .

Have the skins broken in already? How do you like the sound?
Full tone and everything? I could imagine that, given the fact that MEINL Marathons are well-built and strong enough for that mule beast :;):
My only tumbadora with mule skin so far is the quinto (apart from bongos) and I like it very much.
On the other hand, I´m also very content with thick cowhide on my other (LP+Pearl) congas.

No the mule is not broken in ,but so far the tone s are in another league ,TBH my head is all over the place at the moment . Im stuck between a rock and a hard place , pondering to buy some Islas or a set of GB`s second hand . I will be keeping the meinls for gigs and general practice . But I feel the need to treat myself ,mid life crisis I think . I `m fighting it though .
I should stop logging onto this forum as some of the guys on here have too many eye candy Congas .

But for now the mule is treating my ears too sweet sweet tone

[Tonio]

Brother,

seriously, if these dont have cracks or other big problems,

They are way nicer than anything talked about so far.

Others will back me on this one, this is a fat deal for a great set.

[url=http://cgi.ebay.com/Conga-Congas-Meinl-Flotunes-Quinto-Conga-Tumba_W0QQitemZ330193605068QQihZ014QQcategoryZ380

94QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]http://cgi.ebay.com/Conga-C....iewItem[/url]


have fun,

Tony

That set is nice, I actually played it about oh.. about a month ago? I don't remember any cracks, but at my bro Roberts place there are too many drums to remember for sure. I had my eye on a Junior set.
T

[Nonprophet]

I guess I'm still confused--people keep saying that the Matadors are better than the classic II's because of the skins--but they're both using water buffalo skins. From what I'm being told, the original classics now come with water buffalo heads as well. So the Classic, Classic II, and Matadors all come new with "hand-picked" water buffalo skins.

Doesn't it make more sense to buy good bodies with good hardware, and then upgrade the skins?



Edited By Nonprophet on 1196298452

[windhorse]

My apologies to Bret, and anyone else looking into these drums.. I shouldn't have said anything, as my personal biases came out in the post and were based on a limited history playing on only a few of the congas in question, and many years ago.. No doubt things are vastly different now in those lines....

The Matadors I played before were cowhide, and made of Ash.. They were fine drums back then.
Ash and nice thick cowhide sounds really nice to my ear.
BTW, really old Oak LPs somehow sound way better than new ones in general - again personal taste and limited perspective..
In my previous post,
I was knee jerking to the fact that the Classics come with Water Buffalo skin and Siam Oak wood.
If it's the same skins and same wood on those drums then.. I don't see why you shouldn't get the cheapest thing..

And yes, if you got a fricking great deal on good drum shells.. And, then, if changing skins is no biggie, then you should go for it!

Sorry that I confused the issue there..
:p
Respectfully,
Dave

[JimG]

The Lp Classic II's are a pretty good drum for the price. I have owned one (quinto). Paid this same $170ish price last February and sold last week for $65. They will NOT retain much resale value. The same holds true for Performer series. However, you are not buying them just to resell them.

A couple of quetions...

Have you played them? Are you comfortable with the touch and feel? Are you comfortable with the sound? If they have a set at the local GC, play them and play them alot. play all three, tune them just as you would at home. If you don't feel right playing in the store (often the machismo is pretty thick in the percussion section), buy the conga and tumba, take em home and play em for a week. GC has a return policy, 30 days, I think. (better ask first)

Do you need 3 drums? Are you already technique-savvy enough to incorporate the 3rd drum? (no offense, but you said it was a while ago and if you feel like you have to practice and learn good technique plus use all 3 drums, technique will suffer)
Maybe just 2 of the quinto / conga / tumba for now to fit changing out the skins to thicker cow/steer/mule in your budget and decide on a third drum later.

Everyone's taste in look, sound and feel is different. If you have the opportunity to play the drum before you buy it, do so. In this price range, for new drums, I don't think you will do much better than these Classic II's. Good luck

I see the Meinl Flotunes on ebay didn't last long at that price....

Jim

[Mike]

No the mule is not broken in ,but so far the tone s are in another league ,TBH my head is all over the place at the moment . Im stuck between a rock and a hard place , pondering to buy some Islas or a set of GB`s second hand

Hi Marco,
I could see you falling in love with those conga beauties on the other thread. Have you booked your cruise to the US yet? :p
Well, those Islas are really fantastic, I watched Mario´s DVD. The sound is awesome..

I will be keeping the meinls for gigs and general practice

Keep faithful to your muled-up Meinls - they deserve it.
Happy mule-slapping :;):

Cheers
Mike



Edited By Mike on 1196342732

[Nonprophet]

Mike and Marco,

Hey guys, could you please start your own thread to talk about mule-skin heads? Your conversation isn't at all related to my original post......thanks!

[kalprao]

hey prophet...i recommend the classic 2 quinto i owned one and its a good deal ....now whats most important is your tecnique ,,your tones,,,there are good drums and bad ones but its actually you'r hands that are making the sounds .....keep working on your tones and dont worry about which drum is better for the price ....the performance series and classic 2 are nice set of drums...i even owned 2 pairs of lp ardientes and i make them sound like any profesional level drum......the power is in the hands LOL!! take care