Valje Congas - How much are they worth

[Loman]

I’ve received some great advice from you all so I’m back again.

I have a set of Valje Congas (quinto & conga), that I would like to sell. I’m not sure when they were made but they have the “3312 Sunset Blvd” address on the rim. They have no cracks or separations and no sign of repair. The heads maybe original but in good condition, but are dark in some areas. The congas and hardware may need to be refinished or just cleaned, and the conga has a loose ban near the bottom. They also come with what looks like the original floor stands that are one piece medal.

Can anyone tell me in what price range I should sell them?

[Thebreeze]

Well, for starters, a picture tells a thousand words. It's always best to describe drums along with a picture if possible. It can be a broad range in what you can sell them for. But as a ballpark figure, depending on the shape they are in, maybe about 800 for the set + or - ? it's just too hard without some pictures. But a vintage set in excellent condition could fetch a price of over 1000 dollars easily.

[bongosnotbombs]

The real Valje expert on this forum is congalero. That guy has set of every Valje series ever made in each city, and the LP Armando Peraza ones too.

Certain Valje's are more collectable than others, the San Francisco ones are the rarest and most collectable.

The stands are a nice touch, heads does'nt matter if they are original or not, I'm pretty sure Valje never stamped their heads.

Your saying the drums and hardware needs to be refinished? Sounds like rust and scratches to me.

$800 may be kind of high depending on your description, but you never know, my guess is maybe $600-$800 depending on the condition, I've seen them go for a bit lower in the condition your describing.

TheBreeze is right on, if they were pristine beautiful examples they could get over $1,000 probably. But that doesn't sound like what you have.



Edited By bongosnotbombs on 1196658666

[congalero]

a full set would sell from $1,500. to $2,000.+ quinto, conga and tumba. condition is very important, as has been stated. single drums go for $350. to $600.+ there is a huge range pending condition and desire/need. the tumbas are worth the most as they are harder to get; large tumbas 12.5 to 13+ are far and few between - tom made most tumbas 12. once in a while you find a small quinto, 9.5. these are rare as well since they were drums made of extra staves and just turned out to be small with a narrow belly (told to be true by ralph flores) my guess is that you will fetch $600. - $800. for these. good luck.

FOLLOW LINK FOR MORE INFO

http://www.congaplace.com/cgi-bin....l=valje

[Loman]

Thanks everyone for the information. I will be selling the Valje's to a guy down in the Orlando FL area. He sounds like a good guy. I decided to sell the congas because I don't think my current talent level warrant such drums. I currently have a set of Gon Bops Tumbao Pro Series congas in Mahagony. I think I'm going to slap some mule skins from JCR on them with the proceeds from the Valjes. Them I'm just going to continue my lessons and get to shedding.