JCR Bongos - Any way to tell their age?

[umannyt]

Will,

Gorgeous bongos! You've got yourself another treasure! I'm very happy for you.

[Tonio]

wow, nice job Will !! Semi gloss does it justice. NIce skin mounting job too. Perfect height on macho and hembra !!

T

[ABAKUA]

Very very nice indeed.

[Thebreeze]

Thank you very much Manny. Since the weather is very hot today here on the west coast ( for you too ). I have been playing the Bongos in my family room and they are really starting to pop real nice. You know what is funny is that you can have some very nice percussion pieces in your arsenal, but when it comes down to your "playing favorites" , I have a set of older Meinl Black fiberglass bongos that just sound incredible with little or no effort and I play those 98% of the time. My Mambiza bongos, my Skin on Skin bongos, and now my JCR bongos will remain with me but more as collector pieces. What a world I live in huh?

Will.

p.s....anyone out there have a Timba Quinto for trade??

I also thank you Tonio for your compliments. Sometimes it turns out just right and other times it does not. This time it turned out very good.

Thanks to you as well Abakua. By the way, that picture you posted in the Timbales thread does not quite look like me although close. lol.

[Omelenko]

Will,

You did a beautiful job on those JCR's, those beauties sound incredible also. Not because they were mine, but the Skin on Skin you got is one of the best sounding bongo' I ever had, right along with my Ismael's. I'm intrigued about how your Mambizas look after you changed the harware, did you go with the Colombian hardware, can you post some photos ?

Saludos,

Dario

[Thebreeze]

HI Dario...I have decided to put the Mambiza project on the back shelf for the moment because it is no longer a priority, but when I get into the frame of mind to do it I will post info and pictures. Yeah, I really like thos skin on skin bongos. The more I look at them the more I see the quality that went into the making of them.
Good to hear from you.

Will.

[Thebreeze]

Fyi...........The JCR Bongos project has come to an ending for me. They are no longer mine. They will be going to a very good friend and Brother in Christ. I have both happy and sad feelings about it but more on the happy side because I guess that is what really makes me happy is to bring something back to life and pass it on for others to enjoy. Well...it's on to another project, those dominican mahogany bongos that I have not even recieved yet, and the seller does not answer any of my emails. hmmmmmmmmmmm. I'll give it a little more time.

[Sakuntu]

"I have both happy and sad feelings about it but more on the happy side because I guess that is what really makes me happy is to bring something back to life and pass it on for others to enjoy."

Thats whats its all about breeze...give and it will come back to you. Pressed down, shaken together and running over

[Thebreeze]

Thank you Sakuntu. I appreciate your kind words.
Will.

[Thebreeze]

Fyi to anyone interested..I finally got to speak to the ebay seller that I bought a set of Mahogany solid shell bongos from. He seems like a nice guy on the phone, just seems like he has so many items he had to pack for shipping that he fell behind. I think he needs to get the hang of being an ebay seller. Anyway, my bongos are now in the mail. I will post pictures when I get them.
Thanks.

[Thebreeze]

This note was added in order to put this thread on top for the moment.

[Isaac]

Someone by the name of Juancho just sent me
an email question regarding their newly acquired
2nd hand set of JCRs.
There was no return email, or photos attached.

Please post them here for all to see
or provide a return email address so
I'll know what you have.

ISAAC

[juancho]

Hi Isaac,
Attached is a picture of the JCR bongos I bought about 2 months ago. What do you think? the hembra is a little larger than normal. I don't know if you remember I spoke to you about obtaining lugs and asking on lessons. My email is juanchovivi@yahoo.com
Lord bless
JC

Someone by the name of Juancho just sent me
an email question regarding their newly acquired
2nd hand set of JCRs.
There was no return email, or photos attached.

Please post them here for all to see
or provide a return email address so
I'll know what you have.

ISAAC

[Isaac]

Hi Juancho, They're a great set, typical of JCR's solid shell bongos.
They have the older cow macho head possibly too hard & thick
for the optimum sound you could get these days. Thats a very resonant wood..
From the style of metalwork finishing and the shape of the gold decal
and the logo stamp ( we have a different one now) I'd estimate these are from the early 90s
or mid to late 80s. The wood seems to be the Island Mahogany called Caoba - which sounds
musical on its own, even before anything goes on them. What are the top playing surface diameters?
You mention the Hembra is a bit larger.

Juancho, you mentioned that you just started playing bongos 6 months ago? With these you are set for life,
having started with a top handcrafted & sensitive instrument. Congratulations.

ISAAC