Started my make over...

[SalseroBoricua71]

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[sancho27]

Here is some progress on my drum. Got the frst coat on. Can't wait for the end result!

[SalseroBoricua71]

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[akdom]

Hi there

This reminds me of an old pair of Meinl Marathon Series I had about 10 years ago. They were burgundy color and they were all chipped. I sanded down the varnish and stain and applied about 10 coats of polyurethane marine clear mat varnish. They were just perfect after that.


Good luck with your project



B

[Mike]

This reminds me of an old pair of Meinl Marathon Series I had about 10 years ago. They were burgundy color and they were all chipped. I sanded down the varnish and stain and applied about 10 coats of polyurethane marine clear mat varnish. They were just perfect after that.

Akdom, interesting!
I have two questions:
Is the conga you mention worth being pimped up as far as the overall construction is concerned?

And did this conga sound really good?

I am asking because I have got the same conga type in my school, but the ultra-thick cowskin makes it very difficult for pupils to get decent sounds out of them.

Mike

[akdom]

Hi

the marathon series are very good for students and intermediate drummers. They are quite strong and can hold stress. But with too big of a skin, the hardware will eventually bend if you want to tune them properly.

For the students, a bigger skin is always better... It is harder to get the sound right, but once they do, they can hit thin skins without any problem.

And finally, YES, they were worth the time and effort to be refurbished.


B

[Mike]

Thanks for the reply!
I do not want to practice too much threadjacking, but I once had to
repair one of those Meinl Marathons, as it had cracked at two places.
But I cannot tell if it was tuned too high (thick skin causes lots of tension)
of if some pupils tipped it or if there was another cause for cracking.

It was possible to repair it though, and it still sounds OK.

All in all you are right about this kind of drum, usually it is very sturdy and good -
not only for beginners at all.

Mike, the marathon man

[akdom]

Hi Mike

I just say that these drums are good for practice and beginners because there are so many high quality drums out there that the marathon series are middle range.

I was very to have them as my first pair of congas about 12 years ago of course. But I am even more pleased with the ones I have now.



B

[Mike]

Hi Akdom,
yes, I could not agree more with you.
And by the way, there was a misprint of mine in my previous
post which I already corrected (I wrote "tight" instead of "right").
Sorry. No harm was intended, quite the opposite

The Meinl Marathons really deserve their names because they will last long if treated correctly.

Best of joy & luck!

Mike

[sancho27]

Here it is with 2nd coat of stain. Looking deeper in color & depth. 1 more coat of stain should get the look i'm after. Man cant wait to start seeing how good it will look with the clearcoat on afterwards!

[sancho27]

Ok, here is the 3rd coat of stain. It is what I was looking for. Now I'll start the cear coat process Saturday.

[SalseroBoricua71]

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[sancho27]

Yes, I have been useing the 400 between coats of stain. I will wet sand between coats of the clear. Been awhile since I wet sanded anything, not too much water right?

[SalseroBoricua71]

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[sancho27]

I was surprised by my daughter & son in law with a 3 set quinto,conga, & tumba Lp set. I got it as a very early Christmas present! Trying to match it up. Talk about totally surprised. I sold my congas 5 years ago & have regretted it. I kept the bongos & played them off & on. Well my brother who has his own blues band is in the studio recording their 1st cd. He did 2 kinda latin type songs & wanted me on the recording. Thats when my present came up cause my daughter knew how bad I wanted to play again ESPECIALLY on my bro's cd. He did one song with all guest, Bobby Espinoza from El Chicano,Joey Guerra from Tierra, The Banda Brothers from Poncho Sanchez band on drums & bass and Willie G. & his son Jacob G. on vocals. Yesterday his other friend David Hidalgo from Los Lobos came down & laid some guitar riffs down on the song as well. Sounds great. This drum I am finishing is an L.P. conga 11 3/4. I got lucky & was able to stain it to match the new drums, it's sooo close to the new set I got! Very lucky. When I get it all done I will take a pic of all of them to show how close it matches. Thanks for your kind words & insight bro.