picture thread

[Mike]

Thanks for solving the riddle
I have to admit I was also distracted by the lady at first

[bongosnotbombs]

Here are some other pictures of King Congas. Also my friend James has a set, so I'm pretty familiar
with them. The GB and SOS drums you could kind of expect, but the King is rare so I was surprised to
see it in the promo shot.

Also another shot of the band, the drums and the lovely and talented China Forbes.

[Omelenko1]

Here is a photo of my Kings. Armando Peraza, who was the original endorser back in the early 70's, told me he has like 20 in storage in S.F.

Dario

[taikonoatama]

Good eye on that King, Geordie.

One hell of a great drum, the King super tumba. At 12.5" it's not super-tumba sized by today's standards, but it's fat and a whole lot of drum, with a great, almost earthy sound - not at all typical of fiberglass drums. Possibly my single favorite drum of all time.

James

King Conga super tumba

[congalou]

Hello all !!!

you know fiberglass drum very interesting me.....

And theses drums are very very very nice !!!

There is nothing to protect the bottom ???

Galou.

[taikonoatama]

you know fiberglass drum very interesting me.....

Yes, I know you've made your own fiberglass drums. Sounds like a very difficult but interesting project.

There is nothing to protect the bottom ???

Nothing, though the fiberglass is thicker at the very bottom (and top, around the rim) than the rest of the shell. Speaking of thickness (or maybe thinness), the shell is only between 3 and 4 mm (~1/8") thick, with a fair amount of variation within that narrow range of thickness, as it's handmade.

This reminds me, though, that I've been meaning to put something on the bottoms to protect them. I try not to play these Kings on cement (fiberglass, even Kings, usually sound like crap on cement, but then so do a lot of wooden drums unless they've got a thicker, mellower, woodier tone to begin with). I usually play on wood floors, or sometimes carpet, so it's not such an issue, but still, would be good to do.

King Conga - bottom view

[Tonio]

How about some clear tubing to go on the bottom? Suppose you would need to screw them in .

Carpet? I always have some trusty plywood in my gig bag to put under my congas. I also have a small pcs of solid wood that is screwed on top of the flat ply so the quinto or segun is tilted just right-which prevents the drum from scraping/bumping on the throne.

T

[Mike]

I like the idea of an all-terrain-resistant, yet non-slippery foot "ring"

An old bike tyre does the trick here.

[seisporocho1]

Anybody have info on King congas? Are they being manufactured?

[ABAKUA]

Anybody have info on King congas? Are they being manufactured?

Website: http://www.kingconga.com


From their Facebook page:

Company Overview:
King Conga™ was a legendary Fremont, California based percussion manufacturing company founded by Cirilo "Mitch" Basas in the mid 1960's. They were one of the first companies to produce fiberglass congas and although the company was only around for a few years, these drums are still considered some of the best sounding conga drums ever produced. The original endorser for King Conga was the legendary conguero Armando Peraza.

King Conga™ produced four original sizes - Requinto (9.5"), Quinto (10.5"), Conga (11.5"), Tumba (12.5"). All of the hardware and fiberglass fabrication was done by Cirilo in his shop in Fremont, CA. His partner Ray McGinnis painted the unique artwork on each drum. Unfortunately the company ceased operations abruptly in early 1975.

In 2007 the company was resurrected. We are currently in the process of producing the four original sizes: Requinto (9.5"), Quinto (10.5"), Conga (11.5"), and Tumba (12.5”) and expect to start accepting orders in late 2009.

Mission:
Our main goal is to bring back the authentic vintage King Conga™ sound. We are going to extraordinary lengths to make sure that the new Kings preserve all of the same design attributes as the original Kings while also making some needed structural and hardware innovations. We are also employing some unique fabrication techniques and composites that have never been used before.

The new Kings will be handmade to order. More importantly they will be made here in the USA with high quality skins & hardware.

Products:
Coming in late 2009....Requinto Drum (9.5"), Quinto Drum (10.5"), Conga Drum (11.5"), and Tumba Drum (12.5”) as well as replacement hardware for original drums.

[ABAKUA]

Check out the 'rubbish' bin one of my students picked up at a hippy street market stall during a recent music festival.... I took these pics with my phone camera.
Note, its upside down in the pics. The part touching the ground is actually the head of the drum, its had an extremely thin sheet of plywood tacked onto it.


Sacriledge!!!!

The stall owner had it sitting in his stall with rubbish in it, wasnt even for sale, had the crown sitting on it, complete with lugs and all. Says he had cut it down due to cracking and he couldnt get a decent sound out of it. So my student offered him $10 for it and it was sold!

Perhaps an early homemade mexican job?

[vinnieL]

what a shame i guess it could be used now as some sort of percussion decoration perhaps a cocktail table of sorts could be made with a conga theme.

[Sakuntu]

Fix up the bearing edge, put a head on it and have a beater drum lying around for friends and family when they come over....

[KING CONGA]

I'd say "RESSURECT IT"!!!!!! We know you can do it ABAKUA .

[KING CONGA]

I was just blessed with a set of 1992 CP originals, given to me by my friend David. I know that they are not a pro-grade conga but I must say that these really do sound good, the hardware is in excellent condition, old school, with nice and thick side plates, plan to use these when I teach and/or to use as a requinto in an actual gig. I have a question for all of you who have restored drums, would it be worth it for me restore these drums? I like the natural wood look. As you can tell they’ve been around the block although nothing serious.
Can some one please give me some history on these drums, quality, where they were made, type of wood etc. any information is greatly appreciated, thanks.thanks.