choosing bongo skin

[KreuvaiT]

Hello everybody,

A friend just give me back an old bongo pair I forgotten at his home (about 8 years), but the larger skin had a hole, and the second is really used.
It's a Marathon meinl serie, but I've a question about the diameter of the skin.

I don't know where to measure to get the diameter to purchase pre-made skin. Is it the diameter of the wood case or the one of the iron circle?

I've 22 cm(8,7inch) at the wood tube and 25 (9,8inch) for the iron circle for the large one, and 18(7,1)inch/21 (8,3inch) for the little one.
Which ones are the good values ?

Secondary i would like to know if it's truely necessary spending about 35E in a meinl skin or if there is some good skin at a lower price.
I've studied the making my skin alone with a goat skin, but i've no time or experience to do that.

Thank you for your attention !

KreuvaiT

[Tonio]

Measure the bearing edge(playing surface), not the metal rim. You should be able to get a pre mounted head for your Meinl.

wow, you forgot you loaned bongos to your friend for 8 years? Anythng else perhaps?

good luck

T

[Tonio]

http://www.thedrumworks.com/Replacement ... c-503.html

Or if you can mount yourself, cowhide sounds mucho better!! Plenty of help here for a source of skins and how to mount them

T

[vinnieL]

Mount your own use cow skin

[Psych1]

Or, you could go to a drum shop and let them pick the skin and mount it for you while you watch. It might be a lot less then buying premounted skins and better too. I prefer cow on the hembra but I like goat skin on the macho. Where do you live? Perhaps someone here could help you make a good contact.

[KreuvaiT]

Thank you very much for your answers, so it's 8.5" and 7".

I live in france, Lorient, so i don't know if you ave any good adress...

In the mounting, the step that worry me is cutting off the exceeding skin, I don't know how to make that clean, and without drilling the skin.
Tomorropw morning I'll ask in a music store if they could do the job, but i'm not sure.

thanks again !

KreuvaiT

[bongosnotbombs]

If your in France you probably want to contact our French member "congalou"
He can tell you what you need to know.

Just search for his name on this forum and send him a personal message.

[Psych1]

Well, there are a lot of Turks in France and that means a lot of Turkish drummers and drum shops. Also, Ramadan is coming up soon and that means a lot of new drum heads being mounted. And, you live in a country where horse skins are available - many say that is the best skin for the macho. Ask around, you should be able to get good thin goat skin all ready for your bongos for 10 Euro - cow and horse will be more. If you approach it right I bet someone at the right shop will mount it for you for free! Spirit of the holidays and all.

You will need the rings from the old heads - bring everything with you - have fun!

[KreuvaiT]

I went to the music shop I used to go, but they don't mount any skin and can order pre mounted cow skin for 50$... so I reconsidered mounting on my own
Should I buy Cow or Goat skin ?
Cow is larger so it could give a better sound no ?

I find an african dance association, and wait for news, but I will try to contact turkish people too, i didn't think about it.

thanks for your help

[Psych1]

Here is a picture of my Meinl. The hembra has a thick cow skin that has been on for many years - it sounds better and better as it gets older. The macho has a thin goat skin that I put on a few months ago - it has a crisp and sharp sound that I like.

Drummers where I live use all kinds of skins - fish, big rats, all kinds of plastics, cows, goats, mules, and more. Not horse tho - there are some funny laws here about that. When you get comfortable mounting skin and find a good source you can experiment. I really like the combination I have on the Meinl now.

[KreuvaiT]

my bongo look like yours in the metal pieces, about 10 years old for mine.
I don't know all funny laws we have there so I wont try horse right now, I think cow could be good, and i will probably prefer the touch.

Your macho skin looks a bit short doesn't he ? the metal circle dont hurt your finger when playing?

Thanks for the photo, I can now see the difference in thickness and colour !

[Psych1]

My Meinl bongos at at least 20 years old - they don't make them like that now. You are right about the crown! It was a small skin & I didn't have any extra room to play with. But it works well for me - and, the skin is new and will stretch over time. If you get one that is about 30 cm, you won't have any problem mounting it.

[Dangler]

Ola Bogoceros
I would like to find a source for natural skins(goat,cow,mule).There are a few pre-mounts available here but the natural skins seem to be the more popular with you guys.
Any help would be appreciated

[burke]

In Canada - Moperc for sure (cow only I think). But good, good skins.

I buy goat for bodhrans at the Halifax folklore centre - but any "Folklore" type music store on the west coast should have goat.

As far as I know you have to go outside Canada for mule - just search 'Mule' and you'll get the two main guys - beware customs and rip off brokerage fees however - use the mail and avoid Fedex, UPS and all those like the plague! You never know what the final bill will actually be!

[Dangler]

Thanks for the info Burke.

If there are any other congaplace rookies reading this with interest,check out the suppliers listed in the congaset & acc. section.