Help! Deciding on New Set and need advice...

[umannyt]

Bourge17,

You're more than welcome! Again, I'm only glad to be of help!

Congratulations on your purchase of GB Alex Acuna Special Edition congas! Yes, less than $400 per drum is a reasonable price.

The ebony stain lacquer finish of your drums covers up (what I consider to be) the distracting natural grain of ashwood and makes them minimalist in look (my personal preference). And, based on the type of music that you play (rock & roll, pop, funk & Latin), which is quite similar to mine, you'll like the factory-equipped Remo synthetic heads. They'll cut through the amplified mix and there's no need to retune them during live gigs which is a real convenience.

Do post pictures of your new babies/beauties!

All the best,

[umannyt]

DW didn't get the marketing right, I thought with their distribution networks the new gon bops wold be all over theplace, unfortunately they went through some changes and price increases that probably turned off a lot of buyers, I personally think they didn't have their hearts in it and didn't know much about the Latin pecussion market, the products are excellent, their top of the line drums are excellent, their mid range drums sound great, I haven't personally played the acunas but I've owned the CA. series and played the tumbao series. Nice drums for sure!
PC

pcastag,

I totally agree with your analysis. Manufacturing and selling some of the most desirable kit drums in the music world, you would have thought that DW's ownership (now short-lived) of Gon Bops was a slam dunk for Gon Bops.

I feel kind of sorry for Gon Bops, particularly Akbar Moghaddam and crew. Designing and building such great products, they deserve a much more competent marketing arm. Hopefully, this time Sabian will do a much better job.

[alabubba]

Congrats on your new Gon Bops, and fully expect you will be as happy with yours as I am with mine.

[Bourge17]

My new set finally came in today. They look much better in person than the stock photo on the internet. They also look better than the photos I've attached below. The flash of the camera and gloss on the finish make the drums look a bit brighter than the really look. They are sleek though and show just enough grain to know they are not fiberglass.

I played with them for a while and am trying to find the sweet spots and right pitch. Also, these remo heads are a bit differnet for me. I am getting a little overtone that I will have to investigate (any advise there is welcome). However, they project great, sound great, and feel great. I think they are going to work just right for my set up. If I start playing in different settings, however, I may keep a seperate set of natural heads for those occasions. But that can wait until later.

Thanks again for all the help. Now its time to sell the wife on a set of timbales....

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Bourge

[umannyt]

Bourge17,

Again, congratulations! They do look better on your photos than the stock photo.

The stock photo make it look like the color is solid black. I'm glad that your photos reveal that some natural grain of Ashwood is still visible. And if you say that they look even better in actuality than your photos, then I can just imagine how slick-looking they really are.

As to the little overtone of Remo heads, I, personally, am not bothered by them 'cause I only hear them when I'm playing my Gon Bops CA congas by themselves. IMO, it's a tradeoff that's worth it, in return for getting better sound projection. When I'm actually playing them with my my amplified band, I practically don't hear them or am not aware of them. And, if such is the case, I'm almost sure that the audience doesn't hear them either. Just think of all the pros who are currently using Remo heads in live gig situations.

Re: timbales, I'm into them, too. We can also talk about this and I'd be more than happy to give my 2 cents worth of knowledge. But, at a later time and under a different section ("Timbales") here in our forum.

All the best,

[alabubba]

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Bourge

Nice drums, the grain and finish looks awesome! I love my DW Gon Bops, between me and my son there are 5 living at my house now in between gigs.

[jvq321]

Those are some beautiful drums. I finally ordered a GB Acuña Conga(my very first conga) and it arrived this Friday with a 20" crack running from the bottom up. The store has already placed a damaged claim and is getting picked up on Monday. The problem is that was their last one. I'm trying to find others and havent had much luck. Besides the Gon Bops store. Thanks for creating this thread ,it has helped me a lot in deciding what to get.