uneven skins

[Thomas Altmann]

Does anybody have experience in mounting conga skins of uneven thickness? I just ended up trashing the second skin that I thought would be even enough at the time I bought it.

I mean, it's all relative. I have seen many drums that have uneven skins on them, actually most of them have. I had mounted some of these myself. And in a way, I haven't seen a perfect conga skin in years. What shall I put on my drums then? Plastic?

What happens is that, when I soak the skin, the thicker part of the hide becomes a plank, and the thinner part turns into something that I would use to clean my windows. As soon as I mount it, I can't help the thick part pushing aside the thin part, thus making it wrinkle up to the edge of the drum. The wrinkles would tear later when the skin has dried and I try to tune it.

The last good conga skin that I got was a single one out of a whole batch that some brought to me from Cuba about seven years ago. I promise, the rest that I bought from then on was practically garbage - that was in Hamburg, in Havana, and in New York. And I had already selected the best in stock.

An expensive affair, too, by the way.

So what do you do? Or where do you get better skins, if there are any?

[pcastag]

the skins i get from bill confer are extremely even, they mount very easily and sound great!

[KING CONGA]

Matthew Smith is a source for skins, he provided me with a skin for my Requena Quinto, which was very uniform in thickness, and it went on very nice, mind you it's the first skin I have ever mounted.

[jorge]

Hi Thomas,
Don't give up and go plastic! I have used many uneven skins, that is the "nature of the beast" so to speak. Some of my best sounding skins are relatively uneven. None of them, however, were so thin as to be weak on one side. Often, I mount the skin way off center so I can have a bit more control over the thickness and evenness. Sometimes that means the cut-off part is a crescent, and one edge of the skin does not get cut. I prefer to pick my own skins, and have never bought skins online. If you get a chance to go through a pile of skins at a drum shop, you can probably tell which ones are too uneven or too thin on one side, just by flexing it and looking how it bends. You would probably do best by writing to Matt, Jay, or Cali and describing the drum you have and the skin and sound you want.
If you have to buy over the internet, try to talk to the seller and tell them what you are looking for. Most of the sellers discussed on this forum seem to be straightforward and honest, and are accountable to the extent that you can give feedback to the forum, and they depend on the forum members for business. Last resort, if you don't know anything about the seller, you could give them a minimum thickness for the thin side, a maximum for the thick side, and tell them you want to be able to return it postage free if it does not look like what they said it would look like.

[Thomas Altmann]

Thanks to everyone.

I think I'll have to consider internet order. I have heard that Michael of L&H Percussion has nice skins, and Isaac, too. I didn't know about Matt. But first I have to make sure that there won't be problems with import rules concerning animal products. If laboratries had to check the hides for germs, the price would be triple.

Paolo: Who is Bill Confer? I have heard the name before, but I can't remember where.

Jorge: Of course I know about the "nature of the beast". As I said, I have successfully mounted a few uneven skins myself. And you are right, it just mustn't be extreme. I can tell on King Conga's picture where the thicker end of the skin is. I was also considering off-center mounting; but in my case that would have made it worse.

Thomas

[bongosnotbombs]

I think Mike on the board here, who also lives in Germany, has a local connection for quality skins.

[Mike]

Hmm, skins...
...are as individual as the animals they came from. It is sometimes
hard to tell beforehand how they will look and sound like on your drum,
so...
... evenness is not the most important criterion to me.
Mounting can become a royal struggle though.
But soundwise it does not necessarily have to be bad.
It is also the question what difference in thickness we are talking about,
1mm, 2mm or even more?
Lately I mounted a cow skin on my Gon Bops conga that differs in thickness
from appr. 1.8 mm on one side to 4.0 mm on the side. Yet very often the visible part
(of the cut skin) appears very thick, but the resonating part might not
be as thick. My Gon Bops conga skin now sounds fantastic now at least!

BTW two thumbs up for Michael at L&H for his very nice skins - they are
the most even flat skins I have come across so far.

[Tonio]

Thanks to everyone.

I think I'll have to consider internet order. I have heard that Michael of L&H Percussion has nice skins, and Isaac, too. I didn't know about Matt. But first I have to make sure that there won't be problems with import rules concerning animal products. If laboratries had to check the hides for germs, the price would be triple.

Paolo: Who is Bill Confer? I have heard the name before, but I can't remember where.

Jorge: Of course I know about the "nature of the beast". As I said, I have successfully mounted a few uneven skins myself. And you are right, it just mustn't be extreme. I can tell on King Conga's picture where the thicker end of the skin is. I was also considering off-center mounting; but in my case that would have made it worse.

Thomas

Hi Thomas,
Bill Confer is in Texas, USA.

I believe Matt Smith of Ritmo uses Bill's skin =allthough I am sure he orders them by the half ( whole side of cow) instead of the off the shelf you can get in rounds of 18, 20, 22" and in bongos etc. The rounds are nice and even-as much as you can from an animal, but somewhat on the thinner side. Not perfect, but perfectly even is not really atainable due to being a natural product, but real close.
Mario of Isla did order half hides from Bill too. Not sure about where he gets them now since moving out of USA.
Even Tom of Volcano uses Bill Confer skins.

Even thickness of skin is a important thing to me when purchasing. It will make a difference in tuning in the long run. I'll go as far to say it may have an effect on drums going out of round.

I can post a few pics of some I have on hand if you want. Look into the importation rulings-to include duties, it may be worth your time unless you can find some in the EU. I am suprised you can't? How about the EU conga mgr's directly?
T

[Tonio]

Oh, don't foregt about Greco (from Greece)on this board has mule skin.

T

[bongosnotbombs]

I think the skins Matt uses, and Jay are planed to have an even thickness.

[Mike]

Oh, don't foregt about Greco (from Greece)on this board has mule skin.

T

Of course not, and very good - and even - skins too!

@ Thomas: From my experience, importation rules to Germany are not that harsh,
as long as there is a filled-in form regarding the contents.

[Thomas Altmann]

Thank you Mike. I made a phone call to our local customs office, and they told me that I'd have to pay tax and custom fees, but there were no import restrictions on cow products.

I like the look of your conga skin, but I don't like the entire head being that displaced towards the thicker side.

I don't like those translucent brown cow skins. I don't know what they do to these skins. The last one I had of those seemed to strike back on me, felt like rubber. The tuning range that allowed for a good open conga sound was too small. It seemed to be made for slaps only - too much overtone, no body. I have only seen them in Germany, very strange.

Also, I think I rather stick to cow first. I have always played cow. Tata has always played bull hides. There'll be a time to experiment with other options. I have heard people swear on mule for years, but for me - not yet.

Thanks to Tonio for the info on Bill Confer. I think there's a "skin supplier list" somewhere on the board. I'll have a look whether he's included there.

I have seen planed skins. I don't think there's anything negative about it, except that they are probably more expensive.

TA

[danno]

I think United Rawhide in Chicago used to plane their heads. Were they not the original Gon Bop skin supplier?

[Tonio]

Right GB used to get skins from United, now defunct.

PLanning skins ar easy from what Mario told me. He uses a table sander.

The brown translucent skins are usually bull /steer. Bill Confer uses agnus steer-you know those black male cows? I don't think they are treated at all. But you can bleach them to get the ol' GB dead sound if you want, just test with spare/scrap skin with percentage to water.

I've yet to try mule skin I got from L&H.

For importing there may be duties and VAT(value added tax). The customs broker should be able to give the full detail based on the tarriff schedule.

T

[buckoh]

Hi everyone, I've bought some skins from Matthew. He uses Confer skins and I believe that they are already cut to rounds. Each has a BC written with a Sharpie on it. Well planed and very even, 40.00 ea. plus shipping(less for bongos). This is a good way to go. I still have part of a half steer hide that I cut heads from. It's a pain due to having to get my sabre saw out and then trying to flatten the head to mark it and then cut it. On the plus side, I give the scraps to my girlfriend's dog for treats! (The 5 year divorce is over!) I've also used the scraps, cut into 2 inch wide strips, to fasten the legs of pedestal tables. I wet the strips, apply hot animal hide glue, and staple or nail them to the bottom where the legs join the column. When they dry of course they shrink, and I get a strong repair. Much better than metal strips which never hold up under use! (I think I'll patent this so I can retire!). This thread reminds me that I need to try several types of bleach to get that white look. I remember back in the 70s all of the great sounding drums had white skins. I only started seeing the brown skins about 20 years ago. Anyway, I say go with the heads from Matthew. Support a great craftsman, a true Renaissance man! More to come! Buck