Mongo's Meinls For Sale....Personal Drums

[hangnailrumbero]

Hello Forum.....The drums I have for sale are of extreme value to me..........SO.........What for sale is 2 Meinl Woodcraft Congas(conga and Tumba) that were given to me by Mongo Santamaria himself, on Christmas of 2002. My father was close to Mongo and is a close friend of Dario aka Omelenko. I had a pair of JCR congas at the time that were egging on me, and my father asked Mongo if he knew of anyone that could repair them......Mongo asked, who was it for, and my father said for his son...me. From my father's version of the story, Mongo went to his room, got some keys, proceeded to a storage room where he asked my dad to follow, and told my dad to grab these two drums. When I recieved these drums, I can't tell you what went through me.....It was if like A spirit came inside me and was guiding me to the drum for a Life endeavor. I have not lost focus from that point on of what I am going to do with my Life. But......I am in this crazy world we live in, and need to move forward in Life,so I am open to offers.....please no low ballers, if Mongo gave you a set of his drums and you wanted to sell them, what would be your price? Thank you and Be Blessed


P.S. These drums are on Mongo's album that goes by the name of "Soy Yo"....front cover that is.
P.S.S. Dario aka Omelenko can be of reference and vouch for me of the history of these drums and who gave them to me and when.....cause he was also there that day Mongo gave the drums to my father. I later saw Mongo about 3 days later at Dario's house por una Rumba que tiramos pa' el Maestro. Thank you again Dario....I Loved the garbanzos con Langosta that I tried later at my dad's. Deeelisshh

[ABAKUA]

Those are the original Meinl Woodcraft drums, far superior to todays current model being made.

Great drums, fantastic historic & sentimental value. Unimaginable having to sell them, however if you have no other option, I wish you the best of luck with the sale.

[thomas newton]

Ballpark for reference?

[Omelenko1]

What "hangnailrumbero", (Ricky), is relating about Mongo's congas is true. Luis "El Pincho" , Ricky's father, was a dear friend of Mongo. Mongo gave his personal Meinl congas to Luis to give to Ricky, I was there when it happened. Mongo was impressed with Ricky's playing ability, at the time Ricky was a teen but he could kick butt on the skins. Mongo had already suffered his first stroke and was not active anymore. According to the Meinl rep that presented those congas to Mongo, he stated that the wood used to build them had been at the bottom of a lake in Austria for over 30 years and that it underwent a curing process. Mongo had a document to that effect.
A few days after Mongo gave the congas to Ricky, I had Mongo at my house and I did a rumba tribute to him, with all of Miami's best rumberos. I have a video of the event. I need someone with knowledge to post it on "youtube". Shortly after that, Mongo presented me with his 1954 Vergara bongo' , who Mongo had given to Willie Bobo when they were both part of Tito Puente's rhytm section. In a 1982 reunion with Cal Tjader, Willie, who had been diagnosed with cancer, gave back the Cuban Vergara to Mongo.

Enclosed photo of Mongo and myself at the rumba tribute in my house, December 28th 2002. Mongo died shortly on Feb, 1st, 2003. Mongo with Cuban Vergara bongo'. VIVA MONGO! Sofrito Na' Ma'.

Dario

Dario

[CongaTick]

When it comes to instruments such as these it is a shame that no Museum of Percussion exists funded sufficiently to purchase and collect significant memorabilia and ephemera representative of the evolution of this heritage. I just had to cut down 3 large saplings in my backyard which I raised from seed over 8 years. The pain of cutting something so beautiful out of your life is sometimes what we must do.

[juancho]

What "hangnailrumbero", (Ricky), is relating about Mongo's congas is true. Luis "El Pincho" , Ricky's father, was a dear friend of Mongo. Mongo gave his personal Meinl congas to Luis to give to Ricky, I was there when it happened. Mongo was impressed with Ricky's playing ability, at the time Ricky was a teen but he could kick butt on the skins. Mongo had already suffered his first stroke and was not active anymore. According to the Meinl rep that presented those congas to Mongo, he stated that the wood used to build them had been at the bottom of a lake in Austria for over 30 years and that it underwent a curing process. Mongo had a document to that effect.
A few days after Mongo gave the congas to Ricky, I had Mongo at my house and I did a rumba tribute to him, with all of Miami's best rumberos. I have a video of the event. I need someone with knowledge to post it on "youtube". Shortly after that, Mongo presented me with his 1954 Vergara bongo' , who Mongo had given to Willie Bobo when they were both part of Tito Puente's rhytm section. In a 1982 reunion with Cal Tjader, Willie, who had been diagnosed with cancer, gave back the Cuban Vergara to Mongo.

Enclosed photo of Mongo and myself at the rumba tribute in my house, December 28th 2002. Mongo died shortly on Feb, 1st, 2003. Mongo with Cuban Vergara bongo'. VIVA MONGO! Sofrito Na' Ma'.

Dario

mongo y dario.jpg

Mongo en bongo Vergara.jpg

Dario

Que tal Dario, love to see that video. You must open up an account with youtube then you can upload your videos from your computer.......that's if you have the video in your computer or you can send me the video and I'll post it on youtube on my account but please we must see this video.
Lord bless

[CongaTick]

If the video is longer than 10 minutes however, youtube will not take it. If it IS longer than that, try editing it, or having someone edit it for you. Another choice if it is longer than ten is to post it on an internet large file server for download, such as http://www.sendspace.com/mysendspace/myindex.html

[bongosnotbombs]

I feel for you in your time of need. It is very unfortunate that you have to sell these drums that really belong in the Smithsonian, or
the Rock 'n Roll Hall of fame. If they were mine, I would never sell. A kidney would go first.

[BMac]

Then again maybe the soul of those drums would die in a museum.
Maybe by passing on to another player, they will outlive the individual players that shared them over time.
It seems that even the making of those drums, before a respected celebrity ever played them, has a story worth telling.
So past players have been characters in their winding story as much as the drums have been characters in the lives of the players.

Maybe one day their wood will be so old and brittle that they can't be played or restored, but that day hasn't come. Maybe one day they'll be lost in transit on the way to a gig and pass through a pawn shop to be bought dirt cheap by a aspiring young player who never learns their history but goes on to be a world reknown percussionist ... or maybe he'll grow old without fame, gigging with friends at a jazz bar near his home until his hands are too old to play ... and then one day he'll just pass them on to the son of a friend.

I think those drums should be played. Get the best price you can get and let their story continue.

Cheers,
BMac

[bongosnotbombs]

Soy yo

[seisporocho1]

my brotha,

I can't believe it. I know you wouldn't sell those babies if it weren't truly necessary. There is a lucky bidder out there just waiting to have these jewels in their collection.
I am honored to say I played those drums on numerous gigs and I agree with Omelenko on the quality of the wood Meinl used. You can feel the quality on the first hit. Those drums are extremely well made and sound ridiculous. Really full tones, piercing slaps, and projection is just awesome. Very sturdy.

I wish I could afford them!

un abrazo Ricky.

[CongaTick]

You're right Bmac, they should be played!! That is the way their soul (and Mongo's) could pass on.

[hangnailrumbero]

Hello Forum.....The drums I have for sale are of extreme value to me, but I am going through some tough times in life, and my family is needing my help more than ever.........SO.........What for sale is 2 Meinl Woodcraft Congas(conga and Tumba) that were given to me by Mongo Santamaria himself, on Christmas of 2002. My father was close to Mongo and is a close friend of Dario aka Omelenko. I had a pair of JCR congas at the time that were egging on me, and my father asked Mongo if he knew of anyone that could repair them......Mongo asked, who was it for, and my father said for his son...me. From my father's version of the story, Mongo went to his room, got some keys, proceeded to a storage room where he asked my dad to follow, and told my dad to grab these two drums. When I recieved these drums, I can't tell you what went through me.....It was if like A spirit came inside me and was guiding me to the drum for a Life endeavor. I have not lost focus from that point on of what I am going to do with my Life. But......I am in this crazy world we live in, and I am in need now, which I am sure Mongo would understand.

I am open to offers.....please no low ballers, if Mongo gave you a set of his drums and you "HAD" to sell them, what would be your price. Thank you and Be Blessed

P.S. These drums are on Mongo's album that goes by the name of "Soy Yo"....front cover that is.
P.S.S. Dario aka Omelenko can be of reference and vouch for me of the history of these drums and who gave them to me and when.....cause he was also there that day Mongo gave the drums to my father. I later saw Mongo about 3 days later at Dario's house por una Rumba que tiramos pa' el Maestro. Thank you again dario....I Loved the garbanzos con Langosta that I tried later at my dad's. Deeelisshh

O.k. Don't know if everyone who needed to see the post saw it.....so Im giving it one more try cause i got an offer, but trying to see if there is anyone out there with a better one. Let the bidding begin!!!!