Resolution Tumba and Valje Ashiko Set

[Jerry Bembe]

Please add your Valje, Resolution, Sol and any other Flores and/or Akbar creations posted here.

I have what I believe to be a Resolution Tumba with Honey finish (12 1/4" diameter x 30" high) that I recently restored. The tumba sounded like a cardboard box (original head I believe) when I received it so I like to think I gave it some new life due to some TLC.

First I removed the hardware, Tung oiled the interior (interior has scoring like Valje) and re-installed the hardware on rubber padding with larger washers on the interior on rubber padding also. I like to think that isolating the hardware from the shell creates a more resonant shell to create better tone. The original interior washers were rather small and imbedded themselves into the shell almost 1/8" from the stress placed upon them.

The bearing edge is between 12"- 12 1/4" in diameter. I modified a REMO Mondo head (because I had it on hand and it was a perfect fit) to fit under the crown. I filed the aluminum retaining ring all the way through at the tight points but it still works just fine and sounds great. I taped clear duct tape under this head (between the head and bearing edge, it can be seen in the photo) to dampen it to eliminate the ring of synthetic head.

Resolution Tumba?

Made in USA Label and height 30"

Interior Resolution

Valje and Resolution

Also I have found a complete set of Valje Ashikos. They are 9 3/4", 11 1/4" and 12 1/2" in diameter and approximately 31" high. The scoring is on the interior even though these are not steam bent staves. The finish is faux Zebra Wood which I found to be rather unique for most Valje work is natural or "Honey" finished. I have yet to restore this set. The skins appear to be original and I believe this affects the tone by a considerable factor to be rather flat.

Valje Ashiko Set faux Zebrawood finish

Valje Ashiko Set faux Zebrawood finish

I will post more pictures later.

Keep it fun,

Jerry

[Jerry Bembe]

I have the label from the crown below.

Valje Label

Valje Label

Also it is interesting to see the scoring of the interior despite the lack of steam bent staves.
Inside

Inside Ashiko

The faux zebrawood finish is very pronounced at the edge between the exterior and interior. It almost looks like fiberglass at this point.

Finish VS interior

Closeupof faux finish VS interior

Hardware closeup

Hardware closeup

Height

Height

Keep it fun,

Jerry

[Jerry Bembe]

Oh I forgot to point out that on the interior of all 3 Ashikos, that you can see portions of it shaved. I assume this was a fine tuning process for the opening of the bottom. It is truly amazing how detailed Flores work was with these. The finish, tuning of the opening, the scoring of the interior and the overall presentation. The tuning of the opening is truly facinating. Also no glue lines and the interior is sanded clean.

Opening interior

The only player I am familiar with playing these Valje Ashikos is Big Black. I saw a preview recently for "Soul Power" which focuses on the music surrounding Ali's fight in Zaire backin the mid-70's. I swear that Big Black is playing a set resembling a set exactly like these.

I have cleaned up the interior of other congas while restoring them. I have found that this is fine with Oak but the Mahogony congas are more touchy. Oak is not very resonant while mahogony is one of the most resonant woods available. So if mahogony is too clean then it may become too resonant and be ringy in its tone. I wonder if any of you have had a simaliar experience wirh Mahogony VS Oak.

Keep it fun,

Jerry

[windhorse]

Those drums look awesome! Very nice work you did,, and obviously any Tom/Akbar product.
I met Akbar only a few months before he sold "his Sol" to DW to make CA GonBops.
His shop was still in SF and half filled with recently sanded pre-finish Gon Bop shells, and the other half unsold Sol drums. I was lucky enough to get one of the last Sol Mahogany sets that he made. He was very proud of his drums, and gladly showed me most of the process.
Here's a Bembe we did with these drums:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1448679386260
And a Guaguanco:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1450313787119

Check out especially the low mellow tones of the tumba, and the nice crisp woody sound of the quinto.

[bongosnotbombs]

I have Resolutions and a Valje. That drum is certainly a Resolution at that height. Valjes are 31" more or less and Resolutions are an inch shorter at 30", well mine are 30" yours seems 29.5. Maybe the drum lost some wood from the bottom being scraped from being played outside, or perhaps just a natural variation in the handmade product.

I've posted these pics before, but what the heck.

[Psych1]

I've got a SOL conga cajon. It's my kitchen conga - sits nicely under the counter. I often play it first thing in the morning while the coffee is brewing. No tuning/hardware/skin - easy!

[buckoh]

Jerry, nice score on the Valje African Style congas as they are referred to on an old Valje flyer from the '80s. They're not faux anything, they are quatersawn oak, sometimes referred to as flaked oak or tiger stripe oak. They appear to have a nice patina which helps the sap grain stand out. I wouldn't touch the finish except maybe to put a light clearcoat on. I played one of those 30 years ago and really liked it-nice bass tones and great slaps. Peace, Buckoh

[Jerry Bembe]

Thanks for the comments. I stand corrected about the finish. I like the isea of clear coating it. I would like to know how Gon Bops Fiberglass coatead their teardrop line. I also like Casa Cubana's heavy gel coat. This is the way to really preserve a drum. Does anyone have any info on how this is done?

Nice set BNB. I also admire the Sol line too, (my wife comments about my drums in the kitchen too) .

The drums need new skins so I cannot comment on the tone. I imagine you are correct about the heavy BASS and I am a Tumba player so that is OK with me.

[bongosnotbombs]

Nice set BNB. I also admire the Sol line too, (my wife comments about my drums in the kitchen too) .

I forgot to mention, a good friend of mine also has one of those round Sol cajons, it is a very nice drum. Very crisp sounding for a cajon. I believe his is a quinto size. His also has a darker finish.

[Psych1]

I forgot to mention, a good friend of mine also has one of those round Sol cajons, it is a very nice drum. Very crisp sounding for a cajon. I believe his is a quinto size. His also has a darker finish.

My cajon is a full 12" and made of red oak - the darker ones were mahogany. Great sound - much better than the new Gon Bops cajons.

http://www.soldrums.com/cajon.html

[roberthelpus]

Thanks for the comments. I stand corrected about the finish. I like the isea of clear coating it. I would like to know how Gon Bops Fiberglass coatead their teardrop line. I also like Casa Cubana's heavy gel coat. This is the way to really preserve a drum. Does anyone have any info on how this is done?

I was hoping that someone would jump in here that has actually done it. A friend of mine has about five cracked Gon Bops and he wanted me to help him put bands on them. I pointed to some of his drums that had split underneath the bands and the fact that my fiberglassed GBs sat right next to some his drums as they had split. Sooo, I looked in to working with fiberglass over wood and the only books that I could find were from boating, and to tell the truth, what I read scared me off of the whole thing.

You have to prepare the wood so that the fiberglass keys into the wood. Humidity and temperature play a huge part in working with the gel coat. The health and safety concerns are pretty serious as well. You don't want to breathe the chemicals or the glass fibers. They say that people that work with it all of the time get used to the itching.

I probably was overthinking it but I did lose interest in the whole messy project. I am sure that just gel coat does something but it's the combination of the gel coat and fiberglass matrix that provides the real strength.

Hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in.

[Mike]

I was hoping that someone would jump in here that has actually done it. A friend of mine has about five cracked Gon Bops and he wanted me to help him put bands on them. I pointed to some of his drums that had split underneath the bands and the fact that my fiberglassed GBs sat right next to some his drums as they had split. Sooo, I looked in to working with fiberglass over wood and the only books that I could find were from boating, and to tell the truth, what I read scared me off of the whole thing.

You have to prepare the wood so that the fiberglass keys into the wood. Humidity and temperature play a huge part in working with the gel coat. The health and safety concerns are pretty serious as well. You don't want to breathe the chemicals or the glass fibers. They say that people that work with it all of the time get used to the itching.

I probably was overthinking it but I did lose interest in the whole messy project. I am sure that just gel coat does something but it's the combination of the gel coat and fiberglass matrix that provides the real strength.

Hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in.

With the fiberglassing I did on my Gon Bops and also the Reiche COnga (see here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5876&p=60034&hilit=Reiche#p60034) I had no issues whatsover.
It is the easiest, most longlasting solution I could think of, and the health issue with the shipbuilder´s epoxy is only a minor one.
Rubber gloves and eye-protection is a must of course.
Working outside in warm climate is surely better than doing the job inside, but it works too.
Messy, yes, you have to be careful not to get in touch with any carpet or clothes, as
the stuff is sticky as hell.

But all in all, I would see no reason NOT to do it, roberthelpus!

[Joseph]

You have to prepare the wood so that the fiberglass keys into the wood.

To a certain extent…it should be clean and dry.
There are many GB luan shells that are finely sanded and stained red mahogany color before overcoat with resin/glass matrix.

Humidity and temperature play a huge part in working with the gel coat

Humidity not so much. Resin is plastic after all. Humidity would have more to do with the wood to which the resin is being applied.
Temp yes. Both catalyzed operations with epoxy or polyester resin are affected by ambient temps Low ambient temps will slow cure time, high ambient temps will accelerate.
Most important for the polyester resin mix is the proper mixing of resin hardener. When mixing hardener (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) into fiberglass resin a “chain reaction” is initiated, causing resin to “Set up” Depending on MEK proportion mixed into resin one can make a “hot” batch or a “cold” batch. MEK hardener is typically a very small proportion in the resin/hardener mix: usually a one ounce tube of MEK to catalyze 1 gallon of resin (as opposed to epoxies which are generally a 50/50 mix of resin to hardener).

A common mistake for new fiberglassers is to make batch of resin too “hot” and the resin starts cooking off in the pot as you are trying to apply it. Throw it out!
It can quickly turn into a gloppy mess, especially if you continue to try to apply it to the surface you are working, because you will have to grind it off.

Gel coat is a slightly thicker, pigmented resin which is used (mostly in fiberglass molds) to create a colored resin top coat and to cover the resin/glass cloth matrix.
There is no great inherent strength in un-reinforced fiberglass resin, it’s just brittle plastic.
Your wooden shell could crack at a glue line under the gel coat, and it would probably show up on an un-reinforced surface gel coat.

Resin/ glass cloth matrix is where the strength is (known as GRP: glass reinforced plastic).
Properly “wetted out” glass cloth will be practically transparent ( ala Gon Bops GRP wood shells).

They say that people that work with it all of the time get used to the itching.

One never gets used to that.
The itching comes mostly from having to sand into the glass fiber/ resin matrix, thereby throwing lots of minute glass fibers into the air
People that work with it all the time learn to work cleanly, and to lay out cloth for minimal ginding/sanding….and wear “moonsuits’.

All in all, not an undertaking I would recommend to one unfamiliar with GRP lay-up techniques.

If I was determined to do it, I would use epoxy resin and lightweight glass cloth (2 oz), Epoxy is stronger, has better adhesion qualities.

Even with epoxy, there are many layup techniques, such as the use of squeegees to spread resin quickly and to press resin into cloth; knowing the difference between “resin rich” and “resin starved” cloth layup; knowing how to “feather” a cured glass cloth edge for overlap layup.
Knowing how to use these techniques can make a great difference between an amateurish finish (which might require a lot of itchy sanding to smooth out) and a fine one (ala Gon Bops…they did a bang up job on their glass work AFAIC)

With the fiberglassing I did on my Gon Bops and also the Reiche COnga..... I had no issues whatsover.
It is the easiest, most longlasting solution I could think of, and the health issue with the shipbuilder´s epoxy is only a minor one.

Hi Mike,
To be clear here, you applied 2 coats of un-reinforced epoxy resin to a wooden shell.

That is substantively different than wrapping the shell in glass fiber cloth, and saturating cloth in (polyester or epoxy) resin...ala Gon Bops.

While the molecular crosslinking that occurs when epoxy cures, would create a strong (un-reinforced) surface film on the shell of the drum, it would not be near the effect of a glass epoxy matrix surrounding the shell.

Respect,
Joseph

[Jerry Bembe]

Good points about stablizing the outer shell along with the supporting links. I have some. additional questions about gel coating and/or fiberglass coating of a conga.

1) How do you apply the resin evenly and so it does not run, ripple or give an uneven finish?
2) If the resin hardens can you continue adding along side of it and get an even result?
3) The thickness of the coats, should very thin coats be applied and then sanded in between?
4) The final coat does not get sanded normally to give the gloss?

I have several Gon Bops and they are among the finest sounding congas I know. I have fixed recently at least 6 cracks in Bops without a gel coat. I have one that I purchased on E-bay and it sounded great but when I removed the head it immediately cracked in 3 spots and now needs an overhaul. My "Teardrop" Bops both Oak and Mahogony have several cracks but the coating kept them together and I just glued them together with Gorilla glue to hold them together.

I had the same issue with a Casa Cubana (Oak), it has an extreemly heavy gell coat and tight metal banding and when I remeoved the head it too cracked in 3-5 spots last night. I quickly put the head back on to hold it together until I can glue it back together.

In addition to gluing these fine sounding congas together, I have been using Tung oil on the interior of these shells. I like to think that this feeds the wood and helps to keep shrinkage and the wood from drying out. I am not sure if this is successful for the long run but I will keep an eye on these.

I see great value in preserving these fine instruments that in my opinion meet or exceed 90% plus of the new instruments made today.

Jerry

[roberthelpus]

Well, I was all gung ho, reading up on fiberglass work and ready to do it, but I was the only one. I live to help but one of the things that I have learned over the years is to wait and see if anyone else is ready to go. Meanwhile those drums would probably last just fine with regular repairs using modern glues and the fact that the wood should be settled in by now and less likely to crack or split again.

Thanks for jumping in Jerry and Joseph, that's what I was looking for.