by Jerry Bembe » Thu Dec 23, 2010 8:44 am
Good question Leedy,
Thank you for pointing this out. I think this maybe worthy of a new thread. I modified (or butchered) this fine REMO head and I was aprehensive while modifying the head but afterwards I am glad I took the risk. The sound is excellent and I would do it again. This is why I showed this detail but I failed to explain why. You have an excellent eye for detail!
I don't think this Fiberskyn head was crimplock but possibly I'm wrong. I recieved this fine tumba that had a terrible head and I looked through what I had on hand and saw that this REMO head fit perfectly on the bearing edge of this tumba. Well I was eager to see how this tumba would sound with a better head because I was VERY DISSAPOINTED with how it originally sounded. Well dissapointment struck twice when I saw that the Resolution like the Valje crown has a very tight fit to the ring of the head, so the ring had to be modified to make this work.
Yes, I could have tried a different head or better yet tuck my own head but I did not have the materials on hand so I used what I had available. I donot like Evan's heads (so far) and I have always liked the Remo heads. (I had to dampen the head to muffle the sustain/ring, but afterwards the results for tone were excellent.) I was skeptical about finding the perfect head for a custom conga like "Resolution" so the can-do-spirit really helps out here.
So the moral of this story is take a calculated risk once in a while and you will be rewarded once in a while too. (I picked this head up for $20 so if it didnot work out I would not be at a great loss.) I have neve been one to be afraid to roll up my sleeves and work my instrument to suit my needs and taste. I have experimented with success and failure many times but I must say I really appreciate this forum to help limit those sometimes costly mistakes.
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season to all!
Jerry