Remo Congas

[mrhands]

How is the quality of the Remo Congas? I'm particularily interested in the Poncho Sanchez model in Molten Sea. I'm asking because I'm interested in louder congas and the Molten Sea finish is blowing my mind. Also, I am asking because a couple of years ago I purchased a 12'' Remo Earth key tuned djembe but took it back the next day. I noticed that some of the side plates that the tuning screws went into were crooked and when I was tuning the drum one of the tuning screws actually broke. Thus I returned it. I've heard that these congas are loud. Are they well built? Do they have good low end?

[KING CONGA]

I’ve owned two sets, Poncho Sanchez Tuff e Nuff. All of Remo Congas, with the exception of the outer design are made of the same material. The material is called ACOUSTICON, a mixture which all I know is made of natural wood and some type of fiber. These drums are without a doubt built very well and as for their hardware, second to none, that is of course if you don't mind the comfort curve rims, in fact, Volcano Congas also use this same exact hardware. The big drawback is that they are as heavy as tanks.
As for the sound, beautiful and with great projection.
Hope this helps.
Cheers

[roberthelpus]

I played a set of Pancho Sanchez models in a music store about ten years ago. I really didn't like them. The relationships between the different tones really seemed so off to me. YMMV, But I think you should definitely try before you buy.

[Craig]

On my friend's Remo conga and tumba, the tension from the heads over time caused the acousticon shells to cave in around all the side plates. I have never seen a wood stave conga do this.

[KING CONGA]

On my friend's Remo conga and tumba, the tension from the heads over time caused the acousticon shells to cave in around all the side plates. I have never seen a wood stave conga do this.

I had the same thing happen to me with one of my first Remos, a pre 2006. Remo was aware of this issue and they resolved it back in 2006 with a re-designning of the shells, now re-enforced arround the lug area, this is how all of their drums are now made. I called Remo and told them what was happening, to make a long story short, Remo replaced all four of my Congas with the New ones (talk about great customer service).
The only draw back about the new design is the fact that these wonderful drums are now a bit heavier
Mine:

Click on the image to amplify.

[Doctor_J]

The place where we have our salsa lessons has a set of Remo Fiberglass congas....they are black with a "gritty" texture (exactly like the ones pictured above) and have fyberskyn heads on them. They sound FANTASTIC! I always play them when we have intermission. The quality of them are great and I would recommend them. I especially like the rubber around the bottom so it doesn't scrape up the floor. The only thing I can see wrong with them is that they are HEAVY......VERY HEAVY...heavier than wood congas...which will make it difficult if you travel and have to lug them up and down stairs, but other than that they are GREAT!

[Dangler]

Was just looking around the internet for a retailer,these are hard to find,anyone have a good source?

[Jerry Bembe]

Cascio Interstate Music at: interstatemusic.com has carried this in the past. It might be a special order and you might have to wait 2-4 months but if you pay with a credit card they will not charge it until they deliver.

Jerry

[buckoh]

Mr hands, I have a new Jimmy Morales 11 inch with a Nuskin head that I will sell for 300.00. I have too many drums and need to downsize. PM me. Buckoh

[Ernesto Pediangco]

Remo congas and bongos are Great if you are not a purest / traditionalist ! The shells are not going to crack and they are great w/ Remos NuSkinz which are thicker and more authentic sounding that the earlier FiberSkynz which were to thin and were laminated ~ the top laminate peeled & blistered off. The dense man made laminated accousticon shells sound like a medium hard wood and the drums sound good in all tones while even Lp's top line models loose bass resonance. Remo sizes & new crowns and side plates are up to par with any top brand but have rubber base rings which adds to the drums ablility to resonate. Just avoid thin heads so they wont ring like tom toms ( I hate that sound in plastic heads ) The exterior finishes are either a fabric wrap or a painted finish. Not as scratch resistant as fiber glass gel coats so protect your drums by never letting them touch each other w/ hardwares. I use a fanny pack as a bumper & it stores my tuning wrech, finger tape, etc. I never like the old Remo traditional crowns that were rubber covered because the friction was hurting my hands. But the new Remos are much improved and have a better selection of coverings / finishes if you like all the bling.

[Ernesto Pediangco]

, the early models had the same problem early Lp glass drums had from delaminating at the side plates. This is why all high tension drums need detuning. The new Remos are better now...its the heads you use that make the difference, as is true w/ any drum. The drum head is the voice of the drum, the shell is just a resonator built to hold tuning hard wares. The rest is cosmetics ! Ernesto Pediangco *

On my friend's Remo conga and tumba, the tension from the heads over time caused the acousticon shells to cave in around all the side plates. I have never seen a wood stave conga do this.

I had the same thing happen to me with one of my first Remos, a pre 2006. Remo was aware of this issue and they resolved it back in 2006 with a re-designning of the shells, now re-enforced arround the lug area, this is how all of their drums are now made. I called Remo and told them what was happening, to make a long story short, Remo replaced all four of my Congas with the New ones (talk about great customer service).
The only draw back about the new design is the fact that these wonderful drums are now a bit heavier
Mine:

Click on the image to amplify.