Ash congas

[bongosnotbombs]

Fantastique! Tres bon!

[Ernesto Pediangco]

Great Shells , My favorite woods are Ash, they are a perfect happy medium for tone & projection when mated to the proper heads. My pet peeve is the proliferation of lame tuning lugs & crowns that are adequate but not up graded to make a drum maintenence free. That's the incing on the cake & you shells are a great cake ! If you ever want to build some prototype shells of other drums, ( Tarolas, Bongos, Cajon etc,.. I can use some ! I am concentrating on hard wares & a patent worthy tuning system that no one has yet stolen from me...but others are already in catalogs although am not credited. I have a chip on my shoulder about that so I will remain vague in those details. Give me a E mail some times & we can talk shop & products etc. Good Luck ! Ernesto P.

2010-09-03 18.01.14.jpg

[congalou]

Hi Ernesto, nice timbales !!

You have petented a system on timbales, that's it ?? Is it the system on the photo ?

First layer of PU varnish.

[congalou]

Strong hardware is ready, skin too...

G.

[Ernesto Pediangco]

It's for reenforced the shell, The tension is very strong at the side plate, I think that with a layer of fiber, the stress is well spread inside.

I think it's good for the long life of the shell. Of course, it could be bad for the sound, but I'm not shure, I have to try to know. And it could be interesting to paint the layer with special paint for the sound.

I will try without a layer and maybe put the layer after, it could be good to know.

Galou.

Gon Bops use to do clear fiberglass jackets over their wood shells which eliminated the need for barrel bands and kept the drums light weight and allowed natural resonance. This helped keep the woods from denting from bumping around as well. How ever...a big bump may make the glass de lamiminate off the shell in some places. It will simply appear like a cloudy bubble under the glass. If these were my shells, I would stain them & then rub in some Tung Oil to seal the wood ( inside & out ). Any minor scratches can simply be rubbed out w/ a bit of stain & oil. Fiberglass is a good idea for exterior. I would still seal the interior since if moisture enters from the inside but not the out side....the expansion & shrinkage will not occur naturally. Who knows what will happen as a result ?

[Ernesto Pediangco]

Strong hardware is ready, skin too...

G.

I am impressed that you added enough lugs / tuning points , that evenly distribute the tensions & that your hard ware mountings correctly use 2 on bottom of a 3 hole template where the stress is the most. The welded on lug saddles look very strong & allow clearance...not to close as to cause damage to the tuning threads of the hooks . The traditional crown looks like the best Gon Bops ever had. They are well spaced as to use the rigidity of the crown rim to best advantage. " Isla Drums" in Puerto Rico needs such a system which is stronger than what they now have. My only contribution to this system is...you should bevel the top edge of the crown to be as user friendly to the hands as is possible. There should be no sharp edges any where since that is where chrome layers will begin chipping & peeling off. If chroming is too costly ( usually is ), I suggest you find a shop that does yellow zinc anodized * which is a good anti corosion and has colorful tints that remind me of some jewelry made of titanium ! I used to do all my JCR bells like that as well. It.s a great option to chrome and is better than powder coatings since it wont chip off. GREAT JOB on this project Brother ! Congrats !

[congalou]

Hello Ernesto !

I have varnish the inside of the shell. About the hardware, I have wax it 3 layer, very efficient and I keep the metal look. As you said, good chrome is costly.

The 20 * 5mm rim have got round edge very confortable, I don't need to bevel it more.

G.

[congalou]

Details of the layer of epoxy resin with fiberglass before put the hardware.

And with the thick skin.

G.

[Mike]

Wow, magnifique, that surely looks like a gorgeous conga!
Congratulations!
I believe the skin is freshly mounted on the picture, it still
looks awfully thick?

[congalou]

I mike ! thanks !!

Yes it's freshly mounted, and it's veeeeery thick too !!!!

[Mike]

I bet that like with the Delaporte congas, the massive ash shell of yours can take the thick skin.
Please make sure you can post a soundcheck later, I think the brotherhood here is dying
to hear what the drum sounds like.
I am especially interested to hear to what the inside varnish will have influenced the sound.
So far, have a good drink , looks like a masterpiece has just been finished!
Bonne soirée à toi!

[congalou]

Here it is !

The skin is drying, photos of the bottom.

Galou.

[Sakuntu]

Excellant! C'est Chouette vrai! So lets hear how it sounds! A youtube video perhaps?

[Bongobilly]

Congalou ; Great job on that conga! I want to recoat my Gon Bop's with epoxy. Can you go through the detail's on how you did your's. Thank's Frankie.

[congalou]

Hello bongobilly, do you want to recoat your gonbops witn epoxy resin and fiberglass or just epoxy varnish ?

For resin an fiberglass, you could find all the info you want on the net when you search "resin epoxy canoe / boat"

Here is an example but in French : http://arno.canoe.over-blog.com/5-categorie-283500.html

Personnaly, I used SICOMIN epoxy resin and 100g/m2 fiberglass 3 layers. you can put 3. After, I polish it and put PU varnish.

The best is to talk with a professionnal of resin able to explain you DIRECTLY how he works, and show you how to do. The best is that the guy take time to help you directly on your drum.

Personnaly, I have learn a lot of informations about epoxy with a pro who works in cinema, with the guys who sell the resin, and with boat builders.

Galou.