Pearl Folkloric Congas? Pros? Cons? Recommended?

[Cangrejero7]

Hey guys, Just curious if anyone has had experience with Pearl Folkloric Congas. They stand about 28' tall and come with buffalo heads on traditional rims, siam oak with fiberglass on the inside.
How's the sound projection? The quality (Hoplefully no drilling on the seams)? Also is it possible to switch heads to remo in the long run?

[rob280783]

Hi there,

I bought a set of 3 folkloric congas second hand a few months ago. They are decent drums and have a strong sound projection. I got a set of three for just £310 which I was delighted with.

However, if buying brand new I think there are better drums available for only slightly more money. The skins on the folklorics are a bit strange in my opinion. They just seem a little lightweight in some way. Whilst they give a nice warm tone, they don't seem to produce clearly defined higher notes. Despite tuning up the quinto it still doesn't have good high end pop sounds on the slap or a nice clear open tone. Also the conga produces a rather flat note (despite much tinkering with tuning) instead of a nice major tone. That may be a specific problem with my drum.

I may be being hyper-critical of them but I don't think they are worth the money if you're buying them new. I've played Meinl quintos that have a better defined sound. If you can get a good second deal like I did then you're laughing.

In terms of changing to Remo skins I'm not too sure about that. There doesn't seem to be anything unusualy about the mountings so I shouldn't imagine it would be a problem.

Hope that helps.

PS I've just bought myself a second hand set of 5 LP Galaxy congas so I'll be getting rid of the folklorics soon!

[Cangrejero7]

I was hoping they'd sound as good as they looked. Definitive slaps and tones are a must. Ill keep on searching. Thanks for sharing! Stay blessed...

[Anonimo]

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[JohnnyConga]

Good skins and Good hands will give u the definitive slap and tones....

[congalan]

When I bought my folklorics they came with cowhide heads. They are an awesome sounding drum and great value too

[Kaban]

I just got a used Tumba from Guitar Center at a great price. It's everything I wanted, a wood/skin drum with an amazing sound to match their good looks; I swear I hear angels sing when I hit my tumba. I just found a buyer for my Bobby Allende set, which are a great fiberglass drum, but I missed the wood/skin sound so much that I am letting them go for cheap. I can't wait to get a Folkloric conga to match my tumba. This is my first drum with cow skin (standard with this model)....and what a huge difference over asian buffalo.