I've uploaded a few photographs of my new Moperc Salsa Club Series Super-Tumba. I received it just last week. I absolutely love this drum. I wanted the bigger tumba, at about 13 1/4 diameter bearing edge to edge, to have tonal room under any conga player I meet. This drum is going to grant me that room. This thing is the biggest beast in the jungle. It's my third Moperc and all three drums are very consistent in quality. It's hard for me to compare these instruments to the work of other craft makers because the music stores only stock the mass-produced drums, so I don't want to get into a debate about which craft maker is the best. But I can say I love my Mopercs. Their sound is just so beautiful. Their tones make the mass-produced drums I've played sound like dead thuds. But this third drum, my super-tumba ... it just beats all. I didn't expect such a big drum to have a crisp slap, but it does. I expected a commanding low tone, and it definitely has that. I'm very surprised at its range into higher tones at higher tension. It can play low, it can play higher into middle conga range. It can purr and it can growl. Y'all may have picked up from my other posts that I'm a skin perfectionist, well this drum came with a perfect skin perfectly mounted. I love the contrasting striped and matched ash staves. That contrast will mellow in a few years and move toward a more yellow patina ... if my quinto is any guide to how the coloration will change with time. I'm not a professional grade musician. I'm just a hobbyist. But I think I'm qualified to share my thoughts on Moperc congas ... they're amazing. I first looked into finer congas when I felt my old Matadors were holding me back. That's no disrespect to old Matadors. I still have a 20 year old Matador tumba that is a wonderful instrument. But I chose right in upgrading to Mopercs. Every time I play a Moperc I feel like I could play it for a lifetime and never feel like the instrument is holding me back. They make me want to be a better player.
It almost seems superfluous to post pictures because the quality of Moperc drums seems so consistent and there are pictures already on the website (
www.moperc.com). What you see is what I've gotten on all three drums. No flaws, just perfection. But I've posted some here of my drum anyway, like a proud new father.
Cheers!
BMac