Remo Bongo Replacement heads

[busyflyin]

Coincidentally, I ordered a set of Skydeeps for my bongos and according to fedex tracking they are sitting on my front porch right now waiting for me to get home from work. I'm going to mount those babies up tonight and give them a whacking. I'm hoping that they sound ok.. I was getting a bit nervous thinking that I should have ordered Fiberskyns. I'll post a pic later tonight and my thoughts about the sound. Unfortunately I have little bongo experience to draw from but I can at least tell you how much better they are than stock heads.

[busyflyin]

Heads are on.. jury still out. Tuning is a little difficult for me, but above all, these project MUCH more than the stock heads. The macho has a pretty good snap while the Hembre is prone to a bit more ring than I was hoping for. I think it's going to take some tuning adjustments over time to get them to where I like them. All in all, a big improvement, but not perfect. I am open to suggestions and comments. Well... before I hit "submit" I tried two pieces of 2" wide clear vinyl weatherstripping tape on the inside of the Hembre.. i did the same on my Tumba with same heads. Less ring.. more mellow sound, but livelier than the stock heads still. Now I'm getting somewhere. Hitting "submit" now!!

[salcero1]

Saludos Busyflyin,
I just received my set of Skyndeeps today as well and they sound very warm on the hembra and a nice crisp pitch on the macho. I had noticed your set is a bit lighter in color. I had opted for the calfskin finish and as you can see they compliment the Dandys beautifully. I'm getting ready to embark on a pastele creating adventure tomorrow morning and I need to pick up some pork meat, ham, olives and some paper to begin the assembly of the pasteles de masa. There will be rice ones as well. That's the reason you see so much produce on the table with the Dandy's, But back to the drums I had a little rough time mounting them because the tuning lugs I'm using aren't the longer LP lugs that came with the Dandys. They're actually lugs from Resolution drums which have a straighter profile as they sit on the top and bottom crowns but are a little shorter in length. Nonetheless I'm extremely content with the purchase and I hope they don't fail me because I like to crank my macho drum up to a nice crisp pitch. I'm not a big fan of the comfort curve on bongos but your set has a great look to them. By the way I didn't encounter much ringing as you stated on yours but when tuning up high for the first time with new heads you get that creaking noise that sounds as if they will split from the tension but they were manufactured to take the abuse. Enjoy your new heads, I know I definitely will. Peace.

Jorge

[busyflyin]

Jorge;

I think mine are actually the same color, but it's just the way my photo turned out. I have same heads on my congas and all are the same color. I'm glad you are happy with yours.. it's encouraging for me.

Merry Christmas my friend!

[salcero1]

Thank you Sir,
I actually have the R series calfskin model from Guitar center which were more expensive but worth the cash investment in my opinion. The size of the heads were larger so I had anticipated the increased price range. Hey so be it, as the old saying goes "you get what you paid for" and I make certain to have my equipment at it's optimum operating level of performance whenever I have the means to do so. Have a great holiday to you and yours. With all my best, Peace brother,

Jorge

[b0ng0]

Saludos,
Busyflying: very nice, I do want to give you a heads up on the "S-series" heads, they tend to be thinner than the R & tucked heads, so especially on the macho if your a player that like to crank it up, be careful because they're easy split. I split a fiberskyn S-series trying to get my macho to crack & pop.

Salcero1: very nice, overtime believe it or not the calfskin color will begin to fade, this happened to my skyndeep macho & my brothers skyndeep conga heads...they look great tho, looks exactly like dandys set! Enjoy them & bro next time mandame pasteles y te mando mofongo made by yours truly..hehe...saludos..

[busyflyin]

Saludos,
Busyflying: very nice, I do want to give you a heads up on the "S-series" heads, they tend to be thinner than the R & tucked heads, so especially on the macho if your a player that like to crank it up, be careful because they're easy split. I split a fiberskyn S-series trying to get my macho to crack & pop.

Fortunately I only paid $13 for the macho head. yes, I tend to be a little heavy with the hands and if I break these I'll probably then upgrade to some better bongos and regret having taken this path. Thanks for the "heads"-up on this!!!!

Jorge;

Your bongos are BEAUTIFUL!! Nice piece of work!

[CongaTick]

[busyflyin]

I've seen that I my djembe head. Small spot about 3/4" long or so. It doesn't get any worse and doesn't seem to effect the sound. It appears to be de-lamination of 2 layers of material.

[salcero1]

Congatick, just a question of curiosity is that tear showing, on the bearing edge of the drum, on the hembra or macho? I have a set of fiberskyn heads and would also like to know how long have you had yours? Thank you for your time and response. Peace.

Jorge.

[CongaTick]

Salcero,

Macho. On the edge of the bearing edge. As busyflyin said "... a delamination" of what appears to be the upper layer which seems to be nothing more than a cosmetic overlay. Nonetheless, annoying, bothersome. Just a note, I never use sticks on my bongos.. I've had the fibreskyns for almost 2 years. and I too, busyflyin, have the same delamination occuring on my Remo djembe.