by Babaloo » Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:58 am
I guess it is time to introduce myself. I've been lurking on the forum for six weeks or so. I decided that I'd like to learn to play the congas, so I set out to learn as much as possible prior to buying any drums. I'm amazed at the depth of talent and knowledge on the forum and I've learned a lot in a short time. An amazing twist of fate led to me finding a used quinto and conga at a very cheap price.
Shortly after deciding to start looking for a pair of drums, I decided that I wasn't going to spend $400 on entry level drums. I knew that I'd regret it just a few months down the road. I read everything I could get my hands on for a couple of weeks and ultimately walked into the local Guitar Center prepared to spend $700-800 on a nice pair of drums. I was counting on someone on the sales staff helping me make the final decision, but I had narrowed my choice down to a pair of LP's or Meinl's.
After explaining my rationale, the salesman told me that earlier in the day, a guy had walked in the door with a pair of drums that he wanted to sell and they bought them. He told me that I could buy them both for $100. He took me to the back room to show them to me and I was soon headed out the door with them. I thought that it was nice of him to give up a decent sized sale to help me out like that. He even tuned them up for me and threw in a tuning wrench.
The drums don't have anything on them that would identify the manufacturer. They have a few nicks and dings, but nothing serious. They are on crude stands that I can't get them out of by myself. I'm going to have to get some help with that. At some point, I'll post some pictures to see if anyone here can identify them.
I've been watching a lot of Johnny Conga videos to learn some technique and exercises. Lessons aren't in the budget at the moment, but I hope to start taking some in the not to distant future. I'd love to take JC's in-home course some day. He is an amazing talent and appears to be equally adept at instruction. For the time being, I'm sticking with exercises and the tumbao.
At age fifty-eight, I don't have great aspirations, but I intend to work hard at becoming a decent player. I'm having fun thus far and have made decent progress with the different tones in a couple of weeks. My slap has a long way to go. Anyway, I'm grateful for all of the information here and I look forward to becoming a part of the community.