burke wrote:I actually do a little archery.
If you got a warped arrow your shots gonna be off no matter how good you are.
So maybe a better analogy would be "its the archer, not the bow". Being a little PC there "Indian" doesn't particularly bother me ... others maybe.
Thwack! [sound of dead centre]
FidelsEyeglasses wrote:
On the other side of the coin, I know many musicians that feel paying $200.00 for lets say Matador or another company's "economy" line is acceptable.
I understand "No es la flecha. Es el Indio" in concept, pero I guaranty that on TOP CHEF they don't use the lower priced Kmart or Walmart brands of pots and pans to cook in.
Those of you that are familiar with (own) Custom Vs. Production Knives understand the difference between 'Production' Knives made by Spyderco that are excellent and knives 'built' by Bob Terzuola.
The above are my own personal view points which fit me, but not by any means made to fit everyone else.
blavonski wrote:I’d like to chime in an anecdote or two here.
Interesting topic…
High price custom made Drums compared to reasonably price Custom drums.
Due to it being, in every way, a personal choice as well as privilege when someone pays what I do for rent on a pair of Bongos and feels good about it; I think it’s obvious that owning something of this calibre is simply and purely a status symbol purchase, like all other forms of status objects that separates one from another and or joins them with the group like, lets say mid seventies Chevy, Monte Carlo owners for example. All the rhetorical justifications won’t change the indisputable fact that, a Bongo of similar, quality materials and workmanship costing half if not less than MS’s drums will achieve the same results in the hands of an experienced player. However, personal enjoinment is another matter and that enjoyment can be achieved not necessarily through playing the instrument competently, but through observing the thing as it sits on display or between ones legs. And that’s anybody’s right to do so.
Charlie Parker played Selmer’s and less expensive, mass produced horns, as well as plastic Saxophones, and sometimes with cracked reeds and chipped mouthpieces to boot through out his career and when he was healthy and in form, he sounded the same on whatever horn he was playing. Some believe that a thing is worth whatever those who want to buy it are willing to pay. Phylosophically that sounds like a well rounded justification for getting what one wants with money, but there are too many times that people pay way too much money for a thing than what it is practically and materially worth, and I think Ralph Naider and his former colleagues have given us enough data by now for us to know that, what’s behind a famous or brand name, can and is more than we know, also that which is behind a no name/nobody that’s makes a quality product. Mathew Smith may be a one man operation, but he also has a blueprint from which he works and his processes are also automated to a degree, he has big machinery for sure to cut and shape the wood and steel. And he hast to, to crank out what he does. And because of that, his drums are too costly, in my opinion. Man, when I think of how much beautiful Son and Rumba and Jazz, was made in the first half of the last century on Bongos and congas and snare drums that were made in that era …It certainly doesn’t need to cost a fortune to sound like one.
Good Vibrations,
Blavonski
caballoballo wrote:Saludos, yes I agree with Magnífico & Omelenko. Magnífico thanks for writing the truth in a very diplomatic mode.
There are three types of members in any forum, the collectors, the fanatics & the amateurs, also you have the fuckers but those are another breed I may have a little bit of the last type . They all have their goals and I respect that . I am neither one of them. I am an active bongocero playing for various salsa bands thus I don't need an instrument that expensive and fancy to perform my job. It is not that I cannot afford to.
Yes indeed, there are others Artisans who do the same for less. I have Bongos made here in Puerto Rico by
1-Jorge Miranda who played 13 years with Sonora Ponceña, La Terrifica, etc.
2-Papo Del Valle who played with Tito Rojas & Conjunto Borincano, Atabal, etc
3-Charlie Vega who is famous for his pleneras and a fine musician too.
All them very fine and skilled musicians Artisans who know how a Bongó should sound like, they made instruments from different native puertorican woods including mahogany. With them you have the option of only buying the shells and then have somebody like Manito Percusión to make a flawless hardware. Altogether is not going to cost you close to $400 including your choice of skins.
Like Omelenko said, if you want to expend that much go for, it is your cash. Like Magnífico said, is not going to make you play or sound better, it is the Indian not the arrow.
Psych1 wrote:I have a great collection of some of the best, most expensive, most valuable, bongos ever made. No "buyer's remorse" most of them are probably worth more now than when I bought them. And, I love to look at them and play them.
But, I have a great old Meinl, that I bought in a pawn shop for $35. Sounds as good as any of them. If I was to go out on a good gig, like I used to do, that is the one I would take with me.
akdom wrote:in my opinion, prices of congas are wrong! Not because of handcrafted drums built with skills and love, but because of mass produced drums, made abroad by extremely cheap labor force and sold back to us via major brands for 3 or 4 times the producing cost while others barely make a living by selling us their lovely drums with a much thinner margin!
[...] do not categorize people that fast (except for drum circle aficionados the respect you have towards your instruments doesn't necessarily mean that you must have spotless instruments.
FidelsEyeglasses wrote:
Ron Carter does not choose the lowest priced acoustic bass he can find or is offered.
Akua Dixon does not choose the lowest priced cello she can find or is offered.
The above instruments involve gluing, steaming, cutting, bending and....organic wood.
I am fortunate to be able to base my point of reference on Vergara, Requena, Skin on Skin, Junior Tirado, Matt Smiths Ritmo, JCR, all of which I have actually seen in front of me, played or owned, the last three are generally easily found and seen in the area where I live, but in other countries and even on the west coast of the U.S. those brands are scarce and not 'commonly' found, so when many peoples points of reference are based on what's available to them whether being Tycoon/Mountain rhythm/CP/Toca/LP Aspire/Toca/Meinl/lower end Gon Bops/Pearl/Meinl "Free Ride"/Schalloch Linea/LP Durian Bongos/LP Galaxy or any "series".
Anything is better than nothing... but If the base of reference is limited to low to mid range drums both in price and materiels, then when someone see's a photo of a Matt Smith Spanish Ceder, or black Walnut drum priced accordingly, it's common and not surprising for some to think in terms of "stratospheric" or "simply and purely a status symbol purchase".
El Magnifico wrote: those terms we have used to describe the price perception are highly SUBJECTIVE. That means that all of us are, in a certain manner, CORRECT. The respect any instrument deserve has nothing to do with the price, maker, brand or anything else. It's an intimate relationship between the instrument and the player, a thing, again, highly subjective and personal that nobody should argue about.
[..] Again, if you feel buying a "costly" bongo makes you happy and you find the right motives to do so, well, by all means do it! If the rest of us choose to play a Timba or El Cheapo brand, that doesn't make us lesser musicians, or that we don't have the funds to buy one MS or mean that we are wrong.
So, at the end, nobody is wrong or right because it's a matter of perception
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