Shaving a goat skin

[Siete Leguas]

@ Thomas: What you say certainly makes sense. The tip of leaving the head tuned at the beginning must be aimed at speeding up the break-in process, but as you say, it will also shorten the life of the skin, especially under high tension. This trade-off might be wise for congas, which take longer to break in but also last longer, but not for the bongó macho. Bongó hembra, I don't detune, but I guess it doesn't really matter since it doesn't have so much tension and it's a thicker skin.
I have experienced breaking a bongó macho head, though, by leaving it tuned and unattended for a few weeks in my early rookie days - awful, yet "(nur) aus Fehlern lernt man".

@ Chtimulato: I found a few online sellers of car spare parts in Germany that have those Fiat 500 exhaust manifold nuts, easy! I wasn't sure if that would work because you don't see (m)any Fiats on the road here - you know the prevalent chauvinistic car culture . But I also found a local DIY shop that has M8 brass nuts in stock, so I'll try to get some there first. Merci!

[Juaort]

Siete Leguas, I’m glad you were able to make the skin work. If you can in the future I would recommend A thin horse Skin. I think you’ll love the sound. Also, I would detune when not playing them. It’ll extend the life of the skins. I no longer play in a band setting, but when I’m practicing at home I always detune the heads. I have some that have lasted many years. Some use “Manteca de Corojo” to help condition their skins, I’ve never used it, but a lot of people swear by it. Not sure if the more experienced members on this thread have used it and what their point of view is. But an option to help the skins last.

Juaort.

[Chtimulato]

Some use “Manteca de Corojo” to help condition their skins

I prefer shea butter or coconut oil, out of ecological reasons, but the result is the same.

This being said, some people don't put anything in the macho skin, wanting it to remain stiff.

[Siete Leguas]

Juaort, I'd like to try other skins in the future. There's a dealer here who offers thin horse and deer skins in small sizes, which look well suited for bongó macho. Would you recommend horse over deer then?

Regarding care, I have used olive oil a few times on skins that felt too dry. Just a little bit, but the skins seem to appreciate it. I too am getting more conscious of the impact that our massive consumption of palm oil has on the environment, and have been substituting some products (like my beloved Nutella) by others that are palm oil free. But it's just a grain of sand in the vast desert of deforestation.

[Chtimulato]

One grain + one grain + one grain...

I use horse skins on bongó machos now. It's as good as mule, and easier to find nowadays.
And a famous skins seller advised me to put olive oil on his skins too, that's right.

[Juaort]

I have Deer on one of my sets right now and it’s sound great!! It has a nice pop. No ring to it. But it’s hard for me to find in the states. Like Chtimulato said, horse is what most are using now. So it’s fairly easy to find.

[Thomas Altmann]

I had used a horse skin once, and it was perfect; great sharp tone, easy to play and durable. It lasted a long time. Somehow it felt stiff and flexible at the same time. I like some stiffness in a bongo head. That's why I wouldn't use deer, at least not the type that I know. There must be different kinds of deer skin, because mine was too soft and flexible for that purpose.

Can't say anything regarding oil or grease; I never tried it (nor would I).

Thomas

[Siete Leguas]

I finally shot a quick clip like I promised. I had to sand the skin two more times because the thicker hairs kept coming out. The ringing of the macho has got a little bit better after playing a couple of times, but it's still quite noticeable, especially outdoors. The sound of the macho in the clip is a bit saturated and not very accurate though, but that's the best I can do with my gear for now.

Never mind that last sloppy bachata-style repique - I don't know what I was thinking

[Juaort]

Love it!! The set sounds real good. Nice playing Siete Leguas. The Macho skin will break in little by little, but not bad at all. The Hembra sounds nice and deep.

Thanks for sharing.

[Chtimulato]

Yes, nice sound, and good martillo too. Keep on keeping on.

[Siete Leguas]

Thanks! Actually, the sound in this other clip is closer to what the bongó really sounds like. I played softer this time, not to saturate the mic of the camera.



We'll see how the goat skin breaks in... If the ringing persists, I'll put some tape on the inside, as Chtimulato suggested. Next time I'll try to get hold of a horse skin as you recommended, I want to try that out.

Thank you guys for your advice!

[Siete Leguas]

This being said, I'm afraid your goat skin won't last very very long, because it may not stand frequent tuning and detuning.

Hi folks, unfortunately, Chtimulato's prediction was correct and the skin turned out to be short-lived. I was playing on it while tuned up, when the skin popped out of the crown - not sure if it just slid out or perhaps the thin skin was cut-off by the rim under high tension. In any case, tucking it back in is not possible.

Have you ever had something like that? Any tips how to avoid it?

That goatskin was actually supposed to be mounted on djembes, so maybe it wasn't a good choice for bongo macho in the first place. I don't believe it has anything to do with the sanding anyway, as I only sanded the playing surface.

I'm going for a thin horse skin next time, see how it works. As to this goatskin, I plan to mount it on a mini-bongo macho (3 1/2" ), I think that might work well.

Cheers!
SL

[Juaort]

Hi Siete Leguas! Sorry to hear it. The only thing that I can come up with is that the skin was trimmed to low after mounting it? That usually doesn’t happen often. I’ve seen it with skins that aren’t 100% dry after being mounted. Too bad, that skin sounded sweet. I think you’ll like the horse skin sound and feel better. It’s become my go to lately. Share a sound bite once you gave it ready to play.

I’m looking to do the same with a couple of my sets. Just been super busy with work recently.

Juaort

[Siete Leguas]

Juaort, I actually trimmed it normal high, just above the rim, but it shrunk a lot over time. Perhaps I should have waited a bit longer before trimming? Or let it dry without trimming, and later moisten only the cuting areat? IDK...

The mini-bongo project is on its way, hopefully the horse skin in the near future. I`ll drop a line here! I'd love to hear reports from your sets too!

Salud!

[Chtimulato]

unfortunately, Chtimulato's prediction was correct

I told you...

hopefully the horse skin in the near future [...]

Horse is a good as mule for machos : stiff. As opposed to cow : since mule is sterile, the skin's never as elastic as cow's.
Some like it, some don't. It's a matter of taste then.