Remo Crown Series Question

[JB007]

I've see a few threads on the fiberskin heads and every time I search google for reviews on the remo crown series bongos it allways comes up with bongbros review from a few years ago. Does anyone have any recent experiences with the remo crown range?

[Ernesto Pediangco]

Do u mean sizes ? Or general assessment of Remo heads ? My issue w/ Remo heads are these. Laminated plastic will de laminate & peel up, bubble up etc. Depending on the mounting to the glue channel skin wires or the wrap around style like skins are mounted onto a skin wire, you can experience failure. The skins can pull out of glue channels & the ones wrapped onto round skin wires can pull off & unwrap. It amazes me that Remo did not use square profile wire to form skin wires. This is an old issue since calf skin days & Valje bongos successfully used squared wires to secure thinner bongo heads since the 1950's. I have a Remo NuSkinz bongo head that I had to re mount the plastic to the skin wire & added Super Glue Gel to secure the plastic to the wire. Later the top laminate was tearing due to razor nicks from the original manufacture process of the head. Plastic heads do not come in many thicknesses which dictate the sound of bongos, so most often the lower tuned / large bongo shell is going to have lots of high end over toner ring. This can be muted a bit by adding tape or even thin foam rubber to underside of head ( experiment until you like it ). Remo made sound control dots for tom tom heads but never considered this for Latin drums. I guess they don't care how we sound ? They never gave me much attention when I communicated my feed back regarding these issues. Their loss ~ they missed out on potential proprietary Latin Drum heads that would be superior to both plastic & natural heads....for ALL drum heads !

[Ernesto Pediangco]

In regards to Remo's Latin Drums that use acousticon shells, they are a laminated man made material and are quite dense & strong, a bit heavier in some cases compared to soft woods like mahogany. They seem perfect w/ plastic heads for THAT sound & sound good w/ natural heads too. I have heard a few comments in the past that the shells were warping inward from delamination at the side plate lugs due to constant high torque tensions ( is why u should detune them when not in use ) They are a good alternative to fiberglass shells that have a high end ringiness and do not resonate like wood. Thin fiberglass shells also dented from de laminating layers of fiberglass. Modern fiberglass is reinforced w/ more fiberglass layers & w. kevlar as well but creates a heavier shell that has no resonant qualities & the lower tones are almost non existent. Remo's shells are in the mid point between wood & glass & have a print fabric outer skin or a lacquer paint job. Paint jobs are less durable than fiber glass gel coats & much care is needed to keep them from scratches or other damage. BUT...they sound vibrant and take a beating on the road. I'd use them as an alternative to my more valued 1997 Gon Bops....if I were in an endorsement deal perhaps :-)

[Ernesto Pediangco]

All Remo heads for Latin drums are made to fit a variety of crown / rims. You must be specific when ordering for either traditional rims, comfort rims or the lower profile comfort crown II by Lp for example or any other brand since they are all different. Thats a lot of crap from brands to have differing head & crown sizes. In my opinion, Meinl has the best head size intervals for pro line congas, not to mention a wider belly on congas for added resonance & rubber base rings to enhance resonance & protect floors & the botton edge of congas *...just saying ! Remo also has nice sizes & all the varieties of Remo heads !