Pearl's Travel Conga

[luv4congas]

Has anybody own or played them? Pearl's Travel Congas.
Thanks,
Luv4congas

[gonefishin]

No I have not , but now I need to go look them up on the Pearl site to see what they look like . Im sure B-Bro will have a response for you when he gets in .

[gonefishin]

OK luv4 , I now have you to thank for having 1 more item on my wish list .

I just googled Pearl and that is a cool little item , 11 3/4 head and 3 1/2 deep. Im waiting to see if any one else has one , Im interested in hearing how they sound too .

[midgard]

I haven't played the pearl practice conga, but I have played the LP Giovanni Practice CONGA in the store. It sounds amazingly good for such a small product and it is on my wish list already

[luv4congas]

Sorry Gonefishin,
I checked out that site too and they looked and sounded cool but I just wanted to make sure it's not just another novelty. Here is a video if you can copy and paste it. The attach file thing would'nt work for me.
Thanks,
Luv4congas.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBI6aOiFUeA

[silverdragonsound]

I've played one and its not bad at all. I am actually considering one for work when I have some time to practice as well as the LP Giovanni Practice CONGA. I just have to pick one.

[gonefishin]

Sorry Gonefishin,
I checked out that site too and they looked and sounded cool but I just wanted to make sure it's not just another novelty. Here is a video if you can copy and paste it. The attach file thing would'nt work for me.
Thanks,
Luv4congas.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBI6aOiFUeA

No need to apologize my friend , you can never have too many toys.......its kinda like women and shoes............lol

[midgard]

No need to apologize my friend , you can never have too many toys.......its kinda like women and shoes............lol

When I read that I had to laugh - I read it to mean you could never have too many women or too many shoes! For the too many women part, becareful what you wish for - I ended up married with 5 teenaged daughters and I can tell you for certian that there is such a thing as TOO many women! LOL

[gonefishin]

When I read that I had to laugh - I read it to mean you could never have too many women or too many shoes! For the too many women part, becareful what you wish for - I ended up married with 5 teenaged daughters and I can tell you for certian that there is such a thing as TOO many women! LOL

lol......no , I was comparing women and their shoes to drummers and their toys , but still funny the way you were thinking , and BTW , I will apologize to our sister drummers for the statement , but it is so true ,

[cdaug]

ummm.......... i want one of those! thanx for bringing such a wonderful little addition to my wish list as well. really looks like a must have for the traveling percussionist.

[bongobro]

Has anyone played BOTH the Pearl and the Giovanni travel congas? (See my review of the Giovanni travel conga in DRUM REVIEWS)...

Either sound like good additions to a percussionist's box of tricks, but I liked the way the Giovannis sounded when I played them...

[bongobro]

No I have not , but now I need to go look them up on the Pearl site to see what they look like . Im sure B-Bro will have a response for you when he gets in .

I did! See above! I posted that before I saw your note!

When I read that I had to laugh - I read it to mean you could never have too many women or too many shoes! For the too many women part, becareful what you wish for - I ended up married with 5 teenaged daughters and I can tell you for certian that there is such a thing as TOO many women! LOL

Hey, bro', I have two college-age daughters and between them and Mrs. 'bro, I got my hands full (when I'm not slappin' the skins, of course)!

[gonefishin]

Sorry Gonefishin,
I checked out that site too and they looked and sounded cool but I just wanted to make sure it's not just another novelty. Here is a video if you can copy and paste it. The attach file thing would'nt work for me.
Thanks,
Luv4congas.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBI6aOiFUeA

I just watched the vid and they do sound really good . Thanks .

[Te1985]

Just thought I'd see if I could get this thread rolling again? Anyone have more to say on the Pearl travel conga's? So I was checking out the video and then started looking at them and these things won the award last year for best new product or something...! I'm seriously thinking about buying a set. I couple years ago I almost bought the LP compact conga's but didn't because I was already using the Evans heads on my congas and I wasn't completely happy with the sound of them...but NOW Pearl comes out and they use Remo Fiberskyn heads?!

Anyway...exciting stuff! Bongobro? Any new thoughts on this?

[bongobro]

Do ducks swim, Te?

I haven't played the Pearl Travel Conga yet (haven't seen one yet in person, either!). I liked the Giovannis, but they sounded almost like toy drums when I first played them at GC (Guitar Center). I think it was because the heads may have been tuned too high...

I have played the FiberSkyns on Remo bongos and I love the way they feel and sound...I have a NuSkyn on my Pancho Sanchez tumba which I also enjoy playing very much...so I suspect the Pearl Travel Conga should sound awesome!

Can't give you an honest answer until I play them, though...

[Honolulu_Fred]

I currently own both a LP Giovanni Compact Conga (11") and a Pearl Travel Conga (11.75").

I bought the LP a couple of years ago when I had a friend's wedding gig to do (I am primarily a guitarist, percussionist 2nd). The 11" Quinto LP has a wonderful slap tone & I loved the portability (mounted on a snare stand, it fits in a shoulder bag no problem) When the 11.75" LP Conga came out later, I tried that one but just HATED the thin, bass tone. The LP Compact Conga is primarily a hand-friendly aluminum frame for the special Evans synthetic conga skin. No shell at all ... hence the great slap but thin bass tone.

Fast forward a couple of years & I have another friend's wedding gig to do, so I decided to look into the Pearl Travel Conga. The conga consists of a Remo Fiberskyn3 head mounted to a 11.75x3.5" wooden round box. I try it out in the store & am blown away by the bass tone compared to my LP. I bought it on the spot, and love the combination of the two distinct tones.

Make no mistake: neither of these congas will ever match the tone or volume of a classic Gon-Bop matched to a good head. However, I love the fact that both congas (with snare stands) fit into a big backpack, and can be easily carted to space-limited gigs, and sound passable in small gigs.

In one trip from my mini-SUV, I can cart out both congas, my Remo djembe, bongos & miscellaneous hand percussion toys... my aching back loves it!

-Honolulu Fred

[Honolulu_Fred]

Allow me to add one more postscript to my Pearl Travel Conga review, having played it now for a couple of weeks:

Just like the Fibersykn head on my Remo djembe, the Pearl's Remo head rings with lots of overtones that sound a bit unnatural for a conga. You can kind of modulate this with some tape or a different conga technique. My perception is that the Fiberskyn is decidedly thinner than the Evans head on the LP Compact Conga, and that somewhat explains the lack of a good slap tone on the Pearl.

Honolulu Fred

[luv4congas]

Thank you Honolulu Fred,
thats good to know. I'm just not an overtone kinda guy, overtone congas seems to be the trend these day with all the great Congeros promoting drums that have them. Synthetic heads are fun and the great Congeros make them sing! Water Buffalo also have overtone but have very good "gun shot " like slaps. I still have an ear for the old school warm earthy sound of cow, steer or mule. I take it that your from Hawaii, have you played Volcano Percussion congas?
L4C

[Honolulu_Fred]

Thank you Honolulu Fred,
thats good to know. I'm just not an overtone kinda guy, overtone congas seems to be the trend these day with all the great Congeros promoting drums that have them. Synthetic heads are fun and the great Congeros make them sing! Water Buffalo also have overtone but have very good "gun shot " like slaps. I still have an ear for the old school warm earthy sound of cow, steer or mule. I take it that your from Hawaii, have you played Volcano Percussion congas?
L4C

Dear luv:
I am afraid Volcano Percussion is a bit beyond my league... Tom Alexander's shop is on the "big island" of Hawaii, around 45 min by air from Oahu, where I live (he is not too far from the actual flowing volcano)

He does really classy woodwork on his drums... I am just a weekend backyard banger!
-Honolulu Fred

[Te1985]

Honolulu Fred,
I'm assuming you're on Oahu...where did you get the Pear set from? Did you get the stands for them as well or are you using snare stands? I'm really interested in picking up a set, especially now that Pearl makes all 3 sizes! I live on the big island, (and btw have exchanged a few emails with Tom over at Volcano...he's an awesome guy, most humble and very helpful!) and Musicians Friend told me I had to special order the tumba and it would be somewhere around 6-8 weeks for delivery!! Anyway, let me know...

Mahalo Nui!!

[Te1985]

Thank you Honolulu Fred,
thats good to know. I'm just not an overtone kinda guy, overtone congas seems to be the trend these day with all the great Congeros promoting drums that have them. Synthetic heads are fun and the great Congeros make them sing! Water Buffalo also have overtone but have very good "gun shot " like slaps. I still have an ear for the old school warm earthy sound of cow, steer or mule. I take it that your from Hawaii, have you played Volcano Percussion congas?
L4C

Luv4congas:
you know...I played what I believe to be one of the very first sets that Tom made available to a music store here on the big island. It was back in either 03 or 04, Tom told me that there were 6 drums originally and he built them back in 1996!! They were koa...i fell INSTANTLY in LOVE with them! At the time they were a little spendy for me at about $900. a piece...if I only knew THEN, that they'd be running for $2,500. and up now I SHOULD HAVE bought them!!! ABSOLUTELY Amazing drums that belong in an art gallery!!!

Anyway...Aloha from Hawaii!

[bongobro]

I currently own both a LP Giovanni Compact Conga (11") and a Pearl Travel Conga (11.75").

I bought the LP a couple of years ago when I had a friend's wedding gig to do (I am primarily a guitarist, percussionist 2nd). The 11" Quinto LP has a wonderful slap tone & I loved the portability (mounted on a snare stand, it fits in a shoulder bag no problem) When the 11.75" LP Conga came out later, I tried that one but just HATED the thin, bass tone. The LP Compact Conga is primarily a hand-friendly aluminum frame for the special Evans synthetic conga skin. No shell at all ... hence the great slap but thin bass tone.

Fast forward a couple of years & I have another friend's wedding gig to do, so I decided to look into the Pearl Travel Conga. The conga consists of a Remo Fiberskyn3 head mounted to a 11.75x3.5" wooden round box. I try it out in the store & am blown away by the bass tone compared to my LP. I bought it on the spot, and love the combination of the two distinct tones.

Make no mistake: neither of these congas will ever match the tone or volume of a classic Gon-Bop matched to a good head. However, I love the fact that both congas (with snare stands) fit into a big backpack, and can be easily carted to space-limited gigs, and sound passable in small gigs.

In one trip from my mini-SUV, I can cart out both congas, my Remo djembe, bongos & miscellaneous hand percussion toys... my aching back loves it!

-Honolulu Fred

Hey, Honolulu Fred!

Glad to see yet another conguero in DrumChat (even if you're primarily a guitar man !)

Your posts (this one and the one right after it) would be right at home in the REVIEWS thread, too; you've probably seen my hand-drum reviews...

BTW, Te1985, ever seen a conga player cry? I've seen a dude on YouTube play Volcano congas, and man, he makes them sing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnHn6lE8UEE (a little slow, man, but dig that tone!)

Now ya tell me you could have bought SIX Volcanos in 1996?

Mahalo, bradas, from the mainland!

[luv4congas]

TE1985,
Wow! I had no Idea they cost so much! $900 is alot of money today! From the website it looks like Volcano congas uses Texas cowhides. I use cowhides that look very much the same and sound realy nice on a wide veriaty of congas. That stuff makes any drum sound good.
Thanks,
L4C.

[Te1985]

L4C,
I think they run somewhere around $1500.00 EACH, and UP now for Koa! But they were THE MOST beautiful drums I had ever been able to play...I had never seen anything like them and I was truly...and I mean TRULY IN LOVE with that set of drums! I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money because I KNEW I'd be so afraid to ding them at gigs!!!

anyway...another one of those "lost love" stories I guess...!

Aloha from the big island!

[Te1985]

L4C,
I think they run somewhere around $1500.00 EACH, and UP now for Koa! But they were THE MOST beautiful drums I had ever been able to play...I had never seen anything like them and I was truly...and I mean TRULY IN LOVE with that set of drums! I just couldn't justify spending that kind of money because I KNEW I'd be so afraid to ding them at gigs!!!

anyway...another one of those "lost love" stories I guess...!

Aloha from the big island!

Sorry..one more thing...KOA is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE!! But anyway...you get the gist. These drums are truly inspiring to look at and play.

Sheeesh...I sound like an advertisement!!! haha!

Aloha!