Touching up my congas maybe - help!

[kona]

My Valje congas look pretty nice still after all these years (bought new 30 yrs ago). They're Red Oak and have got a nice natural finish on them. I'm not planning on doing this for sure, but I thought it would be nice to make them look "brand new" again and put a new clear lacquer finish on them. I have absolutely no experience doing this. I've sent Ralph Flores (Resolution Drums) an email but I would understand totally if he's too busy these days to get back to me.

I just thought I'd ask around on the Forum here to see if anyone has had experience doing this or may know someone that does and could point me in that direction for some advice. I wouldn't dream of doing anything to ruin the drums of course - I'm just asking. I thought it would be kind of nice to have a "show-room" finish on these spectacular drums (I'm not going to put red and green sparkles on them - even though I like that finish - lol).


Kona

[RHD03]

Well, I built my own snare a few months ago but the laquer finish didn't come out perfect...wish I could help! They are really nice btw!

[bongobro]

My Valje congas look pretty nice still after all these years (bought new 30 yrs ago). They're Red Oak and have got a nice natural finish on them. I'm not planning on doing this for sure, but I thought it would be nice to make them look "brand new" again and put a new clear lacquer finish on them. I have absolutely no experience doing this. I've sent Ralph Flores (Resolution Drums) an email but I would understand totally if he's too busy these days to get back to me.

I just thought I'd ask around on the Forum here to see if anyone has had experience doing this or may know someone that does and could point me in that direction for some advice. I wouldn't dream of doing anything to ruin the drums of course - I'm just asking. I thought it would be kind of nice to have a "show-room" finish on these spectacular drums (I'm not going to put red and green sparkles on them - even though I like that finish - lol).


Kona

Judging from the pic you posted, man, your congas and bongos look pretty darn nice as they sit. Maybe I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but unless they've got major stains or some serious nicks and dings in the finish, I'd clean and polish them and leave the original finish. It's kinda like getting a classic original Mustang or '57 Chevy and then deciding to repaint it. Once you remove the original finish, it isn't "original" any more.

Dude, I like the natural oak finish myself...

Cheers!

[rmandelbaum]

Those look great! but if you are going to do it there are options and you have to decide what is best for you. I have built a drum kit and a few snares. I happen to have an air compressor so I used a automotive spray gun. I got great results with a chap one I got at a tool discount store. I see then at Home Depot and Lowes all the time as well.

The real questions is what kind of paint is on them now, If it is old fashioned Nitro Lacquer then you can very easily repair damaged spots. Nitro will "heat up" the old existing lacquer and bond with it when sprayed on. If it is Polyurethane then that is not the case.

I will PM you a set of links that will help you do some homework.

you may or may not know I am in the middle of a huge restoration project myself right now that started as trying to repair. I quickly realized that with the Polyurethane I was going to have to refinish.

http://www.drumchat.com/showthread.p...72.html?t=7172

[Gretschhead]

Kona, your drums look great man! A restoration project on congas can be a huge pain in the ***. I'd really advise against it if they are already in good shape. You could be wrapped up in a 6 month project in which time your congas will be out of commission. Not to mention resale value. If you ever plan to get rid of those Valjes you will want to keep them as original as possible. That set of congas you have is worth well over 5 grand to the right person as is, a refinish will probably cut that value in half. However, you've been loyal to your drums for 30 years, so if you plan to keep them forever then by all means make them look the way YOU want them to.

The hardest part is sanding the drums especially if there is a clear coat finish. I attempted to refinish an old gon bops that I had a few years ago, and it was a waste of time. I spent a week, every day for an hour or 2, sanding with a small electric palm sander and was maybe a 1/5th of the way through. The problem is the clear finish, it just turns into a sticky mess. I don't know if it is the type of lacquer they used back then or what, but it was one of the worst experiences I've ever gone through. I ended up ruining the finish on the drum and pawned it off on someone else to finish the job. I've seen alot of very nice, successful restorations though, it just takes alot of work and the right tools (which I doubt I had).

Funny, as I try to persuade you against it, I'm contemplating picking up a gon bop tumba that I found that needs a full resto job on it. This one doesn't have a clear coat though, so I'm a little bit more confident about it.

My advise is to leave alone what is already beautiful! But whatever you decide, the amazing sound of those drums will never be afected by the finish.

[kona]

bongobro.
Yes - I don't think I'm going to be doing any major overhaul on these drums. Thanks for the advice there. Good advice not to "paint my 57 Chevy Stang! I wish. Although, I did own two 1957 Chevys in 1969 - another looong story for the Chevy Forum.

rmandelbaum
Thanks for the PM. I don't know if they have a Nitro Lacquer finish, but like I said in my PM, if Ralph Flores gets back to me I'll ask him.

Gretschhead
Thanks for your advice. You're pretty right on with the value there. I was tempted to sell a while ago and put them "on-the-block" asking $5K and a collector got back to me and said he would buy them. I backed out and he's been good about it (at least I haven't noticed anyone stalking me lately - lol).

Thanks guys - some good tips and advice here. Great Forum!

Kona

[Gretschhead]

Glad to hear you changed your mind... and glad to hear you passed up the $5k offer...

You should cherish those drums and pass them along to your family. You own a piece of conga history, first American produced congas, not to mention an untouchable sound! There are only a handful of master conga makers still left in the world, soon it will be a lost art and everything will be mass produced. Hold onto those babies forever!

[kona]

Glad to hear you changed your mind... and glad to hear you passed up the $5k offer...

You should cherish those drums and pass them along to your family. You own a piece of conga history, first American produced congas, not to mention an untouchable sound! There are only a handful of master conga makers still left in the world, soon it will be a lost art and everything will be mass produced. Hold onto those babies forever!

Yes - I agree and I find it's hard to sell any instruments these days. I even had our full size upright piano (1926 Mason & Risch) for sale off and on over the last few years and in the end I decided we should keep it. Good decision I think.

I've tuned all the Valje's down to take the stress off the heads and hardware - I'm not playing them too much these days. But, even when I sit down and play them with heads tuned way down they still sound pretty darn good when I get that "12/8 dbl paradiddle in an African groove" thing going on (see Dr. Bop here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNKOv6tAvLk - I love that guy!).

[Gretschhead]

Funny, as I try to persuade you against it, I'm contemplating picking up a gon bop tumba that I found that needs a full resto job on it. This one doesn't have a clear coat though, so I'm a little bit more confident about it.

Can I quote myself? That seems a little wierd...
Anyways, I decided against the gon bops, turned out to be a conga not a tumba, but if anyone is interested check out the Houston craigslist. Its beat up and needs some resto work, but $120 for a working gon bops conga is a steal.

[luv4congas]

Hey Kona,
I may have an answer to getting your congas closer too mint. A while back I was in the high end furniture moving business and dealt with very expensive new and antique furniture. Everything from small desk and chairs to large conference tables, I even moved Thomas Jefferson’s desk. Every thing was fragile wood and no matter how careful we would try to be accidents would happen. We would have to make a call to the refinisher and they would send out a guy or girl to touch up our oops! These people could do magic and make the scratches, dents and dings disappear. As far as the antiques, if the repair was done correctly it would not deprecate the value. My point is maybe all you need is a touch up job on your drums by a professional refinishers not some one who works on drums and still retain the value. I bet it will be a lot cheaper...…Just a thought.
BTW your drums are awsome!

Keep on Jammen
L4C

[Gretschhead]

Luv4, that is a good option. Most of the refinish jobs I've seen have been pretty shotty, which is most likely due to lack of experience or the right tools. A high end furniture shop will do a much better job using the right equipment. They would probably come out looking better than they did the day they rolled off the production line.