Lp made in America?

[luv4congas]

I finished one of two Lp Classics I've been working on. The head is now fully cured (not sure but I think its steer, maybe not) the lugs, plates, rim and even screw heads have all been polished to the tee. The shells been touched up and polished. This is my first Classic and as I was jammin on it I couldn't help noticing how close it sounds to a Gon Bop! So I started wondering .... If the name tag says "Garfield New jersey" Does that mean it was made In America and not in Thailand? Is it made of siam oak or something from here? It Sure has a different sound than all the rest of my Lp's. The inside says 1986.
L4C

[Gretschhead]

Hey L4C, beautiful drum! Definitely a made in the good ol' USA drum there. Not sure whether or not they used the same materials or not, I'd imagine they used an american oak rather than the siam oak, but I'm really just guessing. Being a vintage of 20+ years, the wood has aged and is probably producing a warmer tone, hence the gon bops like sound. I'm not sure when LP started its overseas production, but I do know Kaman bought them out in 2002, since then I think quality control has gone down the tubes. I'd put money on your drum up against anything LP is pumping out of the factory today. But anyways, it looks great and I bet it sounds fantastic, the skin looks nice too .

[Gretschhead]

Ok... I went to another conga forum and found this information posted about the history of LP and the New Jersey factories:

In the late '70s, as woodworking and metal fabrication and plating facilities began to close in the U.S., LP was faced with a tough dilemma: Raise prices dramatically, reduce quality, or find other sources of supply. In 1983 a conga and bongo manufacturing facility was established in Thailand.

Since the 1990s, to support its overseas manufacturing effort, LP maintains its own research and development group in New Jersey. A staff of machinists and engineers are capable of executing highly complex products, from the initial concept to final tooling. The precise tooling, produced in New Jersey, is critical to maintaining quality at the plant in Thailand.

Another guy said he has a catalog from 77 that says Garfield was used mostly as a office and warehouse space and mostly just small assembly was done there.

The parts may have been made overseas and assembled at Garfield??

[luv4congas]

Thanks Gretschhead for checking that out for me. I guess my drum was 4 years to late to be made in the USA. Whats strange is how they would have New Jersey on the label and no where on or inside does it say "Thailand" but I wouldn't doubt that it was made overseas. Maybe some new law in the 90's made them put that little "Made in Thailand" dime size sticker on. But you are right about the sound, my Gio's took a back seat to this quinto. Right now it's my lead drum and it really jams!
Thanks again,
L4C

[Gretschhead]

No telling what materials they were using overseas at that time also, it could have been totally different to what they are using now 23 years later. My guess is LP had the parts manufactured overseas and they were probably hand assembled here in the US, which is why the label says New Jersey. I love the old traditional LP rims!

[bongobro]

Unfortunately, Gretschhead, you're absolutely right. ALL my LP and CP drums come from Thailand. I bought the black CPs in 1987, but they were made in 1985 or 1986; my bongos were made in 1989; the red CPs were made sometime in the early 90s. All of them have "Made in Thailand" stickers on them. I understand they moved the production facilities to Thailand to be nearer the source of the "Siam Oak" used in their wooden drums, but I guess it's cheaper (read more profitable) to make the fiberglass drums there also.

It's no different than buying an American-brand car and discovering that it was built in Mexico (Mrs. bro's current car) or Canada (an older Ford Tempo I drove for years). Interesting that a drummer drove a
Tempo!

LP has maintained the quality and the sound in all their products, but I'm more concerned about Kaman Music taking over their distribution rather than where they were made, IMHO....instead of being the main product in focus, it's now another of an assortment of products, like Tide, Era and Cheer all being made by Procter and Gamble...yet they make you think that each is the best detergent on the market...

[luv4congas]

I read somewhere today that in 1980 they moved the CP division to Taiwan and it's not known exactly which of if not all the Lp congas were produced there.
L4C

[luv4congas]

I read somewhere today that in 1980 they moved the CP division to Taiwan and it's not known exactly which of if not all the Lp congas were produced there.
L4C

Their Drumset division, CP or Cosmic Percussion, and Ascend saw success in the 1980s and 90s producing mostly entry level instruments, and some intermediate to professional grade instruments in Taiwan. There is little to no information on the models that were produced by them, but some catalogs that were printed still exist.
From Wikipedia
L4C

[bongobro]

Should have clarified my previous post...both sets of CP congas AND my LP bongos were made in Thailand, as have been all the other LP congas and bongos I've played at the drum shops I've hung out at...

Thanks, L4C!