Gon Bops Quinto and Requinto restoration - Mahogany with Foxtail finish no more

Nice... just got done with rebuilding a set of old Gon Bops congas from the 70's.

The pic above is of Ricardo, the owner, and the drums before i worked on them.

I refurbished the old set, put new skins on them and they came out so nice, i want to keep them!

But they are going to a player who scraped together the money to bring them back to life. I'm so happy for him, they are sweet drums.

I love to rebuild these old beauties and bring them back life. I love to see an old, broken instrument sing with pleasure as its played for the first time after a rebuild.

I especially like to rebuild Mahogany drums, as i feel like I'm saving an endangered tree.

These drums have spirit... in Santeria, its Ana.

Even if a drum is broken, the spirit lies in waiting, i believe.

More pics from this project to come...

Tony