Isaac! Sure am glad you found this place! It's nice to have someone of your experience and expertise aboard!!

Dave

Ok, bongo here again on my original post.

I just re-skinned my old Gon Bop quinto with a Funky Tradition 18" mule skin and it went real smooth ... I have gotten better at it and don't sweat as much. Took me maybe an hour and a half, and I wasn't in a hurry.

I think the 18" diameter skin for my 9 3/4 " quinto was perfect. Before I had used a 22" skin thinking it gave me more to work with, but instead got in the way.

The mule skin looks good and I hope has a lot of music in it. I'm going to beat that mule and make it bray.

The Pakistan cow skin head was a loss, not sure why, maybe it was too thick, maybe just a bum head. You know how human skin changes with age, losses its elasticity and wrinkles? Maybe that has something to do with it, that and as Isaac mentioned, diet and climate in Pakistan. I'm never wasting my time with a Pakistan head again!

I'll let this new head cure a while and report back on the the sound results!

It is only 24 hours and the mule skin head is sounding good. I noticed as it was drying only a few hours that the head developed a nice tone.

This tells me that if you got a good head you can tell much more rapidly than I thought. It may take a month to 'cure' and develop the final sound, but I think you can tell pretty quick if it is going to be good or not.

This head is a keeper.

maybe, just maybe, the skin is thinner than you like.  I don't know if it will "come in" for you because we each have the sound that we're looking for.  I like mine - it was a kind of "medium" in thickness so, it's rich enough for my tastes.  I'm playing with a lower tuning, now, than I used to play but not because of the skin or even necessarily the sweet spot - the music I'm playing now is really more suited to using a lower tuning.  

I have found at least 2 sweet spots with the new mule skin on my quinto - one pretty high and one a few steps lower.  I certainly can agree that both musical style and taste will have the biggest influence on whether you will be happy.  What works well for me, may be unacceptable to another player.

Here's hoping that the skin mellows for you and you don't have to repeat the exercise with a different skin.  You might try the lanolin treatment and see if that helps before you abandon the skin altogether.  The main point is that you and only you will be the judge and happiness is what it's all about.  

Yes, I wondered if its too thin. It still has a chance to come around, so I'll give it some time, work on the tunings. I usually work the tuning off the tumba, find the quinto and conga notes that make a good melody off the tumba. Maybe I'll reverse that and work down from the quintos sweet spot, if I can find a sweet spot with this skin ...


David,
Thanks for your thoughts.
I know the old skin had the sound I was looking for and I could get it without changing the way I execute an open note. The idea to muffle an open note is something I sometimes do to modulate the sound, but is not something I want to do all the time, especially in faster rythyms.

The open tone should be just that, open, strike the head and pull the hand back and let the drum speak.

The Gon Bop 9" 3/4" quinto IS an interesting animal, rather out of fashion these days of 11 inch 'quintos'.

I see Timba Percussion is making 9" 3/4" re-quintos again, and since they are the old Gon Bop factory, I bet they got the sound. I have been impressed more recently with Timbas improved quality.

Now if you want strange and interesting animal, try my 9 inch Skin on Skin quinto. This drum has really come around ... talk about hollow coconut, yes.

 

I don't think moisture on the wood is realy a concern, when changing skins.
The skin is wet, yes, but it's not like a sponge.  You can wipe it off before you put it on, so there is less water on the surface.  
I did quite a bit of reading before changing skins on my drums, and no one expressed any concern about wood getting wet.