Greetings to All from St. Lucia, West Indies.
As a newbie to the world of djembe, I am seeking some advice. A few months ago I purchased a drum from http://www.goldcoastdrums.com in London. The drum is fine (although not the specific drum ordered) with good tone and resounding bass. Last week I took delivery of a second djembe which was kindly and carefully delivered by a friend traveling from England. This one is a complete disaster. The wood appears to have dry rot and crumbles away at the touch of a finger. There are a couple small cracks, just superficial. Wherever the chisel made grooves in the wood, it is crumbling away. On top of that, the skin was loose, pressing a finger on it showed a fairly deep indent. The bass was a dull thud.
So I used all the rope available a did diamonds but the skin did not tighten. I undid it all and tightened the verticals and ended up with about three feet of extra rope...

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