Any luck buying a djembe on ebay.

[improviser388]

Well the question is essentially in the thread title. I am wondering here if you have had good luck bad luck. Who you have had good luck or bad luck from, how much you paid. Would you do it again. I suppose if noone is an ebayer we could broaden this to buying a djembe on the internet, but I would prefer to keep it to ebay.

[silviuj]

i had bought one from ebay but i am totaly disapointed because you know its one of those bali ones , at least it didnt cost much 20 euros but there are also some good djembe on ebay and if youl buy from a shop on ebay that wouldnt be a problem, but first check the feedback for that shop

[improviser388]

Thats unfortunate to hear. I think thats actually closer to the norm then I once thought. I have all but given up on buying bargain drums that I can't see or hear being played before I buy them.

[dleufer]

My only experience with Ebay was buying a sangban. It looked like it was pretty rough in the picture and it was pretty rough when it arrived. It only cost 75 euro though and it does the job for me at the moment. I had to retune it and repair a couple of small holes but it sounds decent enough now. I've lugged it around to festivals and don't have to worry about it getting ruined because it was so cheap. I don't think that you'll find really high quality drums on ebay though. They're usually going to be Ghanian soft wood or Balian drums which are never going to be top quality.

[improviser388]

What about your exsperience with motherrythym drums? Because they sell on ebay, what do you think of them?

[Beerfola]

If you are trying to save money and are at all "handy" you should consider assembling your own djembe from a kit. You'll save some money and have deeper connection with your instrument. You may not wind up with a professional looking or sounding drum on your first attempt, but you might. At a minimum you will have made the investment in the most important component, a good quality shell. I guarantee that you will come out of it with a deeper respect and understanding of why high quality drums cost more.

[improviser388]

If you are trying to save money and are at all "handy" you should consider assembling your own djembe from a kit. You'll save some money and have deeper connection with your instrument. You may not wind up with a professional looking or sounding drum on your first attempt, but you might. At a minimum you will have made the investment in the most important component, a good quality shell. I guarantee that you will come out of it with a deeper respect and understanding of why high quality drums cost more.

I agree with what you are saying until the very last line. I think building one assuming I could make a proffessional or even decent sounding drum would make me think they should cost less. Since it wouldn't exactly take years of practise to do it well. Either way I like the suggestion of finding out myself. I am a tradesperson so I consider myself pretty handy so that sounds like a pretty fun idea. How much roughly would a kit cost?

[rachelnguyen]

Are you in the US? You can get kits from Drumskull, I think. And Goatskins.com has some, too.

Goatskins.com sells a video that shows you how to do it.

About motherrhythms. As far as I know, they are lathe turned mahogony. That is just not going to be the same as an African hardwood that has been hand carved.

And after building one, believe me, you will have respect for the amount of effort involved. It is a big project, especially the first time around. But as Beerfola says, you will still have a nice shell to work with as your skills improve and you can rehead it later. (Or have someone else do it for you.)

Having said all that, I will say that at my favorite drum circle last month, one of the guys had found an absolute SCORE on craigslist. It was a gorgeous Senegalese drum, tuned within an inch of it's life. The thing sounded great... and cost him only $80 US. You KNOW I was scouring Craigslist after that, LOL.

But all my friends who have bought drums on CL for $150 or less have wound up with pretty bad drums.

[Beerfola]

[/quote]I agree with what you are saying until the very last line. [/quote]
Sounds like a challenge Give it a go and post your progress on the forum. Photos and sound files would be cool. It could serve as inspiration for others.

[tekrtu]

Thats unfortunate to hear. I think thats actually closer to the norm then I once thought. I have all but given up on buying bargain drums that I can't see or hear being played before I buy them.

I dare to recommend in http://www.ebay.fr baragnouma´s instruments. They have website as well.

http://baragnouma.hautetfort.com/

I have bought from ebay baragnoumas djembes (3 djembes actually). They are very nice, professional drums, with good wood quality. Baragnouma is the only seller whose drums I still would buy from ebay. Prices are nice and quality is very nice. They are not selling tourist shit. According my personal experiences baragnouma´s balas are worth of money also. I have one and I will buy bigger one as soon as I get more money.

I have noticed in ebay, there is only a few sellers who sell good stuff. Most of djembes or djembe like drums are pure grab.

Check out Baragnouma´s website.