Help with a UK web site..

[Mooskel]

Hi guys, would like to take this opportunity to say hi to everyone as I'm new here! I'm just stating to get into playing Djembe but as many of you will have experienced, it's a mine field out there! I've already had the misfortune to be sold a softwood drum of very questionable quality and am now in the market for something a little (or alot) better.

I've been looking at this;

http://www.african-drumming.co.uk/res_h ... 5large.jpg

Can anyone with more experience tell from a pic alone if the drum is worth best part of £300? I realise that the hands on approach would be better but I'm kind of limited in my area to web sites and hear say!! I have noticed that most of their drums in the 'Pro' range are actually rip offs from South East Asia although the drum in question is apparently made using Lenke and built over here in the UK by a master drummer. I have to admit to be dubious as I read this on most sites selling any kind of African drum, be it genuine or not. Your help would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!

Mooskel.

[Mooskel]

http://www.african-drumming.co.uk/buy-p ... jembe.html

..and here is the link to the Djembe page...I've been looking at the top three from the 'Master Series'.

Thanks again..

Mooskel

[michi]

To be honest, none of these look particularly good to me. The rings on the first one are set too low for a drum that is new, and the loops on the crown ring are too big. In addition, the skin has been trimmed off too short for the length of the loops. The shell is obviously lacquered, which means that, after a year or two, it'll look terrible, and the carving is not particularly nice.

The one on the right has lots of sap wood, which means it is not top quality (advertising blurb notwithstanding). It is labelled as Lenke, but that wood definitely is not Lenke--both color and grain pattern are wrong. I'm not sure what wood it actually is; it could be Iroko.

The one in the middle looks OK, but the carving is fairly coarse. It certainly isn't a shell that's outstanding in any way.

To claim that these drums are "master series djembes" is preposterous--they aren't.

I'm also not fond of claims such as "rarely needs tuning." At best that's misleading because it implies that, somehow, how often the drum needs tuning depends on the shell; it doesn't. What determines how often you have to tune a drum is the particular skin you have on it (different skins stretch by different amounts over time) and to what pitch the drum is tuned (higher pitch requires more frequent retuning). To some extent, the type of rope also affects how often you need to retune, but that's a secondary concern because, once the initial stretch is out of the rope, that's no longer an issue.

Overall, I'd say these are ordinary run-of-the-mill drums, nothing special, and average at best. For what they are, I'd say they are priced a bit too high.

I would be careful about buying a drum purely from a photo and a description, unless it comes from one of the truly reputable suppliers, such as Wula Drum or Drumskull Drums.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Mooskel]

Thanks Michi..yet another hurdle trips me up!

How can you tell if it's sap wood? At risk of being a pain, is this one any better?
http://wuladrum.com/store/product_info. ... cts_id/624
it's in my price range and looks a whole lot better! OK, stupid questions on hold for now and thanks again!

Mooskel.

[michi]

How can you tell if it's sap wood?

Look at the drum and how the wood changes from dark to light. The light section is sap wood, the dark section is heart wood.

At risk of being a pain, is this one any better?

Infinitely better!

That's a drum from Guinea, with beautiful carving. It's Lenke and, by the looks of it, all heart wood. Wula are renowned for their quality shells and you can be sure that this drum will not only look good from the outside, but will have the proper proportions and surface texture on the inside (which are extremely important for good sound). If you have it skinned by Wula, they'll do a quality job on that too. Chances are that you'll be happy with this drum for many years.

If the price is comparable, you are getting a much, much better deal with that drum! This is the real thing, not some on-the-cheap copy.

Cheers,

Michi.

[e2c]

I have a Wula, and agree completely with what michi's saying about the quality of their drums.

You can always go for one of their less expensive drums; all their shells and skins are great. I like the people there, too - they're very helpful, as are the folks at Drumskull. Either way, you can't go wrong.

[Mooskel]

Thanks Michi, I've placed my order with Wula and this time it looks like money well spent! It's a nice feeling having the 'have I been done' factor removed. Thanks so much for your help.

Hi e2c, I had been looking at Drumskull but it was an extra $155 to ship it to me over here and unfortunately that took it over my budget this time. Although I now can't help thinking..."Yeah, Wula Drums, get me"!!!

Thanks again for your replys, it's cleared up a slightly murky world for me.

Mooskel

[michi]

Let us know what you think when your drum arrives!

Cheers,

Michi.

[stereodesign]

Have you tried
http://www.goldcoastdrums.com/

I've a couple of their Djembe and they play really well.
The guy who runs it is really helpful and will happily chat about Djembe related stuff if you give him a ring.
I searched for ages to find a decent Djembe seller and most of the stuff available is rubbish, imported cheaply and sold as "muscian quality" Djembes at inflated prices.

[bubudi]

kumasi, most of the drums on that uk link are from ghana and what's more they look like tourist drums to me. we have had several discussions about ghanaian djembes, so i'll refer you to that thread rather than repeat all the info here. personally, i would stick to a djembe made from one of the traditional djembe woods by skilled carvers from one of the countries where the djembe originates (e.g. mali, guinea, burkina faso, ivory coast). ghana does have some beautiful drums, but the djembe did not originate there and is a very recent addition to their repertoire.

[James]

We have a great article with tips for buying a djembe. It talks about heart wood and how to distinguish between this and many other aspects of a djembe's characteristics.