The LP compact conga is an amazing invention (I've been practicing with one for about 3 years now). This instrument is suitable and pretty much perfect for practicing as it is easily transportable- all you need is this drum and a snare stand! This is a big difference from the days when guys like me had to lug their drums to and from the practice rooms every time we wanted to play.

This drums is also great for a beginner who wants a descent instrument but doesn't have the money to spend on an entire drum.

One thing I don't understand is why guys play these things on gigs- they really sound terrible! Don't get me wrong- the head sound obviously sounds great but there is no resonating body to get that great, warm conga sound! There's really no sound to the heel toe on this drum- its basically like playing a regular conga thats flat on the floor. The heel toe is really the glue that sticks together the tumbao, so not having any real sound for the heel toe is a really big deal in my eyes- especially for a live situation. If you ask me, guys that take these things on gigs are just plain lazy.

My only true gripe about this drum is that you cant seem to change the head. I personally hate those synthetic white Evans conga heads (yes, even though they don't go out of tune as easily)- I just don't think they give a very good, authentic conga-y sound. They also don't feel right under my hands while I'm playing- I really prefer the natural cowhide heads and feel like they just give a VASTLY superior sound, tone and warmth. Also- what are you supposed to do when the head that comes mounted on the drum wears out? Sounds like an industry ploy to make you have to buy another drum to me.

I've owned these drums for about 7 years and I have mixed feelings about them. These are not the top of the line bongos from LP- most notably above it are the 'Generation II,' 'Galaxy,' and 'Giovanni Hidalgo' lines of drums. At the same time these drums aren't at the bottom of the barrel either- ranking highly (in my opinion) above the 'Aspire' and 'CP' lines of drums.

Compared to the lines above it, the Matador drums pale in comparison to the Giovanni series drums. The Giovanni's are made of ash and really do give a much more authentic (the LP website says 'superior' !) sound for Cuban music. The Matador drums can't be tuned as high as any of the lines above it either- which can make getting an authentic sound difficult as well.

The most traditional sound of a bongo is high and tight, and these bongos tend to be a little ringy for my ears (ringing longer than the lines above it). The general sound on the Generation II and Galaxy model drums is a darker warmer sound as well.

By contrast however, the Matador bongos are vastly superior to the lines of drums below them- the 'Aspire' and 'CP' model drums. Neither the Aspire, nor the CP model drums have the ability to be tuned in an appropriate range (to my ears) where as the Matadors can get there. The CP drums by comparison are basically just a toy- the Aspire drums sound awful and there is a big jump in quality from Aspire to Matador.


The Matador drum line in general are kind of the perfect middle of the road line of drums- they're basically the top of your student and bottom of your professional heaps, so to speak. I wouldn't ever take these drums on a studio gig, but wouldn't hesitate taking them on any form of gig.

These drums are perfect for the professional on a budget or the advanced student, and for the price, give the biggest cost to sound ratio (in my opinion) of any of the LP bongo lines.

This is not a drum stool.

Its a THRONE.

This piece of gear is WHY its not called a drum stool- about an inch to an inch and a half of padding is enough for even the heftiest of hitters. The double braced tripod design is amazingly sturdy and the nitro adjustability is amazing.

Just one touch on the pneumatic lever and up you glide (or down for that matter) to your preferred seat height. There has never been a more adjustable and ergonomic throne.

The bicycle seat with the raised ridge in the back is very comfortable- but the 'bottle nose' in the front can stick up in a most uncomfortable way for some males sitting close to the front of the seat. (I personally performed a 'nose-ectomy on mine by pulling back the fabric and foam and cutting off part of the supporting material, then stitching it back together).

My only other gripe about this throne is its slightly ineffective compactability. The seat detaches from its tripod base via two nuts at the base of the seat, which both require a wrench for tightening and loosening. If you're not the kind who usually breaks down your throne this is not a problem, but if you're like me and have to break EVERYTHING down than this can cause a slight problem- although if you're a conga or bongo player the same hex wrench that you need to turn your lugs will fit the nuts on the Roc'n'Soc).

Another way of neutralizing this otherwise annoying point is to always carry around a wrench in your gig bag. Because my wrench kept falling out of my gig bag however, I eventually just made a holder out of two straps of backpack strap that I screwed into the supportive material on the bottom of the seat that hold my wrench nicely so that break down and set up are a snap.

This is easily the most comfortable and ergonomic drum throne I have ever sat on. Match that with unparalleled adjustability and, despite minor overcomable gripes, this is easily the best throne on the market.

This pedal is amazingly versatile. Although it has gained a reputation for being a 'hard rockers pedal,' the sheer adjustability of this instrument makes it applicable to almost any musical situation.

I personally have been playing this pedal for about 3 years now in situations ranging from acoustic jazz gigs (Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson style piano trio- played mostly in extremely volume sensitive restaurant style situations) to louder fusion settings, to private party top 40 gigs (HIGHLY amplified and requiring maximum volume), and I can say without a doubt that this pedal has functioned beautifully in each situation.

I have to hand it to the Tama people for developing such an adaptable piece of hardware. The bass drum beater can be adjusted to rest farther back from the drum (for louder situations) or closer to the drum (for softer, more acoustic situations). This is easily achieved in seconds with the custom drum tool securely mounted to the side of the pedal. If all of this shifting of the beater has risen your foot board of your pedal to your navel, not to worry- the foot board is independently adjustable from the beater angle, so you come out with the perfect pedal feel every time.


One thing I do not like about this pedal, however, is that the heel plate is raised about a half inch from the ground (as opposed to tapering down to be flush with the floor). This part of the design obviously betrays this pedal as being designed for playing with the heel up, as it leads to some problems when playing with the heel down. The edge is set at a sharp angle, so when played with the shoes off the edge can press into the flesh of the heel of the foot in an uncomfortable manner (when the foot is shifted towards the back of the pedal). Conversely, playing with shoes can cause a problem because the heel of the shoe can slip off the back edge of the pedal while playing and can be frustratingly difficult (sometimes) to return to its original position.

This is a truly amazing cymbal. I've been playing this cymbal for about 4 years now and absolutely love it. This cymbal has a low and dark cushion while maintaining a bright and defined stick attack- not only perfect or ideal, but quintessential for small group jazz ensemble playing. This is a very 'ringy' cymbal and can be very hard to play, but when played effectively gives the aura of the great jazz drummers of an era gone by- mine sounds remarkably similar to the ride cymbal Tony Williams used on the 60's Miles Davis Quintet recordings (Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, etc.).

One of my favorite aspects of this cymbal is that it is unlike most any other ride cymbal I have ever played in that it is very thin (unlike say a K or A Zildjian). This gives it the ability to really be played into and gives it a very warm supportive cushion of sound.

Because of this cymbals propensity to 'wash out' and it is a very difficult cymbal to control- but in the hands of a true jazz musician it has an authentic sound few can match. One can actually play different levels of the cymbals cushion simultaneously- giving the illusion that you are playing more than one instrument.

I would in no way recommend this cymbal for rock, but could see it fitting nicely in some R&B settings.

When struck with the shank of the stick this cymbal gives a very different characteristic than when struck with the bead of the stick. Likewise since the cymbal is hand hammered there are many inconsistencies that lend to slightly different sounds in different places on the cymbal that one can exploit in many different musical situations.

The bell on this cymbal is not as clear as on most ride cymbals I was used to, but gives a smoky and more focused version of the fundamental sound of the cymbal.

These cymbals are expensive, but there is no substituting that classic jazz sound. This cymbal is a much better match (in my opinion) to that sound than even the new Zildjian K Constantinoples.

I have owned this set for about four years and I can say without a doubt that this is one of the best drum sets ever made. If you're looking for a fat, huge sound, the Yamaha Maple Customs are the way to go.

First big plus- the snare drum. When tuned just right this drum gets that disgusting snap reminiscent of Sting era Vinnie Colaiuta. This may be due to the 7ply x 7mm. Construction- versus most 6ply x 6mm. Shells.

The Bass drum sound is extremely fat. It features a 10 ply 10mm. Maple shells. This is really amazing when you compare it to the industry standard of 7ply 7mm. Shells. At 10x10mm. The maple custom comes up with 100mm of shell versus everyone else's 49mm (7x7mm.) shells- You're literally getting just over twice as much drum. All this makes for a seriously unbelievable sound but brings these drums only true drawback- they're freakin heavy! If you're looking for a set to throw around town this is not it- a 22 inch bass drum in a hard case will pretty much kill your back as I can attest to. (If you've got to case them up and throw them around- for the bass get a hard case with no foam padding and a soft case. Put the drum in the soft case to throw around town and then put the soft case in the hard case for tours and such).

One thing I'd like to say about these drums is that they sound very different from the 'Maple Custom Absolutes.' I have a friend with the same drums in the 'Absolute' series and they don't resonate as well. The biggest difference is the snare drum- I even borrowed his for a week to see if I could get the same sound as my snare drum and I just couldn't get it. His drum was a little darker and just didn't have the same synergistic pop through the whole drum that I get with the 'Male Custom' snare (14x5.5). Its not a HUGE difference, but in my opinion if you're going to invest in a set of drums at this high end, go all out and get the sound you're looking for, otherwise you'll be left with yet another drum that ALMOST gets the sound you're looking for but not quite.

Another great feature of these drums is that they're REALLY loud. I frequently play these drums behind a very loud, highly amplified, special event party band. I play without micing them and I never have any problem playing over the group.

These drums also retain they're tunings remarkably well (even after I play with the aforementioned group!). I very rarely have to re-tune because my drums pitches have dropped. The snare drum is especially good about this- I almost never have to touch it unless I just want a different sound.

I have a 16x16 floor tom I've converted to a bass drum on this kit to play in jazz situations instead of the 22x16 and it sounds okay. These drums are much better suited (in my opinion) towards getting good rock and roll/funk/r&b sounds and volume level than acoustic jazz situations (piano trio, etc.). Honestly they just ring too long and have too bright a sound. Not a bad jazz set- but they really aren't optimum in my opinion.

These drums are expensive, but in my eyes are the TOP of the line, rivaled only by the Yamaha Recording Custom drums, and are well worth every penny.

I purchased this product about six months ago. I was in the market for a drum set and living in an appartment, this seemed like the perfect choice. I looked at the electronic roland drum sets, but they just seemed way too expensive(although the feedback/response of the roland drum sets felt of higher quality and more realistic). This product was the best value that I was able to find for an electronic drum set. I found it relatively easy to assemble and also easy to position the drum heads to suite the needs of the user. The sound bank has many different drum kit sounds and you can plug any of the drum heads into any of the inputs on the control module which allows you to easily switch two pad sounds without re-mountin them. The pedals seem to be good quality although at first it wants to double tap the bass drum when you tap it once with your foot, although with practice this can be overcome. Overall I am satisfied by my purchase. You get what you see when you buy this product. I would reccomend this product to anyone as specially a new student learning how to play the drums.