I heard that Akbar is working with the new owners of Gon Bops.
I just looked at that video. They make it look pretty easy. Of course they are
using ash which doesn't have much grain. They dont plane the heads, so they are
of uneven thickness. The video claims that they are lacquering the shell, but
that's not the way to apply lacquer, likely they are using some king of
polyurethane. Notice that they say the glue dries in a day. But there is no
stress on the shells as they are but, not warped. Warped wood would have to stay
in the mold or form longer than that. The old Gon Bops I have worked on have
cross slits cut into the wood to make the bending easier, and the grains (they
are Cuban or Caribbean Mahogany so the grain stands out)sometimes line up. Some
use carpenters glue, others horsehide glue. And the video looks highly
"produced", the narrator obviously not an expert on what they are taping.
I guess I'm old school, but I think the grooves cut into the shell for
decoration are a travesty, these drums are for mass marketing, likely to sell on
E-Bay, not for professional players.
Maybe Sky Whaley (Cielo Drums) or Brad Davis (BD Drums) can share their
knowledge in this group, but they might only be in latinperc yahoo group. They
both make excellent well crafted hand made drums, both of course hard to compete
with imports from S E Asia and they dont sell very many.
Ray Ruhlen