A Little Bongo History: Bongos are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument. The drums usually come in pairs and conically shaped, with one being larger in diameter than the other, but are of the same depth and are joined together with a bridge. The larger drum is called the “hembra” (female) and the smaller the “macho” (male). The one who plays the bongos is called a “bongsero”. In the early days of bongos the heads were tacked on and tuned with water and heating techniques of the skins. Typically considered a hand drum played between the knees, some do mount them on stands and play them with sticks or mallets. The suspected beginnings of bongos date back to about 1900 in Cuba specifically for Latin-American dance music. Modern bongos usually tunable and have spread to many different types of music.
In the early days of rock music bongos to make their way on the scene, notable bands like the Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath found a place for them in their music, but one of the most notable was the Beatles. During the making of the “A Hard Days Night” movie and album Ringo used bongos on the song “And I Love Her”. He can be seen playing them in the music video (which is a clip from the movie). Ringo also used bongos on the song “Till There Was You” found on the “With The Beatles” album.
When modern American drum companies decided to add bongos to their product line, they ventured from the traditional design and essentially made two small toms, bridged them together, and used standard drum lugs and hoops for tensioning. At minimum Gretsch (pictured), Slingerland, Rogers (pictured), and Ludwig went with this concept. They also wrapped the shells as opposed to the natural finished stave wood look.
The Japanese drum companies split the difference between the two by using the traditional conical design but using lugs, hoops, and wraps that their drums used. Pearl and Star appear to be the only two manufacturers of bongos in Japan. In my searches Gracy, Hoshino, Sakae, and Yamaha didn’t turn up anything, but that doesn’t mean that there were none, just that none were found in available catalogs or on the internet.
These Pearl bongos shells are about .23” thick luan with .21” thick luan reinforcement rings and is painted red on the inside. The drum sizes are 6” top x 5” bottom x 6” deep and 7.5” top x 6.25 bottom x 6” deep, possibly considered 6 & 8 bongo set. The lugs are the typical Slingerland style lugs (C-042) that Pearl used in the 60’s up through the mid 70’s. The hoops are double flange, which are the equivalent to stick-choppers. The wrap is a Light Blue Pearl used mostly in the 60’s. Also notice that there is no metal ring to protect the wrap at the base of the drums.
This set of Star badged bongos shells are about .22” thick luan with .10” thick luan reinforcement rings and is also painted red on the inside. The drum sizes are 6.75” top x 5.25” bottom x 6.25” deep and 8” top x 6.25 bottom x 6.25” deep. The Star catalog calls them a 6.5” & 8” bongo set. The lugs are the Slingerland style lugs (920) that Star used for all of their existence (from 61-74). The hoops are triple flange stick-saver. The wrap is the very common Blue Sparkle Pearl. The two drums are joined by a plastic bridge piece. This specific badge is limited to hand drums and is found in the 1972 Star catalog.
This Ideal badged Star is essentially the same just with the Fibre Gold Pearl wrap, triple flanged hoops, and a wood bridge which is wrapped. The year is unknown, but likely 60’s. My article with the matching kit: https://www.notsomoderndrummer.com/not-so-modern-drummer/2024/5/29/mij-sixties-fibre-gold-star-kit
This particular set of bongos is kind of a hybrid and a mystery. The shell itself is a traditional stave makeup, but it has what appears to be Gracy made lugs. From several accounts Gracy didn’t manufacture hand percussion instruments. The drum is badged “Zim-Gar Musical Instruments” and “Made In Mexico”. My speculation is that the Mexican manufacturer bought the Gracy lugs when Gracy went out of business in about 1972. Whether it happened that way or not it still came out of the Zim-Gar warehouse who sold MIJ instruments throughout the stencil era.
Bongos not only have the benefit of being an entry point into the world of percussion but an inexpensive one at that. These Japanese bongos also have the great wraps mixed with the art deco lugs to help transport us back to that beautiful era. Plus you can always let the kids bongo along with their own little drums that match yours!