LP Aspire Accents Series Congas and Bongos

GEARREVIEWS
LP Aspire Accents
Series Congas & Bongos
From £89 | This revamped percussion set looks remarkable and won’t
break the bank. Charlie Price fi nds the accent is fi rmly on the visuals.
ESSENTIALS
PRICES
LP Aspire Accents
Series Percussion
10" quinto and 11"
conga set £349
6¾" and 8"
bongo set £89
CONTACT
Arbiter Group Ltd
2nd Floor
Atlantic House
Stirling Way
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire
WD6 2BT
Tel eph one
0208 207 7890
Website
www.arbitergroup.
com
www.lpmusic.com
F
or more than 40 years, LP has
continually raised the bar when it
comes to producing hand
percussion and, as the endorsement of
many legendary players and working
professionals proves, its popularity
continues to grow. LP relocated
production from the US to Thailand and,
since then, has already introduced its
budget Aspire series and the great value
(but costlier) Matador range – both good
quality instruments that look similar to
some of LP’s considerably more
expensive professional models. The
Aspire drums are aimed at players who
want LP quality, but don’t want to hold up
their corner shop in order to afford it.
Last year, LP introduced the Accents
option to each of its price ranges, which
gives an extended choice of fi nish
(essentially offering the chance to have
high-end fi nishes on entry level congas
and bongos), and adds new and exciting
visual options, with only a small extra
outlay. There are quite a few fi nishes
available in the Aspire Accents range,
including wacky marble and tie-dyed
versions but, for the time being, only the
Lava (shown here) will be stocked in the
UK, with the equally interesting
Checkerboard fi nish available from May.
The idea is to introduce a different fi nish
each quarter.
104 RHYTHM MAY 2007
Flashy new fi nishes
The Aspire Accents set comprises a 10"
quinto and 11" conga set in a sublime
Lava wood fi nish (both of which stand at
28" tall), and a matching 6¾" and 8"
bongo set (slightly smaller diameters
than their standard 7¼" and 8
5
/8" sizes).
All the drums are stave constructed from
Siam oak (like most Thai-made congas
these days) and the wood is plantation
grown in what LP describe as an
‘ecologically sound manner’.
After being kiln-dried the wooden
staves are carefully glued together by
craftsmen and reinforcement pins are
used to further strengthen the shells.
When the glue has dried, the drum is
spun on a lathe while it is sanded down by
hand. As most percussionists know, the
forming of strong and smooth bearing
edges (where the head meets the shell) is
of huge signifi cance in attaining good
tone and the Aspire bearing edges are
certainly smooth and tough enough!
The new fi nish designs are in stark
contrast to the rather conservative
options of LP’s standard Aspire series,
and add an aesthetically pleasing, classy
touch without being over the top. The
Aspire Accents feature LP’s EZ-Curve
rims as opposed to the slightly more
comfortable Soft
Strike rims that
feature on LP’s mid-
priced Matador series
– so comparisons
with the Matadors
should be investigated
thoroughly before
making your fi nal
choice. However, the
EZ-Curve rims feature a
rolled interior edge that
holds the natural
rawhide heads skinwire-
fi rm and even, and are
comfortable enough
and easy to play on.
The
9
/32" tuning lugs are
made from specially
treated high carbon steel
and have precision cut
threads, so they should
certainly stand up to a lot
of tuning adjustments –
adding strength when the
tunings get higher.
Slightly scaled-down heart-
shaped side plates help avoid
you scratching the fi nish when
you’re tuning up these drums.
You’ll quickly discover the Aspires’
deep, resonant bass and warm open
tones. There is plenty of warmth
and decent mid-tones and woody
but cutting slaps. The resonance
and melodic quality of these
drums made them even more
fun to play, and they had a
satisfyingly full dynamic range.
Mr Lava Lava
One surprise with congas with a
fi nish as attractive as these is that
LP hasn’t included its beautifully
simple integrated pro-care rubber
shell protectors, which would keep
that fabulous gloss fi nish dent-free.
Though these protectors are
available as a retro-fi t option in a pack
of six.
The chrome of the tension plates
contrasts really well with the grainy fi nish.
LP also adds a matching chrome
protective base to each drum and
provides to retro-fi t a set of stand
brackets if you wanted to mount them off
of one single stand. Personally, I think that
this slightly cheapens their classy looks,
Smaller dimensions
mean the bongos have
quite a cutting sound
and pleasant,
articulate tone.
RHY137.gear_lp 104 22/3/07 10:13:31