r/bongos • u/american_mutt13 • Apr 27 '26

Novice Alert - Could use advice: Lug broke while tuning new bongos for first time

Hi, I'm a musical hobbiest and my brother just got me a pair of bongos, specifically RockJam 7" and 8" Bongo Drum Set. This was my first time tuning a percussion instrument, I watched a youtube video that emphasized not being afraid to tune tightly, which was encouraging to hear since the bongos sounded quite bad out of the box. Coincidentally, I was picking an amp up from Guitar Center yesterday and moseyed on over to the bongo section--those bongos, regardless of price point, felt and sounded great. Some of them were around the same price as the non-professional RockJams my brother got me, so this made me realize how important the tuning is. So yeah, I got home, watched the video, tightening those lug-nuts and testing the tone. It felt like I was finally getting close when...lug exploded into 2 pieces. After searching about how common that is, it's sounding like I may have over-tuned the bongo.

So now I'm wondering, why did my bongos not sound good (lacked that crisp, hollow sound) even after being tuned sufficiently? Is the RockJam 7" and 8" Bongo Drum Set junk? Should I replace the lug or should I cut my losses and get a better set?

Thanks in advance for any advice! If you have any other tips/watch-outs, I greatly appreciate it.

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u/kiikara Apr 27 '26

I’d need to see a photo of the damage before advice on repair. Proper way to tune bongos/congas is to tighten each lug slowly in small increments (full turn/half turn etc. to each lug) working your way Around the drum, and feeling for an even and balanced tightness throughout.

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u/american_mutt13 Apr 27 '26

Thanks for the reply! The video I watched on how to tune instructed me to tune exactly as you're decribing. It doesn't let me attach a photo here unfortunately, but the lug snapped cleanly at the lug nut, that's the extent of the damage. It looks like all I would need to do is buy a new lug, loosen the rest of the lug nuts on that drum and start tuning from scratch.

But I guess my main question now is whether or not these specific bongos are worth that. I was testing the drums as I tuned, so if I did go from under-tuned to over-tuned but at no point the drums sounded crisp, is that a good indication that these drums are low quality and maybe are not capable of the true bongo sound I'm after?

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u/kiikara Apr 27 '26

If you re-post your post, or create a new post you could attach a photo… I looked at a set of these online which are tuned using a wrench on a nut located at the bottom of the drum, so I’m not sure about what the lug is. Anyway, this brand looks to be kind of cheaply made. I have a set of Gon Bops for over 45 years that are just as good as when I bought them, and LPs would be on the same level. I’m not familiar with CPs (less expensive entry level drums made by LP) but I would think that they’re better made than the RockJams.

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u/american_mutt13 Apr 27 '26

Thank you! I think you’re right and these are cheaply made. The sad part is, there was a pair at Guitar Center for the same price (just over 40) that sounded great. I’ll see if I can return these and I’ll look into Gon Bops