How I Mount Skins On Macho And Hembra

We recently received this set of Gon Bops Mariano bongos from a customer for a custom upgrade — replacing the original heads with high-quality natural steer skin. The setup: 7" Macho: Mounted with 1mm steer skin 8.5" Hembra: Mounted with 1.6mm steer skin Each skin was soaked in cool water just until pliable to maintain integrity and achieve optimal tone. For the hembra, I used slightly longer mounting lugs to accommodate the thicker skin. I used longer mounting lugs for the hembra to help draw the crown or rim down gradually, evenly and easily. I also used a wooden jig to set the collar height at 3/16". As the skin dried, I increased the collar height to 3/8". One interesting detail: these Gon Bops have relatively short crown ears, which makes for a tight fit between the flesh hoop, skin, and tuning hardware — something to keep in mind when reheading similar models. #Bongos #GonBops #BongoRepair #NaturalSkins #PercussionCraft #SteerSkinHeads