# Cajon?



## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Can anyone recommend me a good cajon, and a place to buy it? I see LA Music in Mississauga has one for $160 (Aspire) and another for $210 (Meinl). I'd like something that's comfortable to sit on as I'd likely use it for a stool for playing guitar as well.

Any advice in this regard would be appreciated, as I don't know anything about cajons and I'm not afraid to say so. 

--- D


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

i dont know much about these-
but fred kinbom's brother makes these. more expensive, but hey.
here is his site
http://www.valterpercussion.com/

some yutube links of the guy and his cajones

[YOUTUBE]ODZdtwqxVVs[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]1cofPH5RYI4[/YOUTUBE]

maybe a bit much, but its all the info i know about this instrument.
would like to try one tho.


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Thanks! Those are nice, but they look like they're in the $500 range (259 BP)... a bit rich for me. But they sure do look well made. I better stay away from that site before I convince myself I need a $500 cajon! 

--- D


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Somewhere online there has to be plans so one can build a cajon.

Here're the first things to pop up...

http://www.caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon

http://www.anneldavis.com/bobandanne/cajon.htm

Peace, Mooh.


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## snacker (Jun 26, 2008)

get one that has snares that can be turned off - some have a button that can be kicked to do this


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Thanks for the input, guys. I went to check some out at a couple of stores. I was very unimpressed. The only ones they had were the Meinl ones, and they were priced around $240-$250. Considering I spent about that much on a handmade djembe a couple of years ago, these cajons barely rate as musical instruments. My djembe is a proper drum, with tone, projection, and resonance. These meinl cajons are plywood boxes that sound like, um, plywood boxes. 

Maybe my expectation was too high. Listening to recordings of these, I imagined that they would have a truly drum-like sound to them. In reality, they sound flat and weak. 

I'm hoping that it's just the Meinls that fail to impress me. I'm going to have to check out some of these more expensive models and see if any of them sound much better. It would be nice to add another percussion instrument to the collection, but if this is what cajons sound like, I'll just buy a stool to sit on for guitar playing, and stick with my djembe. 

--- D


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## Andy (Sep 23, 2007)

I sent you a PM a while ago regarding my LP Cajon that's for sale, which has great tone and projection. Meinls sound like junk, especially the ones with the on/off snare wires -- that's not representative of the instrument, just a bad example of it.


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Andy said:


> I sent you a PM a while ago regarding my LP Cajon that's for sale, which has great tone and projection. Meinls sound like junk, especially the ones with the on/off snare wires -- that's not representative of the instrument, just a bad example of it.


Thanks Andy. I got your PM, and I am potentially interested in buying that from you. I just didn't want to waste your time until I had done some research and figured out what these cajons are all about. I was hoping to try out an LP Mario Cortes at a music store, but haven't seen one yet. I was at LA Music on the weekend, and I asked the guy there how they compare to the Meinls. He said they sound "about the same", which surprised me, given what I've read about them on the net. They look very different, as if they're made from real wood, so I was hoping they would sound much better. If you have any additional pics of yours, particularly the soundhole or inside, and the jointing, I'd be curious to see how they're made differently from the Meinls. 

Where did you get yours? I'm still hoping to find a music store that has one in stock to try out. Also I've been looking for some sound clips that are "raw" and unaltered to get a real sense of the sound... 

And yeah, the snare wires were horrible. I engaged the snare and gave it a few taps, and my wife started laughing at how embarrassingly bad it sounded. Without the snare it was a bit better, but the bass was still nonexistent.

--- D


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## Andy (Sep 23, 2007)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6120BI9V

Here's a recording of mine. Audio Technica condenser 18" in front, Shure Beta 52 6" behind, mixed to sound like it does when I'm playing it -- only effect is a touch of compression to bring out the room reverb.


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