Open Box Remo Mondo Designer Series Key-Tuned Djembe Level 1 Earth 25 x 14 in.

The instrument has a deep base with a nice pop on the edge, there is also good variation of tone between the edge and the center. I am playing this drum in a rock style to simulate a drum kit for a mic 'ed up acoustic band with 2 guitars and a drum. The center gives the deep bass of a bass drum, and the higher pitch edge gives a nice pop like a snare. The single piece drum is easy to set up and give great sound either stand alone or mic 'ed. I upgraded from a 10" Toco with a syn head that worked pretty good but did not have the low end I was looking for. The sales musician at Guitar Center (GC) and I discussed many options and converged on this drum. The GC rep was right, this drum exceeds my (and the bands) needs and is a better playing drum than the Toco. There is a nice beveling on the supporting edge that is easy on the hands. Well-made and looks great.

I love it easy to tone great sound not to heavy .I would buy this type of drum again.Love that it didn't take long to get to me.Great djemb

This is my first hand drum. Beautiful and loud. Great bass. A little in the heavy side

...love to light up the tower with the hand drums...thanks so much...digg~it...

First off. I'm not a musician, not trained or talented but I like percussion and have collected a couple of djembes, some frame drums and shakers, a cool ibo and large ocean drum. I'm also not a purest who doesn't think a djembe should be made of anything other than a hollowed out log and strung with conventional strings with a goatskin head. I just make noise with my drums and don't claim to know or even try to use only djembe style rhythms with them...I make noises that make me happy and sound sort of musical to me (at times). You probably wouldn't want to be my neighbor as I doubt any folk would consider anything I do with these things to be music. All that said to let you know that although I like the sounds of my other djembes I simply wanted a larger sized one it wasn't because I'm any kind of authority or represent what a musician would look for in an instrument. Well, this 16" Remo being one of the bigger ones available was just way too expensive (for me) so... I waited until i noticed a sale that priced it closer to my comfort point and bought it... all I can say is WOW! The volume and low bass is fantastic and the rim slaps and taps are clear and awesome to me. I can't speak about performance tones or other issues that a professional would take exception to, like head ringing or ringing overtones or things like that...guess I'm just a happy old guy who would just like to 'bang on my drum all day' - (certainly would beat work!). I like it so much that I can't wait to find an affordable 18" now and will likely also replace (add to my collection rather) my 14" fiberglass Toca too. If you can afford one...go for it. It will likely make you happy too!

I play percussion for a chant band. Some of our material is happy-clappy, but a lot is low-key, quiet, meditative stuff. I needed something much deeper than a doumbek or most djembes. I got a used 16" Remo djembe from GC, with an older "Mo-Fa" head. The bass was wonderful, the "Remo ping" was pretty strong also. After scouring the Internet, I added three tiny pads of Moongel around the circumference of the head, about 1/2" from the edge -- goodbye ping! It's now very flexible, with nice open tones. Slaps are OK, but not as crisp as on a smaller drum. For drum circles, I'd want the 14" model. Taps on the center produce a "boom" that fills my 150-seat space. I'm playing against amped guitars and singers, and haven't needed a mic yet. This is a really nice drum.