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Keyboard Galleria Music School
Distance: 37.8 Mi21515 Soledad Canyon Rd
91350 Santa Clarita -
Condor Records
Distance: 46.9 Mi
90045 Los Angeles -
The M+M Group
Distance: 93.3 Mi14067 Hoppe Dr
91739 Rancho Cucamonga -
Hands-On! Drumming
Distance: 249.2 Mi2745 Daubenbiss Ave
95073 Soquel -
Leos Music
Distance: 265.8 Mi3432 Merrimac Dr
95117-3624 San Jose
Website Links
Description
Gon Bops has the prestigious reputation of being one of the oldest manufacturers of handcrafted Latin instruments in the world. Mr. Mariano Bobadilla founded the company in 1954. As a band instrument repairman and professional trumpet player for 18 years, he started out in an old wood garage owned by his father in a neighborhood near the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Mariano selected the name Gon Bops because "Gon" was one of the colloquial expressions of the time, as in "everything is gone, man" and "Bops" because everyone called him Bob, which sounded like "Bop". Mariano is also known for inventing several features and improvements that have forever changed traditional Latin instruments. He designed the first teardrop crown with rounded counter hoop to protect the player's hands. It's a concept that is universally accepted today. He also gave birth to the first tunable hardware for congas and bongos in the United States. After watching conga players from Cuba heat up their drums in the kitchen before performances, he decided there had to be an easier and more reliable way to tension these instruments. Some of his other inventions were the Gonga drum, a compact set of congas with a stand, which was one third the size of a regular congas and utilized a collapsible resonator to enable a full sound. Gongas were easier to transport and more compact, so they quickly became a favorite of many local working musicians...