LP Prestige Timbales: Vintage Tones Meet Modern Refinements
When LP designers convened with the elders on our artist team, they heard
testimony about mystic tonal attributes thought to be long gone. To regain
them, our designers were told to listen to the shell, for in the shell lies
the rhythmic thread that runs through son and salsa. In other words, if our
designers were to create a shell out of certain metals in optimum densities,
then shape them ultra-round so as to enable free travel of vibrations, they
would reinvent the timbale; in doing so, they would breathe new life into
the essential underlying syncopated rhythm, the cascara. The result is a
new creation, novel and historic, the LP Prestige Timbales.
LP Prestige Timbales represent nothing less than a thorough reexamination
of the single-headed timbal/timbale concept. LP has completely overhauled
materials, hoops, tuning mechanisms, mounting stability, and a myriad of
factors affecting the marriage of stick-to-drum. Consequently, the shells
resonate with authentic cascaras, while LP Prestige Timbale heads yield muted
and open tones that rouse a band. Newly improved rims and rim seating make
for rimshots that are easier to play and that project ambient exclamations
without harsh clang.
Tuning timbales on the fly has always been a shortcoming of traditional
timbale design, the manipulation of the recessed bolts somewhat akin
to removing a nineties Buick water pump: lodge that wrench under there
and crank it! Thankfully, that’s history. LP Prestige Timbales feature
top-facing key-adjustable tuning rods for rapid pitch tweaks. LP designers
have shifted the position of the shell rib to open up more sticking
space and foster brighter cascara tones. Low-mass side plates further
free up shell response. When sticks strike heads, there is no choking only
the liberation of pleasing overtones. Sustain heightens and the whole drum
reacts as one. If that weren’t enough, the center block (between pairs
of timbales) has been revamped to minimize distracting shell movement and
it contains a handy tuning key holder! And putting it out of harms way, the
clamping screw has been recessed, lessening the possibility of collision
and, amazingly, reducing torque.
The shell, as you will see, is the key! Introducing the LP Prestige
Timbale series, available in premium stainless steel, brass, and bronze
shells in all popular sizes and groupings. LP Prestige Timbales
put an end to scouring for vintage drums at flea markets and on eBay!
Listen to an audio clip of this instrument. LP1314-S 13” & 14” Timbales,
stainless steel
