How To Buy Gongs, Bells and Bowls-What To Look For

Continuing from last week's video, today I investigate what to look for in buying gongs, bells and bowls. It's important to know things to look for, so you know what something really is.
Always watch out for buzz words like: Tibet/Tibetan, 7 metals, Buddha/Buddhist, Dharma, Temple, Chakra, Rare, Antique, Ancient and many other words meant to convey some sort of special meaning and make you feel that the instrument is special and/or valuable. The more you know, the better you can buy things.
Next week we take a detailed look at Ebay!
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Gong Dealers that are great to deal with:
Steve Weiss Music: www.steveweissmusic.com/
Memphis Gong Chamber: memphisdrumshop.com/gongs
Gongs Unlimited: gongs-unlimited.com/
The Gong Shop: www.thegongshop.com/
Andy’s Music: www.andysmusicchicago.com/
All of the above are in the USA where I live, but they do ship overseas.
If you are in Europe, I recommend Thomann:
www.thomann.de/de/index.html (Germany)
www.thomann.de/gb/index.html (UK)
www.thomann.de/fr/index.html (France)
If you have any questions, or any topics you would like to see me cover, put them in the comments below. ⬇︎
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[@matthewwynne939]

During my peak "gearhead" phase I had bought one of those tourist gongs off of eBay out of curiosity because of how cheap it was. I'm pretty sure all it was was a metal cover for an electric range element painted to look like a gong. I think the stand had more value.

[@michelemichener6205]

Really Super Michael! Next mallet Manipulation.

[@joshturner5165]

You really helped me out a lot in this video. Thanks for taking the time.

[@Gongtopia]

You are welcome. That's why I'm making these videos. Stay tuned for next week's episode with more on buying gongs on eBay!

[@joshturner5165]

@@Gongtopia Appreciate it! I have a "22 Gong I bought from Gongs Unlimited in Lincoln NE. Luckily I don't live too far and they were able to demonstrate 3 for me to choose from. I drool over pairing it with a 32" Paiste Saturn. They sound great together from what my ears hear from the KZbin videos next to my "22 Dark star. And I am a Ebay guy myself! I will definitely appreciate your input. I've been lucky with buying 6 or 7 singing bowls with soundfiles in the eBay descriptionand a repeat dealer.

[@lou_bee]

Lou's first rule: If you can't hear it, don't buy it!

[@Gongtopia]

That's generally my suggestion. The large online dealers have video or audio samples of the gongs, which is a great help. Unfortunately, most people don't have access to a store/dealer where they can try a wide variety of gongs. That's why I talk about buying gongs on eBay in the next video…

[@lou_bee]

@@Gongtopia Lou's second rule: If you don't like it, or it doesn't work with what you have, you should be able to return the item, less shipping charges and a small restocking charge. A no-return policy is a red-flag for me, "Caution, do not proceed with this purchase!"

[@Gongtopia]

@@lou_bee My philosophy: If you don't like it at

[@rrgibbons]

Michael, a bit of update from Google maps : "Wuhan, the sprawling capital of Central China’s Hubei province,"

[@Gongtopia]

Well there you go. You learn new stuff all the time. - On further thought, I actually knew this, I was just rambling off the top of my head this week. Note to self: do the research and write a script…