Meinl TOPCAJ2WN Slap-Top Cajon

Omdat ik op zoek was naar een betere cajon maar tevens snel last heb in mijn onderrug leek de slaptop het overwegen waard. Ik ging dus voor de Meinl TOPCAJ2WN Slap-Top Cajon. En wat ben ik daar blij mee. De klank is fenomenaal, een warme bas, mooie bongoklanken als bonus en mooie crispy snareklanken. De tapa of slagplaat is heel gevoelig en geeft je de gelegenheid om heel genuanceerd te spelen. De snare is volledig gescheiden van de bas. Het instrument inspireert echt om beter te spelen, door de nuances in de klankmogelijkheden. Eerlijk gezegd lijkt het erop dat ik ongevraagd een B-stock kreeg omwille van enkele kleine beschadigingen. Maar daar val ik in dit geval niet over omdat gebruiksporen sowieso gaan komen nu ik het instrument dagelijks bespeel. Bijkomend pluspunt is dat hij past in de Millenium Classic Cajon Bag, waardoor je niet drie maal zoveel hoeft uit te geven voor de Meinl Slaptop Cajon Bag. De Millenium bag heeft ook het voordeel dat je hem als rugzak kan dragen op de fiets bijvoorbeeld. Conclusie: Een heel goed instrument met mooi gescheiden klanken voor een zeer acceptabel prijskaartje.

I chose this special type of cajon over the normal designs because after some hours of sitting on that normal box my back begins to hurt. The slap top cajon can be played sitting in a convenient position without stressing my back.
As the cajon arrived I was quite suprised about the size of the box it came in. I expected a normal sized cajon with these "T-ears". But the Meinl is significantly smaller! Like a child's cajon. Instantly fear creeped up that the sound might be to thin. But that's not the case. The Meinl provides enough bass for live playing. And for my purpose, home recording, it's even more okay as I can support the natural sound by tweaking on the EQ.
Really incredible is the separation of the different sounds. In the middle on the Meinl logo is the boomiest bass sound, at the corner you have a bongo-like open slap sound and on the "ears" to the right and left there is a wonderful snare sound available.
For me it's the ideal cajon, because it's convenient to handle, I can produce distinct sounds and the sounds suit my taste.

I just got this for acoustic gigs and cause of the ergonomic design that doesn't hurt my back and i was amazed by it's sound and how good it's build quality is!I couldn't ask for more.It's sound is lower than a normal cajon if you say 10 is a normal cajon this cajon's loudness is about 6-7.Bass (kick) is pretty good and beefy and really good sound on snares.i enjoyed and the bongo sound thing in middle of it,it can change and pitch if you put your elbow above it.It's perfect!

My primary reason for purchasing this was the amount of back pain I suffer from after extended playing sessions in rehearsals and gigs on a traditional cajon. This design allows you to play in an upright position with a nice straight back. I was also pleasantly surprised by the sound quality - it produces a solid bass when struck in the middle but and a nice bright snare sound at the sides. The snare compartments are completely separate from the bass so there is no snare noise when you play the middle section - but it is a lot more resonant. Because of this you need to leave your hand on the surface after striking it if you want a tight bass sound, but this also means there is a very clean open conga sound if played on the front edge - a sound which is difficult or impossible to get on a traditional string cajon. The only weakness I can find is that the snare sound is quite high pitched - you can't get the more solid snare sound which is available on a traditional cajon. Because of this I would probably recommend this for playing traditional cajon rhythms rather than the simulation of drum kit rhythms, However, this might be something that can be addressed by boosting the EQ on the snare mic when going through a PA?