Items needed:

New tuning of Congas:
Begin by releasing the tension of the conga head completely.
To do this, loosen all screws sequentially using one turn and then moving on to the next screw and repeating until the head is loose. Always start with the same screw. An easy way to do this is by beginning with the screw close to the Meinl logo!

If the hooks are completely loose, use finger tension to tighten the screws. Now put only a drop of oil on the hook. Be careful with this, as using too much oil will make tuning more difficult.
Wait for a second until the oil has had time to cover all of the grooves of the screw.

The screws should always be turned by the same number of turns.
Important: Always start with the same screw! Tighten all screws one by one.

Fine-tuning: As you approach the desired tone, make smaller turns on each screw. Remember to apply equal tension to all of the screws.

Important: After you have tightened each screw once, hit the conga with the bass tone technique in the middle of the head.
While tuning, you may hear a cracking sound, especially in fibreglass congas, but this is no problem at all!

If you have reached the desired tone, hit the conga again with the bass tone technique to stretch the head. After this, check the sound with the open tone technique, and if necessary repeat this process until the tuning is finished.

Care of the heads:
To oil the head or not to oil the head? In climates that are not very dry, it is not necessary to oil the head.. All that may be needed is to treat your hands properly with a good lotion!

Loosen the tuning after the gig?
Usually the congas don’t have to be loose, but it is recommended to loosen the screws a few turns when there are drastic temperature changes.
As mentioned before, always begin with the same screw.

Recommended tuning for Salsa or Latin Jazz sounds:
Quinto: c
Conga: b
Tumba: g

Reproduced with permission from meinlpercussion.com