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There are 4 claves:
Rumba clave 2-3
Rumba clave 3-2
Son clave 2-3
Son clave 3-2

These are going to set rules for everyone else, including the piano, horns, congas and timbales.
And even when the clave isn't there it IS there. It's a feeling that we latins are more or less born with, I think. Hard to explain.
Go to youtube and type "Rebeca Mauleon", she's a great teacher and I'm sure you'll find something interesting.
There's a bunch of rules that follow the clave, like:

Bass never plays the first tempo, and you always play the 5th of the chord lower then the root, you may choose to octave the whole thing up, but keep the 5-1 thing.
The tumba only plays in the 3 of the clave. The clave may reverse itself in the middle of the song and the feeling of the song changes.
Really tough to explain.
Let me know what you find.

@lex.

I'm well, my friend, how have you been?

I'll start saying this:

It's easier than it's sounding here. The salsa feeling is something you get just listening to it. I actually had a bit of a hard time to figure out what the rules are, because it's like: "Play what you feel".
Yes, the 5th usually is below, that gives everyone in the band a feeling of security. This is actually the single biggest difference I notice when I see latin bass players playing salsa and non-latin players playing it. Non-latin guys do the 5th above all the time and although it sounds good to everyone else if there's a cuban lady dancing there she will say: "There's something wrong!"
I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.

Time sigs:

That's the best question you could ask!
This is the secret:
Let's say a song has a 4/4 feeling and is a 2/3 rumba clave. If you write that song in 4/4 the clave will stay within one bar.
Now, when and if the clave reverses in the middle of the song, it's easier to reverse everyone if you are on 2/4, even though the feeling of the song is 4/4. With the clave divided you can reverse it whenever you want, on 2 or 3, without the need of a single 2/4 bar in a 4/4 song. Cool huh?

Man, rent the movie "Buena Vista Social Club" and listen to Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades and such. Try to identify the clave and other elements and then forget it and just enjoy the music. You will play salsa in no time.

Regards,

@lex.