Growing Region: Primarily southern Mexico south into Columbia, Venezuala and the Amazon region including Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.

Availability: Available with FSC certification. Our sample drum is made form 100% FSC certified Mahogany. The status in Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and Bolivia is extinct, endangered, vulnerable, or rare. It is listed as vulnerable in Nicaragua, rare in Columbia, and endangered in Guatemala and parts of Brazil.

Weight/Hardness/Density: This varies. It can be as soft as Poplar (see March 2005 issue) and as hard as red oak (see May 2005 issue).

Cost: Approximately 150% the cost of maple. The U.S.A. is the largest importer of Mahogany.

Habitat concerns: Most commercially used of all Mahogany species. Heavy use has caused exhaustion of wood supplies in parts of its native region. Mahogany is vulnerable to logging because its reproduction depends upon natural disturbances (i.e. fire). There is long term concern about sustainability due to high demand. Stands of this tree are becoming more difficult to access because of exploitation, and it is now being farmed. International trade is governed by its listing in CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of flora and fauna). The CITES status was given a more severe rating when it was moved from Appendix 3 to Appendix 2 in November of 2003. An Appendix 1 listing is the most critical for a species.

Comments: Mahogany can reach 150 feet in height with a diameter of 6 feet and a clear bole from 60 to 80 feet. Dust can cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation. Mahogany is a very popular wood among guitar makers.

Timbre/Tonal Color: Compared to maple, our mahogany sample drum had a higher pitch and a shorter cleaner note when tuned up into the “typical” maple range. It also had less note spread, more pitch bend, sounded “dampened” (not choked) and did not have a lot of over ring. When we dropped the head tension on top and more importantly the bottom, the drum opened up and our note was now longer and lower than the maple drum. It became much richer sounding in the lower tunings.

Dynamic Range : The note stayed the same from the center of the drum to the edge, but it gave us more over ring at the edge. Nothing unexpected there, but it is a very consistent sound over the drumhead. It also has a very consistent sound from pp (very quiet) to ff (very loud) volumes. There was no change in the note color, just a change in the volume. Excellent dynamics over all.

Tonal Range : The sweet spot was about the same as maple. It was slightly larger when we had the drum tuned high into the range of a tight maple.

Tuning Range: We dropped the bottom head tension to open up the mahogany, but the maple did not open up when we dropped the bottom head tension. With the bottom head already looser than maple, the top head took as loose a tuning, but not as tight a head tension. Our sample mahogany drum likes a looser tuning. It has more voices at a low tuning.

Resonance/Decay: Short, fast note when tuned high. With a looser tuning, the note opens up and becomes longer than maple. At a tight tension, the drum is clean with little over ring. When the bottom head tension drops, we get a more “open” sound, yet the drum remained very clean sounding but with a little more over ring than at a tight head tension.

Cross Stick: The cross stick and rim shot sound is woody and “thick” sounding. Both are lower in pitch than our maple drum. Rim shots are also woody and thick. The rim shot surprised us in that it did not sound shorter in length than our maple drum, as the drum sound had been. There is more room for a good cross stick sound than on maple. We got 2 distinct sounds from our mahogany: a tenor and an alto wood block sound. Maple yielded only 1 unique sound with less space to get it to sound good.

Volume: Very similar to maple, but with a “softer” sound (not volume). It was not as abrasive or painful as maple.

Sensitivity: Good sensitivity. We had no problems with the drum.

Feel: Comparable to maple. Similar response and feedback to our maple sample drum.

Comments: Mahogany definitely prefers a looser tuning. When we dropped the head tension, it became another drum. “The lower tuning opened it up into a cannon” (RB).

By Greg Gaylord & Robert “Tree Hugger” Bowler.