Mahogany primarily for jazz?

rob42771

Member
Has mahogany been a primary choice of shell for jazz drumming?
I see that the Gretsch catalina jazz kits use mahogany as well as some older kits and wonder what the significance is with using that wood with jazz.
If mahogany is a wood primarily used for jazz, I would then ask why mahogany would be used in 'rock' kits....like the Yamaha Rock Tour.

Thanks
 
African mahogany is a great sounding wood for drum shells and that is why it has been used for many years.
It has a warmer tone that is between maple or birch.
Jazz drums aren't wood specific. Jazzers play all kinds of woods and shell configurations.

Less expensive mahogany woods like luan are used in less expensive drums. Luan is not as hard as African mahogany.

My current jazz kit is composed of maple and walnut.
There are no true rules. Play the wood that you like for the music that you like.

How the plies are layered also makes a difference in the sound of a drum as does shell thickness, number of plies, bearing edges, hoops, heads.
There are many variables.
 
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There is no such thing as one type of wood being used primary for one type of music.

Maple, birch, Mahogany, whatever

Top jazz buys and top metals guys can found using each type of wood.
 
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