Gary sent me some sound clips of the snare, so I felt pretty safe about it.Interesting as you mention everything that has made me cautious about mahogany as well. I wish you lived closer so I could hear it in the flesh. Maybe Gary will have a mahogany drum at his place when I pick up my walnut snare in the next week or two. What sizes did you add to the kit?
Not sure why, but I felt strange/guilty ordering more drums so soon. The kit lacks nothing as it is. I guess I just figured with the build time, I might just as well put an order in...
So I conversed with Gary about it a bit and he mentioned that he has a client who requested an 11" tom. Since he was making the form for it he offered to make that size for me as well if I wanted it. As you know, his prices are very reasonable, so I decided to give that a shot. If I don't happen to care for it, I can always order a more regular sized drum. The size limits me to Remo Ambassador coated or clear, but that's what I've been using anyway. I felt like the 11" may be the perfect compliment to the 13". I also ordered a 14" floor tom, and a Birdseye maple snare. Again, I'm happy with the mahogany, but there is a wait... and I actually don't own a maple snare.