Did we always use maple?

Syrup. That's my reason. Maple syrup is gooooood. Everyone knows that. Maple drums benefit by association. As do small, hollowed out African American women made from glass with screw caps on their heads.

Gotta go get some breakfast now.
 
Just because a manufacturer says 100% maple, it doesn;t mean that you have 100% good maple. Wood is never 100% consistent and consequently not all maple is good maple, or oak, or birch, or bubinga or padauk or cherry or ash or...well you get the point.

In an effort to maintain or increase profitability, it is commonplace for shell makers to use lesser quality plies in the middle of the laminate. Often containing patches and/or knotty wood, the inner plies can often be detrimental to the liveliness of the shell.

I've seen some drums that were advertised as 100% maple, but upon inspection the inner plies were of such substantially different color. Without a dna test, how are you going to know for sure that your new 100% drums are really all maple?

They have a grading system for wood for a reason.

My .02.

An informed buyer with vast experience with drums can spot the real deal from the marketing imposters using "questionable" filler plies. Close inspection of the shell and the ply type construction in particular is pretty clear in most cases as is the sound based on the wood being touted in question which seals the deal at the end of the day for the good or the bad.

The more experience you have with drums and drums made of various types of woods the better armed you are to seperate fact from fiction in shell construction...my 2 cents....and trust your ears based on what delivers the goods.
 
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