On Mahogany:
Ringo used to play drums made with
African Mahogany (first from Premiere then from Ludwig) during the early Beatles years, African Mahogany has a fat sound and I would make sure I will get one drumkit made of it before I die. Pearl has a master series made out of African Mahogany (is it MHX series??)
The beginner drumkits Tanguile, Red Lauan, White Lauan, Tiaong, Almon, Mayapis, and Bagtikan are all refered to as Philippine Mahogany. Usually ito yung ginagamit sa mga drumsets price range na 50K or less... kasi mas mura ang Phil. mahogany. this type doesn't sound that bad... if the manufacturer did a good job with the shell and you are not that particular pagdating sa tunog then it will do. malaki ang difference ng manufacturing process sa tunog ng drumset... some of the cheap fernandos, lazer, premiere, etc. have cracks sa holes for the lugs(yung butas para sa screws), you will not see this flaw on branded starter kits. to check, silipin mo yung loob ng shell... the better kits have no such cracks. if it is cracked, you might break it easily after a couple of months.
African Mahogany is the softest among the best woods used in drums (the others are birch and maple). the softer the wood, the lower it's tone. this is why the drum track "ticket to ride" sounds so good. a beatles trivia: the distinctive drum pattern of ticket to ride is paul's (not ringo's) source:
http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/tickettoride.htmso if you want the sound of the earlier Beatles recordings then get an African Mahogany kit. If you like the sound of the later records like "Come Together" (another signature drumlick) then get a maple kit.
i think most of the drummers out there are using maple already... it will be cool to get a different wood like African Mahogany or Birch for a change. (I'm getting a Sonor Birch snare).
