They use young fast growing mangrove trees from the Philippienes more comonly known as firewood !!

Also known as luan...Asian mahogany...

Cheers

Inner bass drum ply looks different...

So the correct answer is Mahogany. Thanks for that. As for differences in the shells: They are graduated thickness, just like today's high-dollar Gretsch!

Thanks

Jim

Found this, Luan:

the light yellow to reddish-brown or brown wood of any of various tropical southeast Asian trees (as of the genera Shorea and Parashorea) which sometimes enters commerce as Philippine mahogany.

looks like luan,I do see some color variation,less red on the Ft,almost looks like it could be a different wood from the pics.

I had a Pearl from the same era,and it had a middle reinf hoop on the kick,but not on the FT like yours,but my FT had seven lugs per side and it looks like yours does too.

Nice MIJ kit there,looks like the edges are done well,and looks nicely finished overall.

Um... Tree wood? Maybe?

It is NOT "mahogany"! It IS luan.

Luan is NOT mahogany! It is "nicknamed" that sometimes, because it is roughly the same COLOR as some mahogany woods. Structurally, it is completely different.

The reinforcement rings on the shells appears to be some other type of wood -possibly maple....possibly birch....or ....not sure

That's an excellent eBay ad, and the photos are very nicely presented. The wood inside those shells looks quite well finished. I'm impressed.

If you move beyond the remarks of the "Asian Firewood" camp, there are quite a few wood species used in MIJ drums. Some are called Mahogany because they are dark in color. But most of those woods don't have the same structural and sonic properties as either African Mahogany, or New World Mahogany. Luan itself is a catch-all multi species term.

I haven't had hands on lots of Luan drums (I currently own just one), but in general they would tend to have more splintering and a rough look to them if the inner ply were Luan. I'd say whoever produced those did a quality job.

So I don't think you can give a definitive answer on precisely what species they are, although it looks like the re-rings are a different wood, and so is that snare, at least on the inner ply. And is species the most important thing if they sound as good as they look? How you answer such a question depends on what the person asking it actually knows. Did somebody advise them "only get Maple shells"? or "you want Birch shells they are pre EQed"?, or are they a more sophisticated buyer with an interest in MIJ drums?

Good luck with the sale.