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I had my custom Mopercs made out of African mahogany; after consulting a wood worker. He told me that Honduran Mahogany was no good for instruments. Has anyone played/experience both, and is there a difference?

I had a Matt smith Honduran mahogany and African mahogany. To me the Honduran was clearly superior. Caribbean mahogany is the best for congas in my opinion, listen to some sound samples f some caoba sonocs to get an idea.

Well that's upsetting news...can you please expound on the difference PCASTAG?
Thanks for responding by the way.

The Honduran mahogany to me had a wider tuning range, Matt also thought it was one of his better sounding drums, it had a bit of a thinner skin on it which could have affected the range of the drum as well. The African mahogany drum still sounded great, and I think most of his mahogany drums today are African, the Honduran stuff is really expensive. I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you don't
Iike the sound of your mopercs for some reason. I would imagine they sound fantastic!!!

I am rather sure that it is not reasonable to discuss qualities of suitable wood for congas independent from other aspects. It is not only the skin as pcastag noted, but also the thickness of the corpus. What happens to the sound when the average thickness of the staves is 3-4mm more at half height (the drums´ weights could be the same)? - Consider there are even differences between parts of the same trunk! - And what influence does it have, when the staves are bended or sawn into form? - And can be heard a difference when the staves´ grains are right-angled to the mid of the corpus, instead of running more parallel to the rounding (similar to a solid wood corpus).

Such things are probably much more important when constructing acoustic guitars, but they have a meaning for congas as well. A conspicuous quality of a single conga is probably a felicitous combination of attributes, which can not be achieved by a technical synthese but only by the intuition of an experienced drum builder. You can execute all rules of craftmanship and art, but the best results are always gifts. I am sure that one of ten congas of Matthew Smith is a little bit more exciting than the others - maybe one of a hundred gives him the stimulation to keep on experimenting (within decreasing ranges - of course).

p.a.dogs1

the South American Mahogany, including Caribbean variety were part of a import ban
due to environmental concerns. I think that was in 2004.
That was the year they buried President Reagan in a mahogany casket.

African Mahogany, considered a substitute is not yet on the endangered list.
That may eventually change.

http://rainforests.mongabay.com/08mahogany.htm

Any Honduran, Brasilian or Caribbean Mahogany (Caoba) already in the country has been stored and warehoused long before
the import ban. It was more commonly used for yacht flooring, guitar necks, etc.
The remaining small pieces are already cut, and likely not suitable for conga requirements.

Consider yourself very lucky to have any type of Mahogany.
Also consider that most working pros don't even have or play
the highest quality instruments.

As p.a. dogs said about conga sound qualities -
"the best results are always gifts" . I would add that
the rest depends on you - how you practice and develop your technique.
The wood itself will change and improve sonically over time, the more you play.
If anyone is thinking to get mahogany drums,
there's no better time than now!

The real deal mahogany is the Cuban mahogany that grows
in Cuba and Hispaniola. Honduran mahogany is not Cuban
mahogany, Cuban mahogany is head and shoulders above
the rest. African mahogany is not a true mahogany same
with Filipino mahogany.

Sonoc in Cuba also doesn't have enough mahogany nowadays to use for congas.
They eventually had to switch to Cedar. DR may still have a limited supply.
Felling those trees now is bad for the ecosystem

Your correct, African "Mahogany" is considered a close sound substitute.
Its a different species.

If you can find and restore a vintage conga, you're getting the real deal.
Oak is still considered a traditional sound...and not on any kind of endangered or
ban list.

Personally I have worked with, Honduras, African and Philippine mahogany. Honduras is light and softer. African is harder and heavier..tough to work with because the grain will reverse at certain spots, so when you run the plank through the planer ; it could take big chunks off. But there are many varieties of Mahogany...even American mahogany offers quite the selection. Currently the biggest exporter of Mahogany to the U.S. is Peru.

Isaac, thank you for the education, it was the most well inform answer ever! Again, thank you.

when I ordered my drum, I planned on buying the best I could. I was upset because when I spoke to this woodworker, he told me wrong information about Hondurian Mahogany wood. Regardless, I remember Michel (MOPERC), telling me that he found African, but it was hard for him to find Hondurian mahogany; so the best I could do at that time is African.

Per Michel's e-mail "This drum is very nice, very unique and sounds the best we can have in a conga drum." And it really does blow the hardware off my LP Classics, and fiberglass Matadors. The tones are deep, beautiful, and loud. I should get my matching tumba in two weeks.

Yeah baby! I thought juniors drums were made of Honduran mahogany so I'm not sure that the best comes from cuba and PR or santo Domingo. I've played on a caoba sonocs, Honduran mopercs and ritmo Honduran mopercs, they all sounded great.

That certainly is a gorgeous drum, Matt also makes his from African Mahogany, nothing wrong with African Mahogany, Im sure you will be happy for many years to come with that set.

Why is it so important to define what the best is (motivated by the wish of restriction)? I know it is not much satisfying to discuss within a wide range of relativity, but in every single tree you find different qualities of wood (also in Cuba! ). So, we can not talk about just the geographic origin of wood when comparing qualifications for conga building. And what about the conga´s shape related to the material (slim or bulgy - with deep-seated or high bulge)?

When including woods from Africa at all, why not talk about lenké, palisander, rosewood, casha, wild mango or iroko. All these woods (mahogany included) are used for djembés in the sub-saharian belt. The prices on the European market can go up to 2000 euros for a high-end solo-instrument. Has any famous conga maker made experiments with these kinds of wood? Maybe the real conga dreams have not been dreamt yet!

p.a.dogs1

Kaban, that is a sweet drum no matter which way you spin things.

It can be easy to get twitchy and anxious when laying down a grand, or more, each for drums of that quality, but really, they're all top quality. Moperc makes very well built drums that will last you a lifetime! Michael is a great guy, super reliable and delivers when he says he will. 2 of his drums in african mahogany.... droooollllllll..... Very Nice!! I've also played maple mopercs and they also blew the hardware off anything made by LP!