Hey there folks,

I'm looking to purchase a 4 1/3 octave marimba mostly for practice purposes. Since cost is very much an issue, padauk wood seems to be the way to go. (unless someone out there is selling a 4 1/3 rosewood or synthetic!) Anyways... I need some advice from those of you out there who have tried or know about these instruments...

The three brands that produce padauk marimbas are Musser, Adams, and Yamaha. Musser is always reliable, and Adams marimbas (rosewood, at least) are excellent. Yamaha..I've heard isn't great anymore, but correct me if I am wrong.

Between the Musser and Adams, the price difference is negligible. Could someone here help point me in the right direction? Thanks a lot!

--Dave

Dave:
The advantage of the Adams' above the Musser marimba's is the metal frame. I use an Adams xylophone with the voyager frame and I find it perfect. It is much more sturdier than the Musser frames, and it has huge range height adjustment.
According the padouk:
I built a marimba with rosewood bars, a marimba with Burmese padauk bars and a xylophone with African padauk bars. In my opinion African padauk sound is closer to rosewood than the Burmese padauk, however Burmese is heavier in weight, so feels more like rosewood.
When hit with very hard mallets African padauk is easier dammaged than Burmese padauk.
Also in my case Burmese padauk has more volume in sound than African.

Nico