Ha!rich must have been writing the same time as I was.

Anyone know the ply count or model? Gretsch experts............. Paging Gretsch experts! Probably won't bring this back to full original restoration at first. Try to score a semi reasonable badge somewhere .... Fill the holes ....refinish.....get some hoops from Mr. Maxwell and go hunting for a Microsensitve! Is there any way to tell if a drum was originally wrapped or painted?

I'm pretty sure it's a 3ply - what looks like a 4th ply on the outside is the finish..............at least that's how I read it from here.

Yes early 60's 60/61 (before the tags). But, it could be late 50's as in my kit.....my shells have silver sealer / 3ply / with no tags. The drum may have been sold in 60 or later but could very well have been made in the factory 58 or earlier...(during the transition)....shipped out and ended up being sold in 60 or later. All my comments are only from what I've read and some personal experience with my kit....that came with Provenance....and one owner before me.

Thanks Kona! ...and everyone for your input. My rookie eye is seeing 3 plies also. Didn't all the early 60's models have a key holder? Mine has not been drilled for that. So what model would have been 5 1/2 by 14 8 lugs and no key holder? I will strip the paint and show what lies underneath in a bit.

Thanks everyone for helping out as always.

That drum may have a factory finish. The 58 Gretsch catalog shows it came in Solid Black or Solid White lacquer and other solid colors - no key holder. The 61 catalog shows the 6ply came with a key holder.

Top coat on it now does not look factory to me. Not smooth at all like the other laquer finishes I have seen on Gretsch drums. Under the lugs is a smoother white that almost looks like a ludwig interior type shade that is smoother. I have to re-finish the drum regardless because of the extra holes so I will carefully take off the top layer and see what is going on. The other MIJ drums this was stacked with as the snare also had same outer coat of primer looking white on em

Here is what the shell looks like after the first shot of Citra-Strip in picture one. I'm guessing Kona was probably right about the original laquer white but once I got the whole thing stripped down there were all these nasty vertical lines. Could that mean it was wrapped at one time?

I am curios because I want to figure out how to finish the restoration and would love to re-wrap if possible. But I know if these drums were never wrapped the heads might not fit. Thoughts or suggestions on re-finishing?

Have you considered Tung Oil ?

I was going to rewrap this Gretsch 6lug Dixieland snare. This is the way it arrived - original wrap torn half off. After cleaning it the wood looked so nice I couldn't wrap it. A friend suggested Tung Oil.

This is the result. Four coats of Tung Oil and a few coats of Clear Gloss Wipe-on Poly.....nothing special.....just applied it with a lint free cloth.

You would have to feel this to believe how soft it is - it's like silk. It's one of the nicest finishes of all my snare drums or any natural finish I've yet to see. Just telling like it is.........

I am considering a natural wood finish. Here are some pics of before and after with a 1948 Gretsch Boradkaster I refinished. Duco was falling all over the place so I re-did it with Minwax poly. But that shell had a great grain when I stripped it and not all those vertical lines that looked like a wrap was torn from it like this one has.

If you try to sand each and every vertical line out - carefully and going with the lines - you may be able get rid of them. I had a lot of these on the inside of a drum shell - not important I know, but bugged me all the same - and I was able to get rid of most of them.

Measure the diameter carefully. If the drum is 14" I'd not wrap it.....that's me though. I have a drum like that and it's a nasty one with modern heads. Aquarian has some Vintage heads that fit but why go down that road if you're all thinking of a natural finish.

But..if you wrap it and it is cose to 14" you can wrap up to where the counter hoop fits. My 2011 Custom USA Gretsch were wrapped at the factory like that. That surprised me actually.