I've had several Gretsch kits, it has been my expierence that there is no silver sealer under the black paint. It is my guess that there is no primer of any kind under the paint, when it chips off there is just the bare wood.

What would be the best way to strip the hoops? Sanding or stripper? Thanks!

I've refinished quite a few hoops. This depends if you have removed the inlay of course. If you're leaving it on, you obviously would mask carefully and not use stripper. But if they have the inlays removed, I prefer stripper. If you put it on thickly in sections and then after 20 minutes, use a small stiff brush to get the paint out of the grain, it means less sanding. I scrape the gunk off onto newspaper. This might take 2 applications, but it cuts down on sanding. For me it's a balance of stripping and sanding because I don't use chemicals lightly. If I don't need bare wood, I skip all this and simply give the existing paint a good sand, use filler for any holes, sand again and then paint. If you do go to bare wood and want the rims black again, you might want to try staining the wood before painting it - makes chips much less noticeable.

Hi,BBK, With all the Gretsch drums i have restored over the years.I have not seen any silver Sealer on the bass drum rims..As you know the sealer was only on the inside of the shells..Mikey

Yes, I know the sealer is inside the drums. The other day I was stripping a hoop and there was a paint under the black that looked exactly like Silver Sealer. Just wanted to make sure for future sales.

Thanks again my friend.

Thanks! Yeah, I'm gonna strip 'em and stain/seal them to match the kit I just refinished. They ARE maple, right?

As my memory fades it seems I may have seen Gretsch bass drum hoops painted silver as a finish coat, not sure if it was factory or not.

Not as a finish coat, but underneath the black paint of the hoops

I know, but I think I have seen finishes like black diamond pearl with silver painted hoops instead of black.