Wait to see what the shell looks like after you remove the wrap, if you can.

Thanks JRichard.

I was planning to remove it first and then decide which plan of attack. I was hopeful and figured though that the wood would look somewhat presentable and be suitable for a light coat of something.

If the wrap comes off easy and there is little or no glue/tape residue, you're golden. If it's fully glued, you may want to choose to leave it as it is, since you said you plan on selling it later. Kits are usually wrapped because the "Face" has blemishes, voids and assorted flaws.

If it's face grade Mahogany, it will look good with any finish. Tung oils are the easiest. It darkens the wood to a rich color, Several rubbed in coats will do nicely. But it offers little in long term protection.

Shellac is good. Depending on if you use Clear (1lb cut) or Amber (3lb cut) will give you a honey gold hue to the red of the Mahogany, classic look. Several coats brushed on will give you more protection than the Tung Oil. Shellac, like Lacquers are suseptable to damage but can easily be spot repaired with a dabbing of Shellac. Prone to hazing with coming in contact with liquids but they can be buffed out. Shellac buffs up well once fully dry and cured.

Lacquers can be an assortment of colors with clear top coats or clear alone as a finish. Better protection than Shellac but still prone to damage (look at the dings and nicks on your car). Some Lac's are UV resistant (Auto Colors). Layers need to be built up with multiple coatings. Some guys who've used these Lac's have gone to say 12 coats of color and 5 of clear and buffed to shine. Some guys use more coats, some less. It's a personal judgement call, depending on how the wood takes the Lac.

Polyester, never used them but folks tell me it's a great finish.

Then you have paints, super easy to apply, as I'm sure you know, colors are endless with choices of finish.

There are steps of prep before first application and between coats (fine sanding, tacking off) that you'll need to do once you pick a plan. If you can, get scraps of a similar Mahogany to use at test pieces before you comit to a color or finish to see what it would look like once you run with it.

Hope this helps.

On the natural mahogany set I refinished when I removed the wrap the shells were pristine so I gave them a light sanding, then about 4 applications of Tung Oil letting each application soak in a couple days. Then 4 days after the last application of oil I brushed 5 coats of Spar Polyuretahne with a light sanding in between dried coats. Then a good buffing. You would never know it was the same set. The Tung oil darkened and brought out the grain in the wood nicely and gave the drums a quality look. The spar Polyurethane sealed the wood and will protect it from climate changes and UV rays. I always heard the tung oil penetrates the wood, nourishes it, and hardens it when cured, basically seals and helps protect the wood but i am no expert about oils. I have used Watco Danish and Teak oil, with great results. Refinished some oak congas that came out beautiful too.

JRichard and Vibes -- thank you guys so much for taking the time to try and help. I really do appreciate the tips and suggestions.

I have a lot of kits but have never had one with re-rings beofre, so I would like to this one turn out nicely so I am forced to hang onto it for a long time :)

I hope to be able to start tearing into it this weekend to see what I have under the covers. I will post back here once I have see what I have to work with.

Thanks again!

Spar poly/varnish is a good product, mostly made for exterior use (porches, boats) it has a higher UV block than interior poly/varn. Tough finish when fully cured.

Start with the snare first. If you can't get the wrap off, it will be an easier fix than say on the tom or BD where it will show.

I finally had a little time to dig into the Premier project Friday night. I started removing hardware and give it a nice bath in Dawn. So fat so good.

I removed the wrap very easily on the 12", and the shell is gorgeous. It has some glue residue so I figure I will try a little sanding first before going the chemical route.

I jump in to the 16" and it is a little trickier. I get about 1/3 - 1/2 off and realize I need to wait until tomorrow and pick up a new heat gun becasue ut just was not tearing away easily like the 12" did. I can see the shell is looking good, but has some glue residue, of course.

So, I jump onto the 22" bass. It is little tough to remove, but I start pulling it away form the edge and see that is has been painted black and has some sort of lacquer on it. AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWW. Frustration quickly set in.

I figure if I try and remove the black I will need to use chemicals and am not too sure how much black will still be in the pores of the wood. I am thinking it is a candidate for rewrapping for sure now.

Anyone had luck with removing black or very dark stain/paint from Mahogany?

I thought about staining all of them black or a dark blue possibly, assuming I can get most of the black out of the pores. I have no idea how good a blue stain would look on this wood though. I really was not looking to put a lot of time or more money into the kit. Now I feel like I am forced to wrap. The kit has been wrapped previously I'm sure as there was a 2nd bass mount hole that was covered by the wrap.