Thanks for your insight, Maybe it was supposed to be finished and then they decided to wrap????

The shell is 3ply and the rings are 3ply just for verification.

Late 50's snare.

Wayne

O-Lugs it seems that you were correct in guessing Walnut.

I took Dudley's advice and brought it by a restoration shop.

It was funny the guy was in his mid 60's and said he use to have a Rogers kit when younger.

He looked at it and said the outside ply looks like Walnut to him.

We took a closer look and it looks like it is the outer ply of the 3 ply shell and doesn't look like it was an added veneer.

So we are guessing the shell was probably going to be finished but at last minute was wrapped.

He suggested just putting a natural coat on there and see what it looks like. Picture below shows natural stain on snare.

I am going to give it a coat of Poly High Gloss also maybe today.

He also said he has lots of people coming back with stuff they did with the Gel Stains and has to refinish since I asked about that.

So he wasn't a big fan of the Gel Stains in case anyone wanted to know.

Going to try to match the rest of the kit to the snare because I really like the color.

That's my update for the day.

Thanks for everyone's input and knowledge.

Wayne

Ironic that you ended up talking to a former drummer.

Of course I can't speak for the people who brought him projects that they treated with gel stain to work on after not being satisfied. I have not had any problem with it; either I'm prepping and staining properly or I've just been lucky with all my projects, I'm trusting in the former. My further advice to you is the same as anyone I speak to is to practice and test on scrap wood first to get the feel or knack, but it is very easy.

However, I'm glad you sought an experienced person and that it sounds as though you are headed for having a kit you will be proud of.

Wish you success.

Dudley