I'm thinking Tung Oil hand rubbed into the bare shells. Should bring out the grain nicely, no gloss, but nothing that has to be removed later.

I'd like to know what our expert cabinet maker and wood finisher has to say...Jeff, what's your opinion?

Thats a good idea, I was talking with him about this set earlier. I may PM him. Thanks

Keith, I got the pm. My advice would be to leave the shells bare until you decide what your doing, wrap vs lacquer finish. If you end up wanting lacquer then you dont want to put oil on the wood. If you end up wrapping them then its a question of will the adhesive stick to the oil, and I would be concerned about that. So if it was me, I would not do anything to them. Wait the three or four months then do one or the other. I dont like the idea of a temporary finish that could jepordize the outcome of the final wrap or lacquer job, its just not worth it to me.

If your not a fan of the maple look, the drums could be stained a really dark color or we could use a dye. They could even be a solid color. I love the look of wood much more than the wraps that are offered, and the fact that you have to have two seems on anything over 16" in diameter just drives me nuts. So if they were mine I would stain them and use a shading addaitive in the lacquer to give them a nice deep color. It would be a shame to glue plastic wrap over what you call nice looking bare maple wood. Just my two cents, hope this will help.

PS, so you gave up on the copper mist?

Thanks, thats good advice. No I havent gave up on the copper mist. A member contacted me saying his son refinish guitars, and is going to branch out into drums. Im still leaning that way, but Im in no rush to get anything done while I think it over. Thanks, I will def not mess with em. hadn't thought of that, makes sense

Your welcome Keith. I could do a close version of the copper mist but could not guarantee it to be an exact match to the Gretsch color/finish.

By the way,, I think I know the member that PM you. Super nice guy, one of the most respected members here on VDF. I would look into that for sure!