Thank you very much for posting the link!

But what I am looking for probably dont exist. I want a five ply shell, shell only, with a maple exterior ply in good shape. I could be a natural lacquer finish or a red lacquer finish. You see the shells that I have were once a violin red lacquer , then someone started to strip the finish but gave up. So now I have finished the job but can not get all of the red out of the grain. Besides, the interiors of the shells are red as well and I am not going to remove it. So the floor toms for sale with wraps are no good to me because I cant see what species of wood is under it, besides Im not going to unwrap a good drum for this. The 16" shell that I do have is mahogany and I did not want to veneer it with maple but I probably will end up doing that.

And with the little bit of red stain left in the grain I am going to use a red dye on these which will end up like the kit in the picture below.

Jeff here's your 16x16" 5 ply shell go get it. eBay item number:182062561816

Thank you Mark, just shows how some guys really do look out for others. I did see that one. Problem is, what is behind that MWP wrap? And if it is maple would it be a sin to remove that wrap? Did Slingerland use mahogany on exterior plys for all of their wrapped drums? I wonder.

I'm fairly sure it's maple under the wrap. you can always save the wmp wrap for later.

I'm fairly sure it's maple under the wrap. you can always save the wmp wrap for later. I just took a glance at The great Doctors page on 5 ply shells, It could possibly be mahogany also. are you going to stain the shell.?

Mark the rest of my shells are those Magnum drums and had the red violin finish inside and out. Someone started removing the outside finish so I finished their job. Now I have raw maple shells. The 16" that I had from another project turned out to be mahogany after I removed the wrap. I took a close look at one of the pics of the shell on ebay and it looks like the outer ply is a dark wood, zooming in on a lug hole.

Seller says its maple, take a look at the pic with the wrap cracked where a lug mounts, look like real dark wood to you behind that wrap? Could it be maple with some adhesive on it making it appear dark?

Hi Jeff. man long road finding that elusive 5 ply shell! You'll find it in time. Worth the wait for sure for the right shell. I'll look at the CT show for you too.

For sure it could! Or just gunk...

Look at the outer ply in this pic of the bearing edge from the sale - looks like maple. You could ask the seller if he's 100% certain it's maple. But then there is still the issue of pulling the wrap off when it's not in bad shape...

Mitch

Well to be honest I cant even afford the shell if it is maple.