Well, Glue kills resonance so an unwrapped shell will have more tone than a wrapped one. Just my thoughts or should I say my experience. I have removed wrap from some shells I had to make another kit and the unwrapped shells had more resonance. I am sure others will speak up with more scientific data, I trust my ear.

I agree completly unwrapped they have more tone and resonance,,,

You`ve gotta know what kind of wood is under there before you strip off the wrap. I am unfamilar with the Champion series of Sonor but if it`s too cheap to deserve a re-wrap and it`s a cheapo wood then the wood inside may be un-finishable. I have seen a number of geniuses here in Japan who ripped off the wrap of an MIJ and tried to refinish LuanLaughing H

Then when it obviously looks terrible they sell it on auction as is. A cheap solid color is not very expensive to re-wrap- you`re talking about 100$ of materials if you catch a sale.

If you have a vintage wrap on there- most I have seen are really thin and well applied- I bet you`d see little difference in the sound. But, modern wraps are thicker and give a more dampening effect.

I agree with OsakaBop....check to see what kind of wood the outer ply is before trying to finish it. If its Luan, it will be tough to finish properly. Sound-wise, I hear no difference between "natural" and wrapped drums. Anyone who tries to tell you they can hear the difference is full of it, or they have superman's hearing. The sound difference is negligible.

Since that wrap is shot, and you don't know what is under there, let me show you what I did to a really nice set of shells. Now, some will say the are crap shells, however they were not to bad. Thin, some mahogany I'm sure, but they sound really nice now. And since you don't want to pour a lot of cashola in them, this might be a solution to your problem. It is time consuming, and you really want to make sure it is something you will be good with for the life of those drums, because it is even more permanent than staining. That said, these pictures cannot even begin to show how truly remarkable they look now. http://vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=9346&highlight=project&page=3

If you decide this may work for you, and you want tips on how I did it, PM and I will get together with you and explain exactly how I did it.

The shells are beech. So the wood would look good refinished. I also realized that I put they were 3 ply. I meant to say 6 ply beech shells. So from the sound of things, the lack of wrap might open up more tone and resonance...but nothing uncontrolable.

Is it better to use stain and poly to coat them or use some kind of oil to seal them?