johnl!

Fibes had what they called a "Smoke" finish on their Crystalite line of shells originally... so the shell was actually translucent in that some light could pass through. It was never fully opaque/black. So... if the drums in question are opaque/black, chances are that they were painted at some point... but that wouldn't have been factory/OEM.

Tommyp

Tommy thanks for the info that's kinda what I figured. I just picked up a Fibes acrylic sft snare and it's painted on the inside so I'm assuming that it was originally clear.