Cleaning job

[wRaith]

I got an old bass given to me that was purchased in the 80s. The thing is, the paint job needs help. It's faded (as you would expect), but the person who owned it before me put little stickers on it, most of which have now started to fall off and leave a bright silhouette behind. I know people have said you can use car polishing products on the paint, but will it still work for a job this big? Basically, I need to restore a paintjob after 20 years of neglect.

Cheers.

[Lowner]

It dosent work to use car products. i bought a bass and tried to remove the silhouette of a stcker with every kind of carwax polish and none worked. Sorry those marks on an there for good. Thank goodness my stiker was in the back of my bass so its out of sight out of mind.

[62bass]

When paint changes colour due to age and ultraviolet light, the sticker leaves behind the mark because of the protection the sticker gave it. I've used car polishing compound which renewed the old finish a bit but the newer looking paint where the stickers were remained. Just not as bad. If the bass is worth it you could get it repainted over the old paint.

It may not be worth it.

[wRaith]

A friend recommended that I put the bass out in the sun for a few days and the silhouettes will even out. Would this work?

[Kronos]

No, it wouldn't even out at all. Think of it as tanlines..if you go back out into the sun, the tan lines would get darker, but so would the tan.

[wRaith]

Are you sure. The guy that said it works at a music store where they also do small fix jobs and he said he has done it before. Also, I would've thought that the faded paint is about as faded as it's going to get after 20 years.

[Kronos]

if you're willing to try it, go for it. It's your bass.

[wRaith]

I did some more research and it looks like you're right Kronos. So I've just spent the last few days sanding the bass back to repaint it a cool metallic green.

Thanks all for the advice.