Ibanez RB650 - First refinishing project

[Just Bill]

Not too long ago, I received an '85 RB650 Roadstar II in a trade with another TB member. It's a great player and the neck is amazing. Now, it could use some new pups, new bridge and, unfortunately, it was red with a white pick guard. Something had to give.

For as long as I've been playing, I have never attempted to do any work to any of my basses. Now, after spending a few months on TB and checking out the ReRanch board & StewMac site, I have decided to take it all out on one bass, in one project. That's right, I blame you guys.

The plan is to try to do a rattle can tobacco burst. If that fails miserably, it will be black.

I've already had a new pick guard made (b/w/b), bought a new Gotoh 201 bridge off another TB member, and a new set of SPB3 pups off of ebay for $41. I'll get the J pup later.

I completely disassembled the bass, put all of the components in ziploc baggies and the neck in my closet. I should say here, I'm not touching the neck or anything on it. It's perfect as is.

Here's the before and one shot in the midst of stripping.

[Just Bill]

I started off using Cististrip. Apparently I hadn't searched the forums well enough. This stuff is worthless. After using several coats, to no avail, I tried Kleen Strip. This stuff is good but I have to believe that there is something better. However, 3 spray cans and a plastic scraper did get the majority of the poly and paint off. There were still a couple of small spots that I had to resort to using the metal scraper, though.

As a side note, I couldn't believe how thick the poly was on this thing. I believe that I read someone describing the thick poly, on a basswood body, as an exoskeleton. Spot on.

After removing the paint, there was still some red on spots of the body. I have, since, found where people have warned of this happening, especially when the body was painted black or red. The remedy for this, after much searching, was bleach. Worked pretty good but not completely. What's left isn't terribly bad.

I then used wood filler to take care of a couple of nicks (metal scraper), sanded and have done one coat of sanding sealer.

I don't have a lot of free time, between family and two jobs, so this project is going to take a while. I'm o.k. with that.
I'll update when I do something more to it.

Here it is just prior to bleaching the red that had soaked in.

[kellyrojo]

Cool looking project. Let me know if you have any interest in trading your white PG for a black one since I have an all black RB650 and the white guard would liven it up a bit. Cant wait to see the next pic. Cheers--PK