I just wanted to post my progress on this project, in case anyone is like me and has a SUB bass with a neck that they either:
a) Hate a paint finish on
b) Have a bunch of wear on it
c) Want it to feel like the traditional Stingray neck
or d) All of the above!
I just acquired this bass from a friend. He bought it from a TB'er and the bass sounds great, but the neck had some wear, nicks, and was starting to lose the clearcoat and cause hand blackening after some extended play.
The goal:
Refinish the neck in TruOil, to emulate the real deal Stingray feel.
I've done this before on other basses and LOVED the results. It's easy to do, it can be done quickly and feel great or you can take your time, do a bunch of coats, and get a gloss finish.
I'm going to do the latter, as I have an 88 SR5 that has a gloss finished neck. The beauty, though, is once it's glossed, all it takes is a little steel wool to make it satin again. And the gun stock oil is a great weather barrier, as well.
STEP 1: Take off the neck.
This neck has been played a lot, so like I said, the clearcoat, as well as some paint, has come off and it's not fun.
STEP 2: Tape off the headstock
I tried to make it even with the nut, because that's where EBMMs usually have the line
STEP 3: Remove the paint
I started with 220 grit paper, but found that the coarse steel wool was doing a better job, so I finished it off with that.
Take note, there are some dings in this neck that can be seen with the paint in them.
I just used the 220 again and sanded by hand until they were smoothed out.
Also, the edge of the neck at the headstock is a pain to get perfect. Take your time on that and it will come out nice enough.
And the truss rod wheel? Well, unscrew it! Take it out! It won't hurt anything, and it will make the base of the neck easier to sand.
STEP 4: Mask the fingerboard
I try to make the line exact to where rosewood meets maple. It may leave a lip of some sort when you're done. But don't worry... at the end, you can always smooth it out.
The main goal is to avoid drips on the fingerboard. Not impossible to fix, but takes time and effort that is avoided by masking.
STEP 5: Clean it and make sure it's ready to oil
I used some mineral spirits. They clean the sand off, dry well, and give you a preview of the final result (sort of)
STEP 6: Oil it up!
As per the instructions, just get the TruOil on the applicator and wipe a thin layer over the whole area being refinished. It takes 2 hours per coat to dry before applying another.
I definitely recommend a thin coat, just enough to make it look wet. If you slop it on, it will leave gummy crap that will just come off when you steel wool it. Thin coats dry nice and it's easier to work with.
And just look at the future of that grain:
It's drying now, first coat. I have band practice and stuff to do for a while, so it's "To be continued..." for now.
I'll be doing a LOT of coats on this neck, so I'll likely post when I get them all done.
But just so you know, this much work took me about an hour, so it's not hard to do, you just have to do it! The end result... well, you'll see...
