Refinishing my first bass

[jbrady]

So my very first bass was technically an Epiphone EB-0, but I was really dissatisfied with the sound so I traded back towards a Schecter Omen 4 Diamond Series. I've always been okay with the sound but the bass itself is beautiful...ish.

I'm a big fan of black and when I saw Q-tuners for the first time the guitar at the top of their page really struck a chord with me (overused pun?). I've run into a few problems when sanding and going to refinish the bass in black.

First is the sanding. I'm not sure where the topcoat ends and stain starts. On the edges I've hit raw wood using a Black & Decker Detail Mouse sander. I don't know if I'm able to put stain on it yet, but I don't want to keep sanding because I don't want to take off more wood than I have already. Should I just keep going until all of the wood is raw, bare wood? Or is there a test I can make to see if it's just stained wood or remnant of the clear finish?

Also, I've been weighing my options as to using stain or dye. Dye is way more expensive and only available to me online (specifically the Fiebing's Pro Oil Leather Dye in black). I hear it will show the grain better, but will the stain work well too?

Since I'm also doing the fretboard (rosewood >> black), should I keep sanding until I hit raw grain or can I just apply black stain (or dye) to that? I'd like to keep the actual neck maple, but I've sanded the finish down on that, too. It had way too many nicks and scratches and thought I'd apply the same finish over it.

And finally, the finish I want to be completely satin. I'm really not a big fan of gloss, so I was thinking I'd finish it off with Minwax Wipe On Poly over the whole thing (fretboard and all).

It's a lot of questions, but they kind of lead in to one another and figure if you've done one you've done them all.

Thanks for your time,

Josh

[Pilgrim]

Please.....do your homework online. At least search this forum, where this question is asked every week. All your answers have been provided.

First: DO NOT SAND the bass! Use stripper so you won't alter the contours of the instrument.

Before you proceed, read everything at Reranch.com, and buy Dan Erlewine's book on guitar repair and read it thoroughly.

[stogy]

By the sounds of it you've already started sanding, so advising you not to is a little like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.
I refinished my bass with sanding, starting at 80 grit and working to 600. If you do keep sanding, take off the majority with the coarsest available to save yourself work. If you alter the body shape, no worries, just shape it to a point that you're happy with... Remember, it is your bass.
Not sure about staining, I used Krylon paint. If you go with paint, make sure to seal any raw wood first.
I also stained the fretboard black, but had no luck with conventional stains. An old woodworking technique is to apply ferric acetate to turn the tannins in the wood black. Ferric acetate can be made by setting steel wool in vinegar overnight (it's stronger with clean metal powder and stronger acetic acid, but it's not necessary). There aren't usually enough tannins in maple to turn very dark, so wet a tea bag in a saucer with just enugh water to keep it wet and spend a few days wiping the fretboard down with it to soak the tannins from the tea well into it. After another day or so of drying well, brush on the ferric acetate solution. Two importany notes; don't sand the fretboard too fine first or the grain will not accept the liquid well (I stopped at 180 grit), and experiment with the procedure on something besides the fretboard first.
Good luck and remember to have fun with it!