Should I bother?

[Acidulantes]

Ive had my bass for about 2 weeks, its my first ever bass, but I really dont like the colour. My friend has repainted his, and I like the idea of doing that, but I dont have the slightest clue about how it all works inside there, so should I bother taking it all apart if I might not be able to put it all back together again??

[Sorefinger]

Originally Posted by Acidulantes

should I bother taking it all apart if I might not be able to put it all back together again??

IMHO, no.

If it ain´t broken, don´t try to fix it.

You´ve had this bass for two weeks. If you need to mess with it, learn how to do a proper set-up (neck relief, saddle height, intonation...). That will do a lot more good for you and your playing than putting on a new coat of paint (which isn´t as easy as it might seem BTW).

Nobody will care about the colour of your bass when you´re on stage as long as you sound good and play well.

Just my 2 cents...

[Thunder Pulse]

In the future please ask your entire question in the subject line. "Should I bother?" is too vague.

Try to ignore what your bass looks like and concentrate more on playing it. If you decide to stick with it you'll have a much better chance of reselling it down the road when you upgrade if it's still in original condition.

[stratovani]

I agree. It's a pain in the you-know-what to strip and repaint a guitar or bass. I don't think it's worth it. You're better off just upgrading things that are fairly easy to replace, such as tuners, bridges, and pickups and electronics (if you know how to solder). And a good setup is absolutely necessary if it is to play well.

[62bass]

Don't do it. If you don't know what you're doing you'll screw it up. And re-painting a bass and getting it to look good isn't easy for someone with no experience. Take it to a tech for a decent set up and put good strings on it at the same time. If it's a good bass it'll be really nice to play after. If it's a bad bass then it may not be worth it. Some cheap basses are well made and sound good so you can't always go by price.

Then learn how to play. Once you know how to play better you can then decide if looks are all that important. I think it's much more important to have a bass that plays easily and sounds good.

[meev992]

No paint or stickers or gimmicky do-dads.

And especially no mummifying your guitar with duct tape.

[Roba2c]

Originally Posted by meev992

No point or stickers or gimmicky do-dads.

And especially no mummifying your guitar with duct tape.

I have a stamp that is on the base of my headstock on the backside. I like having something different on the base that is inspiring and stamps are really cool, especially other musicians. Mine is of Roy Acuff.

Mike Watt from the stoogies has stickers on his bass for inspiration, some bass players even put family members pictures. I like this idea as a way to keep you going when you sometimes feel like straying away from your instrument.

[meev992]

Originally Posted by Roba2c

Mike Watt from the stoogies has stickers on his bass for inspiration, some bass players even put family members pictures. I like this idea as a way to keep you going when you sometimes feel like straying away from your instrument.

Family mementos and inspirational things are fair game for bass decorum. But when you take the stickers that come from apples and bananas and slap them on your bass, that's just wrong

[mjolnir]

Originally Posted by stratovani

I agree. It's a pain in the you-know-what to strip and repaint a guitar or bass. I don't think it's worth it. You're better off just upgrading things that are fairly easy to replace, such as tuners, bridges, and pickups and electronics (if you know how to solder). And a good setup is absolutely necessary if it is to play well.

+1

Repainting it the right way is about as easy as chopping down a tree with a herring. Slap on some stickers or decals and just play.

[iriegnome]

What kind of bass is it? Everyone here seemed to be really quick to dismiss refinishing the bass. The funny thing is it really is not that hard to paint a bass or strip off the old paint... If you want it perfect "Showroom" style, then your best bet is to buy the one with the better color and not refin yours. If you play punk rock or slasher metal, 320 sand paper and a can of krylon and it will look cool, from a distance that is. Have as much fun with your first bass as possible. Before you know it, you will have been playing for 20 years and wondering what ever happened to that first bass!

[ksandvik]

As I get older, I'm more interested in how the bass sounds and how nice it is to play with it, compared with worrying about the color and shape.

--Kent