some dweeb painted the fretboard....

[choo5]

as per title, iv been looking a bass recently and some dweeb painted the neck and fretboard, infact I think at some point hes taken rattlecan to the entire bass.

its a horrible mess, but its cheap; what are my chances like of bringing the rosewood fretboard back from the dead? it looks absolutely terrible at the moment (R.I.P haha)

[LCW]

if the price is right it should be removeable but the paint could be hiding problems.

Do you mind me asking what kind of bass and how much?

[bassplayertda]

Wow...I'm honestly not sure. Why would someone do that to a bass...it hurts my heart. haha. I think if you took it to a specialist, they MAY be able to sand the paint off and get down to the rosewood. To tell you the truth though, I'd just go ahead and invest in an ebony fingerboard.

[choo5]

Originally Posted by LCW

if the price is right it should be removeable but the paint could be hiding problems.

Do you mind me asking what kind of bass and how much?

its a 97' MIM Jazz; its not solid paint, appears more to be a heavy overspray (ie: it was in the garage when the car was getting painted or something)

if its a pro job to get the nasty paint off I won't bother, if I can pull it off with some type of stripper & elbow grease I dont mind though.

[jwinton]

If it's a MIM Jazz you're looking for, even a specific year like 97, why not just look a little further, they're not rare or hard to find. If this particular one is alluring because of a low price, why not just take a chance on it...if you can bring it back to life, good, if not, no loss...

[::::BASSIST::::]

I bet you'd have good success using the product this guy used:

SX SPJ-62 Fretless conversion and neck refinish

[202dy]

The first thing to try is some steel wool. 000 to start. You may have to start with 00. If that doesn't work, then a razor blade scraper used lightly will pull the paint off the fingerboard. Finish up with 0000 steel wool and some oil. The entire process should be less than a half hours work.

Razor blade scrapers are made by taking a single edge razor blade and turning the edge to a hook on a hard shaft. The profile is identical to the hook on a cabinet scraper.

Chemical strippers are messy and time consuming. It will take a good half hour before you can start to remove the finish. Figure another half to an hour to remove the finish and clean up. If there is glue under the frets, the stripper will soften that, too. Strippers won't budge a catalyzed finish, either. That might work to your advantage on the back of then neck. Or not.

Good luck.

[Rattman]

Wow.. sorry to hear about that newly-purchased MIM '97 Jazz bass. I'm betting you can bring that old work horse back from the edge of dispair. I already see some pretty good ideas posted here.

[Johnny Alien]

Mike Dolan was able to take paint off of a fretboard for me but it required sanding which you will need a radius block for.

[toobalicious]

but over spray isnt the same as a nice wet coat. hell, you might even be able to buff it off with a wheel. you see, over spray mess often tends to be the product of paint particles that are already hardening by the time they land. if you could pinpoint the type of paint, you might even be able to get away with a very light solvent, like mineral oil. i guess it really depends on how much you are dealing with.

[Pilgrim]

For a '97 MIM Jazz, you'll spend about 3x as much of your time in labor as the bass is worth. PASS on it and get one that hasn't been screwed up. Besides, if the whole thing has been rattle-canned, you need a complete refin. That makes no sense. There are plenty of those on Ebay.

[MichaelThomas]

save yourself the headache man, you'll find a better deal elsewhere.

[Relic]

I'd like to see pics actually.
If it were me, if the price is right, I'd go for it. Removing the overspray will take some work and some time but can be done. It would depend on what sort of paint - if it's the stuff they use on cars, it's going to be tough, if it's your typical can of hobby paint, it wont be hard. Besides, I like a challenge.
Try steel wool, or a fine grain sandpaper. Don't dig in with it, just go lightly and it will come off. Based on your description I think this one's not as complicated as it's being made out to be.

[mkrtu9]

Originally Posted by ::::BASSIST::::

I bet you'd have good success using the product this guy used:

SX SPJ-62 Fretless conversion and neck refinish

thanks for the link... interesting read