Varnishing my bass

[Fuzz_]

Hello all

i just bought myself a Gibson Epiphone bass at a steal of a price at a second hand store.

this shall be my little project.

i want to cover the body with Jack Daniel lables (yes i am an alchy) and somehow varnish them on with a gloss finish. how would i do this? fibre glass gauze?

i dont want to hurt the sound with something i know nothing about.

any help would rock

thanks

Fuzz

[embellisher]

This would be better suited to our Setup forum. Moved.

[lemur821]

If the bass is electric, the finish won't make a bit of difference to the sound.

[rotorheadcase]

The technique you're talking about is called decoupage' and info on this can be found on the web or from any good arts and craft store.

Basically you stick on all the JD stickers on and then seal with a special paper sealer and then apply 7-12 thin coats of polyurethane and sanding in between every 3 coats. If your JD stickers are glossy you will definitely need the special sealer but with matt finish stickers you can get away with just using the urethane finish. Just make sure your first few coats are VERY thin!! If your rush the first few critical coats the stickers will absorb the urethane and bubble making it look like #@&* and you'll have to strip them off and start again.

Hope this helps

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by lemur821

If the bass is electric, the finish won't make a bit of difference to the sound.

That actually seems to be a minor point of debate with some of the people on TB. Considering there's never been a concrete statement on whether or not the fingerboard has an appreciable difference on the sound or whether or not it's just our ears hearing what we expect to, I think something as minor as the finish debates should probably be forgotten. I remember someone in a radiused vs. flat fingerboard discussion claiming a radiused board gave a noticeably chunkier sound due to the extra wood being used . I do totally agree with you on the impact of finish on sound though.

I'd probably do it by sticking a bunch on and putting a thin layer of varnish once every week or two until you get your desired coverage, and then put a last coat to seal it. As a matter of personal preference, I think it'd be really neat to have one with a bit of wood showing in between labels, so it's not TOTALLY covered.

Plus, that way you get a neat textured feel too.