Possible project in the near future.

[Vord]

Well, I play a mid 90s B.C. Rich Innovator 5-string, I've had it for about 3 years now and it's served me wonderfully every time I pick it up. I put a pair of EMG pickups on it a few months back and the tonal quality went from excellent to orgasmic, but I'm not quite satisfied.

My bass has a natural wood finish, with a gloss overcoat, and while it's a beautiful instrument, the form doesn't necessarily fit the function. I play mostly metal, and while I love the look of it, the natural finish leaves me wanting a darker color, so I've decided that I'd like to sand off the current gloss coat, round the edges of the body (It's quite squared, I can post pictures here in a bit when I get some batteries for my camera), and put a really nice dark red or wine stain on it.

While this sounds simple in principle, you could say I'm not exactly a seasoned veteran at wood working, and I was just wondering if anybody has done this, if there are guides I can follow, tips to go by, what stain to use, etc etc.

So, if anybody could help me out, that'd be great.