Body Refinish

[Bass-Adrenaline]

Im not sure if this is the right place but i couldnt think of anywhere else to put this.

I have a 1981 yamaha BB400 body id like to refinish. As you may or may not be able to tell form the pics it is well worn in some areas. I dont know what kind of wood its made of or anything so im sorry if thats a problem.

Anyway, i was just wondering what the best way is to remove the stock finish and suggestions on the best way to refinish it. Im not concerned with keeping the original color, darker may actually be best. The neck that goes with the body is birdseye maple with a rosewood fingerboard.

Any help would be great. Thanks

[wkbryan]

When I refinished mine I stripped the old finish off with lacquer thinner and a paintbrush. Doing it this way I preserved the factory sanding job without raising the grain so the only sanding required before the new finish went on was to touch up some deep dings. It worked very well for me.

[irishpride28]

That body looks like either 4 or 5 pieces of ash.

[Bass-Adrenaline]

Its a 4 piece body, didnt know it was ash. Thanks

Anyway, is lacquer thinner the way to go? I was just going to sand the whole thing. lol

[Meatrus]

I could be wrong but I think I remember seeing they have an Alder body, a quick google search showed the same too http://www.talkbass.com/forum/archiv.../t-267870.html, http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...aha/BB400/10/1. Of course they could have made an ash body too though.

To me the grain looks a bit like ash on some of the pieces and the back, but on the pieces towards where the pots would be it doesnt look much like it. Just doesent look grainy enough for ash to me so could be Alder (all of it of course!).

[mikeyswood]

Originally Posted by Bass-Adrenaline

Its a 4 piece body, didnt know it was ash.

It's not. That is Alder.

[Ruckus_Instrmts]

Looks more like alder to me(a little too even-grained to be ash(although the pics make it hard to tell)). Only difference in finishing is that ash has bigger pores that take more finish to fill flat.

[Meatrus]

Originally Posted by mikeyswood

It's not. That is Alder.

BAM!

[Bass-Adrenaline]

lol, thanks guys. I thought it was alder form the research i did but thanks for reassuring me.

Im more interested in the best way to strip this thing though. That and what type of finish would go good on it. I really dont want to paint it just so you know.

[Meatrus]

Your choice really, as far as I understand it. You can buy Nitro online (or you can in the UK at least), but that is a spray. If you dont want to use a spray you could use an oil finish. Do some reading up on oil finishes and see if you like what they look like. A lot of people recommend Birchwood Casey Tru Oil.

I have never done a refinish, just done some starting from scratch. I would guess it would just be a case of sanding the finish off (starting rough and getting smoother) then the oil in several coats. There will be a bunch of threads on using an oil finish though, so check em out first.

[Bass-Adrenaline]

So, using any kind of stripper is out of the question? I know itd be quicker to remove most of the crap but wasnt sure if it would mess with the wood or finish later.

Ill probably end up clear coating the body at some point. Id like to find a nice stain for it first though.

[Musiclogic]

you can use citrus strip, stripeze, red devil, any stripping compound is fine, as long as you use an afterwash or do a decent sanding job. Stripper should do just fine.

[Bass-Adrenaline]

Awesome, thanks. Ill be sanding the body after i strip it so thatll work.

[62bass]

Depends on the finish Yamaha used, but you're likely to find that stripper won't touch the stuff. Buy only a small amount to test it. If it won't soften up with stripper the fastest way is to use a heat gun. You'll still need to do some sanding after the heat gun. It's a lot of work before you get the body in good enough condition to put on a new finish.

You can buy heat guns for under $30. That and a flexible paint scraper will handle the bulk of the work.

[Bass-Adrenaline]

Yeah, stripper didnt do much anything. It removed a tiny amount of the finish so im just sanding it now.

[Bass-Adrenaline]

Ok, the body was stripped and sanded and now ive got some stain going on. How long should i wait to let it dry before puting a protective clear coat or the like on?

[Musiclogic]

oil stain, enamel /acrylic stain, analine dye? what type of stain?

[brendanbassist]

If the stripper didn't take enough off, you should get your dollar back.

Oh- nevermind.

[Bass-Adrenaline]

Oil stain.

The stripper works fine on everything else but the finish i stripped of was like bullet proof.