"quick and dirty" finishing options.

[Thunderscreech]

before anyone calls me on it otherwise, I'll admit that I am lazy, too lazy, in fact, to do a proper job with a spray gun, paint, and buffing compounds. At least for now. [/disclaimer]

I have a red Squire Pbass which I got for free, and has had a hard life. I was forced to sand it to remove some crusted-on ductape residue, as well as a couple of stubborn stickers. Is my cheapest option to just strip the thing down to wood and then go from there? or attempt to slavage it in the sanded state it is in?

[Beej]

What kind of an end result are you hoping for? A good smoothing of the existing finish followed by matched primer & spray paint will probably get you in the ballpark cheaply and easily. If you're not too fussy about the end result, you're set...

[Greenman]

Pictures speak a thousand words. If that Squire has a polyester resin finish you could sand and re-buff many times before you hit wood.

[XylemBassGuitar]

Originally Posted by Greenman

Pictures speak a thousand words. If that Squire has a polyester resin finish you could sand and re-buff many times before you hit wood.

+1

If you really are lazy, it could take you a long time to get all of the old finish off that thing...your cheapest (and quickest option may be to call it "reliced" at this point...

Definitely post some pictures...

[erikbojerik]

Your cheapest option was to leave it alone.

Your 2nd cheapest option is to play it "as is".

Your next cheapest option is to just buff it out - you'll spend the rest of your life trying to hand sand it down to wood.

FWIW - for next time - stickers and tape gum are easily removed with alcohol.

[azarias]

Well, you could try and get some Acetone to just strip the finish. Acetate (fingernail polish remover) would also work. This would be very harsh and certainly have some strong fumes. It will work though...

[Beej]

Acetone and Acetate aren't going to break down a polyester resin finish...

[skeptikal]

You need actual paint stripper to get through that clear coat. I just went through stripping and sanding and I'm still going through refinishing a bass right now.

• I used paint stripper first to get through the clear coat and as much paint as possible.
• Electric sander to get through the nasty paint.
• Hand sand down to 400grit
• Tung Oil

which leads to the link in my sig. I'm going to put the 5th coat of oil on today.

[hbarcat]

If you're too lazy to do it the right way then it doesn't make sense to strip all the paint off of it, as some are suggesting.

Originally Posted by Beej

A good smoothing of the existing finish followed by matched primer & spray paint will probably get you in the ballpark cheaply and easily. If you're not too fussy about the end result, you're set...

This is your best bet.

Once the color coat has dried and cured, you can sand it with 600, 1000 and then 1500 grit paper and then polish it with rubbing compound to make it look a bit less amateurish. If you feel like it.