Refinishing!!!
 

I've been pondering around the idea of refinishing a bass or guitar for a while now.

I work at a painting company, and I usually just prep furniture for the spray guy, but recently I helped one of the guys who does the faux finishing and special finishes. I talked to him about some things. He thought it wouldnt be much different then what we do there, except finer sand paper and a different clear coat.(and much more of it)

I have a cort curbow I'm considering as a candidate. Sorry i dont have a pic of it now but if youv'e seen one c curbow youve seen em all.

I really like this bass. Picked it up at a pawn shop a while back gave it a setup and it was awesome, but it's red. Not a huge fan of red. Thinking of wood graining it possibly cause the guy i work with can do some crazy stuff and offered to give me a hand and show me some stuff.
But I cant decide what to do yet. endless possibilities

Considering this will be my first go, it was cheap, and I like it I think it'll be perfect

Anyone who has any ideas, tips, comments, advice, etc... PLEASE I'm all ears.

will post pics and stuff once i get started p.s. one concern i have regarding the Cort Curbow is that it is made out of Luthite. Now I dont plan on sanding down to the bare body of course but does anyone on here have any expierance with Luthite.

thanks
loogy:p

you can see some pics of curbows here

https://www.google.com/search?q=cort...ih=882#imgrc=_

I'm thinking of doing the back of the neck in a wood grain, (cause it's already got a wood grain pattern that would make a nice base) and leaving the fingerboard alone. Redo the front of the head stock maybe put my name on there 'Loogy"

Now the body i'm also considering wood graining it and putting a different color on the middle portion like a pin stripe kinda

you can see in this pic where the neck goes in the body.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cort...e%3B768%3B1024

and it would be kinda similar to this spector at the top http://earcraftmusic.com/instruments/spector-basses/


i dont know about the body tho still up in the air.

what do yall think

If you don't mind me glomming onto your thread, I'm on the verge of refinishing one of my basses. My late father already stripped it to bare wood (full maple, neck-thru Hohner Steinberger copy).

I want to do a semi-transparent stain, purple (yes, purple). It's supposed to be a dark, manly, royalty-inspired purple.

I imagine I'll have to mix a brownish-red with something grey / black / blue. Any thoughts on how to get that color? And if it's worth attempting on my own?

All thoughts and insights appreciated...but you're not going to talk me out of purple.

Thanks in advance.

whoa cool are you talking about the ones withe the small square body that are supposed to be heavy as **** like this https://www.google.com/search?q=hohn...ih=882#imgrc=_

the ones on the top they are soo cool lookin always wanted one

either way i'd say go for it man you could use some waterbased color stain to get that purple and it'd be good to work with aka easy to redo if you don't like the way it turns out

and what do you mean by semi-transparent like a sunburst finish where its darker on the outside but lighter as it moves to the center please post pics or links to give me a better idea

i'm pretty set on what i'm gonna do just wanted input from ppl more experienced with basses or guitars

i'm gonna take it apart myself and prime it with a shellac because it dries soo fast and it sands great put whatever finish i decide for the body most likely a wood grain. the neck i wont prime just sand down and use multiple layers of glaze and stains tape up the fret board real nice and clear the **** out of it with very very many thin thin coats of clear sanding inbetween with paper of about 1000 OR HIGHER GRIT then when its said and done ill take it to a local tech to put it back together jus cuz it'd probably be better that way

in youre case since it's already stripped i would just sand it really nice with some 220 or a little higher not much. try some stains on a similar colored bare wood first and get the color you like then proceed to try it out on your bass. once youre happy with it the start clearing it or try out a different sealer for a diffent look but i'd go with some ployurethane. flat semi gloss or high gloss wutev you want but i wood deffinatly try on some similar scrap wood first

by that i meant do a sample on another piece of wood start to finish sand it to a similar feel of the bass then stain it and clear it like you would when you do the bass . that's what we do at work with our customers to try and meet their specifications

Originally it looked like the black one on the right, only fretless, and not terribly heavy:

http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~plum/bass/MyBass_4.JPG

The true Steinbergers, which were a composite of fiberglass, carbon fiber, resin, and some other synthetic black magic, were heavier than they looked like they should, given their smallish size. But they were $2k+ new back in the mid / late 80s. I got the Hohner B2AFL for $400, but it's wood, and cheap pickups, compared to the composite and EMG electronics. It does have a true, licensed Steinberger bridge / tuner combo.

My father, who was into furniture restoration and refinishing as a hobby, took my first good bass, a candy apple red Kawai KRB55, stripped it bare, and put a natural, slightly-darker-than-plain stain on it, clear coat finished it, and I hot-rodded it with EMG PJ pickups & preamp.

After that project, I removed all the hardware from the Hohner, and Dad stripped it, but we never completed it. So it's sat in its gig bag in my closet for over a decade now. I'm thinking about finally doing it. Just not sure I'm as capable or confident in my abilities as my late old man was. Actually, I'm sure I'm not as good as he was...but I'm willing to try it.

A few web searches and I found this:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...Select=Details

To get the color I'm after, it'll probably take a mix of their purple and cordovan, and probably multiple coats. I'll seal it off with something protective, though I'm not sure what just yet. I'll have to look through old notes and records to see what Dad used, as it's got a good feel to it, and has held up---color-wise and protection-wise---for a long time now. Really wish he were still around to help, give insight, and see the finished product.

The Hohner is a thru neck of hard rock maple for the neck and body, so from what I've read, it should take the stain well, and show some grain through it. "Semi-transparent" is just the term that a bunch of stain MFRs use. I'm nowhere near able, patient or skilled to attempt a burst on my first try.

To finish it off, I'm putting Bartolini humbuckers and an Aguilar preamp in to replace the EMG Select and whatever preamp was in there. Yes, the new electronics will cost more than the entire bass cost new, but it has sentimental value, and a bit of an homage to my old man.

It'll be an interesting project. Just wondering if anyone else has taken on something like this, especially as a newb, and how the final product turned out.

Didn't mean to threadjack you, so thanks for playing along, and allowing me to do so as well.

i think you'll be very pleased with those trans tint dyes they use that same stuff at my work. just this week one of the faux finishers had to match a large wood panel for an and elevator to look like the originals and used those. like i said easy to take off if you dont like the color. gotta do it while its still fresh tho dont let it start to set .cant remember what he used to take it off exactly probably just some water but i'll ask about those tint dyes and see what info he has on them. the other guy said they use them all the time and both of them have been doing it 10 + yrs

some polyurethane would be good but if you wanted to go all out get this http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishin...r_Lacquer.html I'm actually leanin towards this now

i'm also thinking of going with and emg 35dc soap bar pickup and new preamp

all i gotta do is wait for the new truss rod nut, make sure it fits and i can start the show

dje31keep me posted i'll do the same good luck man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=...W4&feature=fvw

WATCH THIS
the link is at num 19 but you can start at 1 it's THE best vid ive seen to build a guitar from start to finish not bass but dosent matter

num 19 is stripping the varnish and applying the tounge oil

he wanted to go with a high gloss look but didnt like it so he is stripping it and well u get the picture

check it out dje31

and from what ive seen in the past couple a days is that they just sand the finish they way want it and get it super smooth they they use a foam pad and a polish to buff it not a normal clear coat like poly urethane but i'm not sure if that's the final sealer or not

a few vids b4 this one showed him polishing the first finish he had he just used a foam pad on a dril

check the vids out for more specific details

Thanks for the info, loogy1. Having taken the bass out of the gig bag, it's not 100% stripped to the point of being ready for staining yet. Close, but needs the last bit...plus I have a conference out of town the week after next, so I don't have the time to tackle this project just right now.

To get an idea of the purple I'm going for, this is pretty close, if not spot-on:

Attachment 321165

So purple, it's almost black.

well defineatley check out thoose vids they guys is veryimformative and even talks about others methods and also tells you exactly what he's using and like i said that link in 19 is the one where he's stripping his guitar again he's very descriptive explain the whole process