Yamaha trb 6 refinishing project

[amadeusex]

Hi

For almost 17 years this bass was my main instrument.
Thousands of gigs went by and this summer I decided to refinish it.



Countless dings and dongs, even some dents caused by famous people like a dent in the fretboard when the late Dave Carpenter dropped it.

Step 1.

Disassembly

Not much to say/show here. A screwdriver is your friend. Lucky me the pickups and jack battery cables were all fitted with plugs like the ones used for fans on a computer mainboard. For someone like me who sucks big time when it comes to soldering that was a relief :-)

Step 2

Stripping the old paint.

Attempt 1 with a heat gun ...



Now that doesn't look good ...

Attempt 2

Using paint stripper i've had lying around from when i repainted my pool walls.





Now that looks better.



As you can see there is still some primer left on the wood, which some sanding and elbow grease took care of as you can see below



Same procedure for the neck







Now i decided in my noobness that it would be a good idea to use acrylic wood putty to make an even surface. Straight out of the box. Yeah i know NOW that this is not a good idea. Again some sanding did the job, below is a picture taken while sanding it away.



Step 3

Make the grain pop out.

Attempt 1

I wanted to use wood stain but due to limited supplies here i turned to a stained varnish. Is was a black colored varnish, which i forgot to shake well (turns out you have to). Read the f.... manual. Iknow i'm a noob :-)

Here's what i got.







Now that i discovered that shaking the can will make that stuff really black i ended up with this (of course sanding down to the wood again, i'm a sanding master by now:-)



Sanding down a bit





And off topic



Staining the neck (actually just the exposed part which shows below the fretboard and the headstock)







As you can see i used some tape to make everything right, but guess what ? I left out the holes for the tuning machines and some of that stuff went through. Nothing though what some SANDING couldn't take care of :-)

[amadeusex]

Step 4

Finish

When I decided to refinish my beloved Yamaha I was aiming for a white see through finish. Back in the 90's while studying in LA I went downtown Pasadena, when I stumbled upon a band playing a coffeehouse gig.

The bass player had a sadowsky with a very nice see through finish almost looking like some sort of marble (mainly because you could just see the grain beneath)

After some www research I came across a video on the tube where a luthier demonstrated a technique using a mixture of artistic oil paint (linseed oil and pigments) and tru oil.

Being totally inexperienced (noob) regarding any kind of spraying and the lack of a dustfree environment i went for that.

I have to admit here that the whole procedure of caressing my old lady with my fingers had some sensual vibe to it. Wood porn at its best :-)

I should also mention that the first coating with the mixture didn't turn out the way it should. Mainly because i was using too much of that stuff.

Some SANDING later ... down to the sealing (same brand as tru oil) fixed that :-)

Here are some pictures from the first cuple of coats (done the right way)





Even more coats later





This went on and on for maybe 2 days and a total of 10+ coats

Here are some pictures after wet sanding pure tru oil and some more plain tru oil coats





I also sanded and finished the neck, but didn't take any pictures. Pure tru oil applied with the fingers - actually wearing rubber gloves (the kind physicians use) because i got tired of the hand cleaning procedure.

Step 5

Assembly. Screwdriver and some wrenches that's all.

And here she is













As you can tell the neck is not done yet. The bass is with a luthier now to get some new frets and I'm out of tru oil. I'll finish her up as soon as she returns.

Thanks for watching !

[EmmanuelArroyo]

WOW that looks very nice!

NOW GO AND YOUR ASS OFF!

[amadeusex]

Originally Posted by EmmanuelArroyo

WOW that looks very nice!

NOW GO AND YOUR ASS OFF!

Thanks ! You bet I will :-)

[Stealth]

Man that looks pretty.

[Emibass]

I love white basses, and this one is really nice

[Mr_Music90]

Total respect for you mister! Man, it was fantastic to read all your steps and see those pictures! I don't think it could have been better!

[knarleybass]

Originally Posted by amadeusex

T

After some www research I came across a video on the tube where a luthier demonstrated a technique using a mixture of artistic oil paint (linseed oil and pigments) and tru oil.

I would like to see that article

[reverendrally]

*thumbsup*

[amadeusex]

Originally Posted by knarleybass

I would like to see that article

That's the one I was talking about

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCMNqL5laEg

Enjoy buddy :-)

[amadeusex]

Originally Posted by Mr_Music90

Total respect for you mister! Man, it was fantastic to read all your steps and see those pictures! I don't think it could have been better!

Thanks man ! Glad You liked it ;-))

[Mr_Music90]

Originally Posted by amadeusex

Thanks man ! Glad You liked it ;-))

Your welcome Besides a different finish, is there anything else that you wanna change on the bass?

[amadeusex]

Originally Posted by Mr_Music90

Your welcome Besides a different finish, is there anything else that you wanna change on the bass?

Actually, I was about to swap the fretboard. I changed my mind the moment I played her. She's with a luthier now to get a fret job. ;-))

[Mr_Music90]

Originally Posted by amadeusex

Actually, I was about to swap the fretboard. I changed my mind the moment I played her. She's with a luthier now to get a fret job. ;-))

Fret job is key!! Maybe different preamp or pickups?

[MattS]

seriously awesome dude. looks great!!!!

[Atalante]

Hahaha! This war really funny with your description of the events and the OT-picture! You are a brave man!

[fendurt]

I know it's an old thread but... what kind of stuff did you use for as a sealing.
Do you put this on after the 'grain-popping' treatment en before de coloured or clear finish?
I'm having ideas about sanding the old colour off my TRB5 and clearcoat the bass. But that white see-through

[MrLenny1]

Wow, nice job for a NOOB. Can you refinish my 1991 Pedulla ? Haha
TRB basses are really nice. Everything they make is really
a quality product.