Sanding A Bass...

Bazmono · #1 08-25-2010, 04:14 PM

Was considering sanding down my jazz bass, wondering if anybody knows if the untreated wood would have any problems, or would I have to use some form of varnish.

Also, would planing some of the wood off to make it lighter affect the tone by much, or affect the bass itself too?

Cheers for any additions

EagleMoon · #2 08-25-2010, 04:36 PM

Depending on the model, chances are the wood under that paint is going to pretty crappy. It's a lot harder work than you'd think. Fender uses some nuclear tested poly on their basses. Also you'd have to plane off a LOT of wood to reduce the weight of a bass. If it were me, I'd just replace the body with a lighter weight one.

Bazmono · #3 08-25-2010, 04:40 PM

Well it's a Mexican deluxe, so replacing the body is a no no

EagleMoon · #4 08-25-2010, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazmono

Well it's a Mexican deluxe, so replacing the body is a no no

Why is that?

Rocky McD · #5 08-25-2010, 04:53 PM

Raw wood absorbs moisture which could be damaging to a solid body bass guitar. If you want a non-glossy natural finish, I would recommed an oil finsh to protect it. Making the body thinner to loose weight may be OK if you have a thick body. Personally I would just buy a light body like a Basswood or Agathis Squier. You could sell your MIM body for more money than you would probably pay for the Squier. Striping a Polyurethane body is not easy without a heatgun.

Bazmono · #6 08-25-2010, 04:55 PM

It's active, so it would be hard finding the right body & I wouldn't have the tools or know-how to start hacking away to fit everything

xxfaux_punkxx · #7 08-25-2010, 04:56 PM

I sanded down a Peavey foundation I used to have.... it took almost 3 days to get off and I using the roughest grit I could find.

As for plaining down the wood I would strongly recomend getting that done pro to avoid uck ups, not to mention that it could seriously screw up how the pup's sit under the strings and the neck fits the neck pocket... then again this is all theory.

Meatrus · #8 08-25-2010, 05:04 PM

It would be a fairly simple job to plane it down, but if you arent used to wood work, it may not be a good idea to jump in (you may ruin the edges on your contours). You may have to take off a fair bit to notice a difference it weight.

You would need a finish to ensure the bass lasts, this is no big deal though, an oil finish is very easy to apply. The MIM deluxe fenders have an Alder body, so it shouldnt look too bad if you did go for it, but there could be a few knots.