Sanding down a bass.

[squiresuzuki]

I saw this video of a guy playing a modified Ibanez 6 string, which he sanded down the finish of and added new hardware.

Do you think this would work with an SR506? What do you think the steps are to get such a great finish like he did?

I originally thought it was impossibly to get the sr506 to that color (because it's supposedly made of mahogany), but then on talkbass i saw a used 506 that had a little chip in it that was the natural wood color.

Good idea or bad?

[squiresuzuki]

hump de bump

[guitar<bass]

this is a horrible picture.. but all i used was 2 sheets of 600 and 2 sheets of 1500. I need to take some better pictures.. the thing about sanding to a finish is you aren't technically finishing the "finish job".. wow.. sorry for that..

anyway the two concerns I would suggest are

be sure to go in gradual steps.. start out around 600 and work all the way up to 2200 if you can. just go for a smooth feeling. Once it feels smooth, looking smooth is just a few more passes away.

Also, make sure you dissasemble everything you possibly can. It seems simple to just sand around a pickup that is hanging by a wire but this makes it very difficult to make smooth strait motions and you end up with "swirling"

I'm not good at much but ive sanded two gloss basses to flat finish and I would say I'm getting better at it. PATIENCE is key in any type of finish work. Always.

Also, bare in mind that you are sanding a finish that I assume is roughly (-) that thick.. so be sure to start out with nothing higher than 600 grit.. we don't want to get too far!

I'm sorry if this seems jumbled and rushed but breaktime ended like 10 mins ago.. lol

I assume you've taken a neck off before.. if not, remember to take it off slowly and attempt to slide it out (like a guitar hero guitar neck). It's really easy to just pop your neck off and not see where a shim may have gone.. Also you're much less likely to crack the finish that way.. Ok I gotta get back to work. GOOD LUCK!!
g<b

[guitar<bass]

Wow I just realized I read that wrong. I would find a chemical that stripps the finish, apply, wait, remove, clean and seal/treat. Sorry for my mistake. Good luck to you.

[RobJ]

I've only ever taken a bass down to bare wood once and used a chemical paint stripper which worked out great. From there it was sandpaper and steel wool.

Here's something new which doesn't seem to be as nasty to work with as what I used, no idea if it's any good however.

RustOleum.com

[ghostdog93]

Originally Posted by squiresuzuki

I saw this video of a guy playing a modified Ibanez 6 string, which he sanded down the finish of and added new hardware.

Do you think this would work with an SR506? What do you think the steps are to get such a great finish like he did?

I originally thought it was impossibly to get the sr506 to that color (because it's supposedly made of mahogany), but then on talkbass i saw a used 506 that had a little chip in it that was the natural wood color.

Good idea or bad?

Bad to bump your own post after less than an hour. Patience, grasshopper.

Insofar as the wood is concerned, there's no way to tell for sure. The wood may be the same color, or a different color, or it may have streaking or figuring or other naturally occurring variances in the grain. You may love it. You may not. You won't know until the finish is stripped, and by then you're committed. It may seem ok under a chip or other small paint defect, but you really don't know what the rest of the body is going to look like.

Speaking of that, sanding is NOT the way to go to remove the finish. A chemical paint stripper to remove the color coat and some following up sanding to prep the wood for the sealer (or whatever you're going to use) is a better bet.

IMO, if you've never done this sort of thing before, and the bass you want to strip and refinish is your only player, I'd give it some serious consideration before moving forward.

[squiresuzuki]

Thanks for the help. Can you give me an example of a "sealer" that would work well?

[ghostdog93]

Originally Posted by squiresuzuki

Thanks for the help. Can you give me an example of a "sealer" that would work well?

It depends on the wood and what sort of finish you want. Some woods need more work than others in terms of prep. In general, you can seal bare wood with multiple coats of clear lacquer with sanding in between, if necessary. The lacquer can be a matte, satin or gloss finish.

You might want to check out...

DIY Natural Wood Refinish

and

The Guitar Refinishing and Restoration Forum :: View Forum - Guitar Finishing and Restoration

for more info.

[darkstorm]

Ive only dont that once. Used sandpaper of blocks for most of it. Working down to ultrafine. Mainly took a lot of time and paitience. And sweeping up. Lol. When ready to refinish I used minwax one step easy wipe on sealer/tint and finish in one. Then light smooth out with ultrafine sandpaper. That part was much easier then original finish removing.

However I have done a few that had minimal finish to matte finish. These are much easier to do by sanding. The first was with light sand to prep for new finish. Then minwax all in one easy wipe on, sealer/tint/finish. A few light coats to desired color depth. Lightly sand with ultra fine sandpaper for smoother feel every 2-3 coats. Light coats work best. Clean dry cloth or semi stiff foam paint brush. But needs more sanding with the brush. So only time Id use brush was when wanting burst effect with nice shift to other color band between the 3 tone sunburst or whatever. I wont say they came out top pro qaulity. But would say they where regarded as equal to nicer mid priced isntruments stock see thru finishes. For matte finish removal needed more time with sanding down. Starting with course and going down to ultrafine sandpaper. Giant diff between matte and poly finish sanding off is time and much less mess to sweep up. Lol.

[Greysun]

Your SR506 will NEVER have the same light color as the bass in the video. The SR50x line of basses use mahogany for the body. The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. So simply removing the satin finish or even stripping any stain used by the factory will not get you to the light color of the bass in the video. Your SR 50x series bass will always have a dark reddish brown color unless you cover it with paint, or a draker stain.

[ghostdog93]

Originally Posted by Greysun

Your SR506 will NEVER have the same light color as the bass in the video. The SR50x line of basses use mahogany for the body. The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. So simply removing the satin finish or even stripping any stain used by the factory will not get you to the light color of the bass in the video. Your SR 50x series bass will always have a dark reddish brown color unless you cover it with paint, or a draker stain.

Not to slam Wikipedia, but not all mahogany is dark, or dark reddish brown. It can vary quite a lot in color, depending on the species. Will it be as light in color as maple? Probably not. Is it always dark like walnut? No.

Again, the OP won't know for sure what the body wood actually look like until it's stripped.