Complete overhaul and Refinishing. Help.

[LivePositive]

hey guys. so a couple of weeks ago, I walked into a salvation army in northern new jersey, looking for something to wear to a theme party. ended up leaving with a fender pbass and an epiphone guitar for 15 bucks. They looked like they had seen better days, but for 15 dollars, I had to pick them up. Plugged them both in sounded fine. I plan on completely revamping them, pickups were rusted/mucho stickers/ etc... but I know not a single thing about basses. Any tips? also, Im going to have to replace most of the hardware, and was wondering if they had entire screw sets? I have seen mostly everything I need individually, but it would be awesome to get an entire set.

oh yea, I'm not doing these to keep, I plan on auctioning them for charity through a small non-profit that I run, so I am kind of on a budget. haha.

thanks.

 

[mid_life_crisis]

Pics?

 

[TGLbass]

You need to show us pics. You could have James Jamersons long lost bass. That would be insane. It's worth many thousands......... Well you never know.

 

[LivePositive]

sorry if these are huge.

 

[Pilgrim]

Tips:

Buy Dan Erlewine's book on Guitar Repair and Maintenance. It's the bible, and it will really help with refinishing and maintenance.

Visit Reranch.com and read everything there about refinishing.

Between those two sources and doing searches here on TB, you'll get the info you need. Doing your homework will really pay off.

 

[aquateen]

try cleaning it up and see how it looks. naptha will get rid of all the grime, sticker glue, etc. you can get it cheap at any hardware store.

 

[TGLbass]

Sweet!

 

[Pilgrim]

For sticker removal: ACE hardware carries Motsenbocker's Lift-Off, the best adhesive remover I know of.

 

[RustyAxe]

I wouldn't do much to it, other than clean it up. It's an early Squier Series. It might play well and sound good, but it's not worth any money.

 

[LivePositive]

thanks for the links pilgrim. I managed to get the stickers off, the pickups are in bad shape, but everything else seems to be pretty ok. I soaked all of the screws in a toothpaste/baking soda mixture and they came out near new looking minus the scratches.

Im going to most likely remove the paint and repaint, but I am afraid of the neck sitting differently afterward. I have a friend who owns a body shop so I am going to sand, prime, and paint there.

 

[Pilgrim]

thanks for the links pilgrim. I managed to get the stickers off, the pickups are in bad shape, but everything else seems to be pretty ok. I soaked all of the screws in a toothpaste/baking soda mixture and they came out near new looking minus the scratches.

Im going to most likely remove the paint and repaint, but I am afraid of the neck sitting differently afterward. I have a friend who owns a body shop so I am going to sand, prime, and paint there.

Although you can certainly benefit from having access to sanding materials, do not assume that a guy who runs a body shop know anything about this process. Where he will be very helpful is in shooting the final paint coats on AFTER you have properly stripped, sanded, sealed and prepared the body.

No insult to him, but he works with metal, not wood. He probably knows nothing about preparing the wood body of that guitar...and if you want a good finish job, sealing the wood and prepping for shooting the finish are critical steps. The neck won't sit any differently - the one area you will not be sanding or modifying is the neck pocket. However, I recommend not sanding or refinishing the neck unless there are genuine problems - and I didn't see any in the photos.

Do your homework at Reranch.com and buy Dan Erlewine's book...they will really help a lot.