Citristrip vs. Essex Vintage Neck Tint

Just wanted to share a simple mod for SX owners who (like me) find the Vintage Tint a bit too orange & fugly in general.

IMPORTANT PROJECT NOTE: Apparently, Citristrip can temporarily soften and/or damage a plastic nut if left on long enough. There is some risk involved in regards to the plastic nut. I would urge anyone considering this project to try to avoid getting the Citristrip on the plastic nut for long periods of time. If you do get Citristrip on the nut, wipe it off as much as possible with Q-tips, rag, etc. In general, it would be best to avoid stringing up your instrument until a couple of hours or more after you have finished with the Citristrip to allow the nut firm up to its original hardness if you do happen to get some on the nut for an extended period of time. Even better, have a replacement nut on hand before starting the project - just in case. Thanks to Ivarrr & BloozBass for discovering & sharing what I have yet to see identified in similar Citristrip projects on TB - good job guys!


I forgot to take a "before" picture, but the bass (SJB-57) started out looking like this:



Tools for the job (32oz Citristrip, scraper, paint brush, #0000 steel wool or Scotch Brite pads):


The tingle means it's working.



What's this hiding under the evil pumpkin tint?



Chillin' after Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol wipe down:



Closer look - sweet:



Mmmmmm - Maple:

Notes/Tips for the project:

1. Use a hard PLASTIC or other non-scratching material for your scraper (I happened to use a putty knife wrapped with duct tape). An old toothbrush is very handy for cleanup around the frets. A couple of Q-tips gets the left over Citristrip out of the truss rod access hole quite nicely.
2. Don't be shy with the Citristrip - slather it on, standing collections of it work even better. Let this stuff work for you, so you don't have to (unless you really dig spending your afternoon scraping, scraping, & more scraping). After about an hour or 1-1/2 hours, the orange tint just scrapes off like nothing. Hardly any difficult scraping involved if Citristrip was used liberally, as mentioned.
3. Rubbing alcohol helps clean up the tiny little bits of "pumpkin peel" between applications that may be clinging to the neck. In my case, 3 applications were required. In retrospect, I could have gotten complete results in 2 applications, but on the first application of the Citristrip, I "brushed" on a thin layer, rather than really slathering the neck.
4. The directions say to use a metal container to pour this stuff into, but I found the product to have a consistency similar to Elmer's Wood Glue, maybe a bit thicker. I could easily pour it right onto the paint brush with no fear of spilling. This stuff is thick, but that helps it to adhere to vertical sides like the neck heel area and the curves under & around the headstock.
5. This is a great product, very safe for indoor use if necessary. I managed to get this stuff on my hands several times for about 15-20min at a time before washing up. No burning, redness or any adverse reaction to it (YMMV).
6. Even with liberal application, I only used 1/4 of the Citristrip - IMO, you could do 3 and "maybe" 4 necks using the 32oz size.
7. Plan on 3-4 hours for the project.

LCW said:

oh wow i like it



I have a rose wood board do you think if i strip the orange off it will iy matter if citrus strip gets on the rosewood?]

BTW where did you get the strip home depot?

Click to expand...

Thanks, on rosewood I'd probably play it safe and tape off the fretboard surface. Found the Citristrip at Walmart.

irishpride28 said:

Woah! That really turned out great. I'm not usually one for the 'black/white/maple" look (normally prefer pearl pickguard), but that fresh creamy fretboard just looks great!

Click to expand...

Thank You - I'm not finished with mods, the pg is next.

Thunderitter said:

Great job!

Click to expand...

Thank You. I like it much better now too.

Mark Wilson said:

Damn...

Take THAT SX.

Click to expand...

In your FACE! LOL! Thanks!

trickstaaah said:

... and no problems with fret sprout or melting the nut?

Click to expand...

Nope - was worried about it though. I ran my hands down the neck checking for exactly that. Still smooth - no fret sprout. Nut is perfectly fine as well and it was slathered in the stuff. The SX logo & decals are in perfect shape as well.

stflbn said:

CitrusStrip is fantastic. I have a 5-string neck on the way to me that will get a full stripping, then slight retint and clear coat.

Click to expand...

It was my first experience with Citristrip, and I love this stuff. Great product indeed. I understand it's not the most powerful stuff out there, but perfect for this sort of thing. Safe for indoors too for general paint removal types of projects. I'd be hesitant to recommend it as a solution for someone hoping to strip a bass body of its paint/finish - I think you'd require sanding or something much more aggressive chemical-wise for that sort of thing.

While I was at it, I used fine sandpaper & #0000 steel wool to sand down the back of the neck a bit, finished up with a couple light coats of Tru-Oil. It's a great feeling neck at this point.

By the way, this stuff is lacking the chemical (methylene chloride) that causes most paint strippers & removers to sear your sinuses & burn your eyes. This stuff smells like oranges.

mkrtu9 said:

I'm with ya. I hate that orange tint. I already have some citristrip and I will be doing mine tomorrow. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Cool - hope some of this is useful.

ThaLowEndTheory said:

Nice figuring in that fretboard, how's the back look? I've come across several sx necks with nice figuring in the back, but never the fretboard.

Click to expand...

Both my other SX jazz basses have nice figuring (a little more sparse, but interesting). This one by far is the best looking figuring I've had in an SX bass. At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging, it's one of the best looking flame maple necks I've owned from any manufacturer. I kept looking at it under the tint thinking wow, what a crime to cover it in orange like that! LOL! The back is semi-figured, nothing really to write home about so to speak, but still nice back there too. I'll try to post a pic tomorrow.

Update:
Found a couple close ups I posted in another thread regarding nut filing. It shows some of the grain on one of my other 2 SX SJB-75's. These both have about the same figuring, but with really beautiful amber-colored streaks throughout the fretboard.

[/QUOTE]

Mazatleco17 said:

Nice, I hate the tint on my shortscale.

Click to expand...

A little time & some Citristrip will fix ya right up...