Advise me on a P refin

[Marihino]

I've got this Vintage V4, P-style bass. It's a pawn shop find, and my favourite P to date. I love it's sound, playability and neck size/profile, quality hardware, plus it's fairly light. I don't love the colour though, it's too pinky in bright light, and it looks like plastic. Not a fan of a painted headstock over this very pale maple fretboard. The pickguard is bad too, it's thin, warps and the "tort" pattern is very obviously printed and ugly. I bought an aged pearloid pickguard that's really nice, and think about refinishing the whole thing in nitro, including some tint to the neck/fretboard. Just not too sure on potential colours. I do prefer warm and subdued colours, so I probably won't go for a blue, green or anything too bright. Firemist Gold is a contender now (ai visualisation below).

Any other ideas? Please show me your P basses with (aged) pearl pickguards and what they look like.

 

[5StringBlues]

The Firemist with the tint and aged pearl should be a winner.




But I'm loving that green J bass.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

I once momentarily swapped around a couple of necks so that a very pale maple fb was with a Gold Firemist body. It did not look good.

 

[fretno]

I wouldn’t unless it was going to Marty Bell for a glitter bomb.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Looks like a nice bass that would be an easy refinish, but nitro is NOT the way to go. I don't know what is with the fascination with Nitro? I've been refinishing guitars and basses for over 20 years, and you could not pay me enough to do a nitro finish. Besides being expensive, it is a pain in the azz to apply correctly, chips easily, scratches easily, checks, cracks and doesn't last very long. That is why it is an antiquated subpar finish that is no longer being used in manufacturing. For some reason, those guitar and bass players think it will give them the tone from God. It won't. There are so many great finishes out there that are far superior and far easier to apply with good results. I hope you'll reconsider. Good luck.

 

[Marihino]

The Firemist with the tint and aged pearl should be a winner.




But I'm loving that green J bass.

I'm loving it too - it's a stock SX, just with the pickguard taken off and screw holes filled.

 

[Marihino]

I once momentarily swapped around a couple of necks so that a very pale maple fb was with a Gold Firemist body. It did not look good.

I think that super pale maple fretboards look bad with most anything, hence my intention to tint it.

 

[Marihino]

Looks like a nice bass that would be an easy refinish, but nitro is NOT the way to go. I don't know what is with the fascination with Nitro? I've been refinishing guitars and basses for over 20 years, and you could not pay me enough to do a nitro finish. Besides being expensive, it is a pain in the azz to apply correctly, chips easily, scratches easily, checks, cracks and doesn't last very long. That is why it is an antiquated subpar finish that is no longer being used in manufacturing. For some reason, those guitar and bass players think it will give them the tone from God. It won't. There are so many great finishes out there that are far superior and far easier to apply with good results. I hope you'll reconsider. Good luck.

I'm not set in stone for the nitro, however I do like the way it looks, feels and ages. Not doing it for tone. I own and have owned many guitars and basses, tried tones more, I just like nitro finishes on FSOs. Also, while it's not the easiest, it is the one type of finish I actually have some working experience with. I may go for another type if I find a colour I like enough.

 

[fretno]

It’s looking a little like Fiesta red. Which I love. I busted out a few reds for ya.

Dakota , MJT watermelon which I believe is really Fiesta and Fender Torino on the geetar.

 

[Gervais Cote]

If you remove all the actual paint, just give it a try bare wood with a satin black pickguard. Classic look.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

I think that super pale maple fretboards look bad with most anything, hence my intention to tint it.

Now I think about it, sorry, I shouldn't have said "very pale". What I meant was "a bit tinted but not as much as I had hoped for".

Aged pearl pg and gold firemist, though, are working together very happily on that bass.

 

[Grapevine921]

I think a new pickguard could tie the fretboard and red together nicely. Have you thought about anodized gold?

 

[roller]

MJT out of Missouri are a fantastic bunch of folks to work with on such a project. Give them a yell... they're super-cool and very approachable. With every color imaginable in their quiver, they can make guitars look factory fresh... or they can put whatever amount of checking and wear on it you're looking for.

Regardless of who you hire for the job, you've got a number of color choices, but Firemist Silver, especially when it's aged and has that kiss of green, is just devine... looks great on a P with an all-maple neck... and it hasn't been overused like other colors, and we know which ones those are! Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[roller]

It’s looking a little like Fiesta red. Which I love. I busted out a few reds for ya.
View attachment 7534713

Dakota , MJT watermelon which I believe is really Fiesta and Fender Torino on the geetar.

LOVE Dakota Red!!! Simply a classic.

 

[CoughSyrup]

Are you planning on doing this yourself? If so, please do a deep dive into how much work it is to get a serviceable result. Nitro is easier to work with than poly, but way more time-consuming. To tint the neck, you'll have to go down to bare wood.

Having a professional do this for you would start around $700 in the US for a basic color change on the body and tinting, then re-sealing the neck. I would imagine something similar if not more in the UK.

Either way, it's a lot of work or money for budget bass.

 

[Marihino]

If you remove all the actual paint, just give it a try bare wood with a satin black pickguard. Classic look.

I probably would if it was alder or ash. The body is poplar though, and likely not very pretty. Therefore, I'd like to avoid removing everything, only as much as I really need to.

 

[Marihino]

Are you planning on doing this yourself? If so, please do a deep dive into how much work it is to get a serviceable result. Nitro is easier to work with than poly, but way more time-consuming. To tint the neck, you'll have to go down to bare wood.

Having a professional do this for you would start around $700 in the US for a basic color change on the body and tinting, then re-sealing the neck. I would imagine something similar if not more in the UK.

Either way, it's a lot of work or money for budget bass.

I've done it before a couple of times with somewhat decent results. I have good space to do it. So, it's just the cost of materials and my own elbow grease. Also, it's practice - I want to tackle more advanced builds in near future and would like to have a bit more experience by then. It's true it's a cheap bass, but I won't ruin it, will likely learn a lot in the process, and even if it doesn't turn out great, the only thing I don't like about it are it's looks anyway.

 

[Marihino]

MJT out of Missouri are a fantastic bunch of folks to work with on such a project. Give them a yell... they're super-cool and very approachable. With every color imaginable in their quiver, they can make guitars look factory fresh... or they can put whatever amount of checking and wear on it you're looking for.

Regardless of who you hire for the job, you've got a number of color choices, but Firemist Silver, especially when it's aged and has that kiss of green, is just devine... looks great on a P with an all-maple neck... and it hasn't been overused like other colors, and we know which ones those are! Good luck and keep us posted!

View attachment 7534758

That does look good! I'm in central Europe and I'm going at it myself.

 

[Marihino]

I think a new pickguard could tie the fretboard and red together nicely. Have you thought about anodized gold?

I bought the pearloid one already. Of course I'll try just the pickguard swap first, as soon as I have the bass back (l lent it to a friend for a few weeks).

 

[Matt Liebenau]

If you’re going with another solid color, and it sounds like you are, depending on what shape the current finish is in take the existing paint down to the the sealer / primer coat and make sure everything is flat and good and start your spraying from there. The factory did a better job sealing than most of us can do at home. Also, for an alternate material go to the Luthier’s Corner and check out MPU’s last two or three builds. He’s using a water based finish called Nitorlac, I think it is, and seems to like it. He’s in Europe also so you might be able to get it or at least contact him for some information. Also, if you have spray equipment look at Createx Colors. I think they come from a German company. I’ve used their products a lot. All water based and work well.