Bass needs finish!

[TZero]

Hi,
I'm building a bass; its my first musical instrument I've ever built. So far its about 50% done (rough guess), I have all the parts: chrome hardware except control plate and knobs (tele-bass style, gold), crap GFS jazz bass pickup (it doesn't fit my template -_-) and a simple p-bass wiring kit.

One problem, I cant decide on the finish!
I started of thinking either matte white or black, that turned into a matte clear finish, then I read an Ed Roman rant on how oil's are the best way to finish your guitars.

I've used tung oil before, and it looks great, is easy to apply and really hard to mess up.

What would recommend?

 

[joseplluissans]

Shouldn't this be in luthier's corner?

 

[3star2nr]

Veneer the top and use aniline dye.

That stuff makes your guitar look and feel like something supper custom. Ive never been a fan of single colour guitars, especially colours like black or white.

It wont cost you more than another 30-50.00 to put a awesome looking top on it, but man does it make a difference

 

[Draculea]

I would suggest the following:

1. If you want to show the wood grain and have protection at the same time use matte clear. Oiled would look really nice, but the wood would be exposed.

2. White, but just because I'm biased, I love white basses.

 

[TZero]

Shouldn't this be in luthier's corner?

I wanted the opinions of bass players not luthiers!

 

[tastybasslines]

Dye the body monster green and use a matte clear.

 

[fjadams]

My next refinish is going to be my Guild JS II in Sherwood Green. After that I'm going to try doing one in a dye finish.

If the wood is good enough on yours I'd try to do a dye job on it.

 

[awilkie84]

Given the shape & wood grain, I'll go with White or Black.

 

[Hopkins]

Green flake over a black base coat, Strange organic shaped basses always look good with a sparkle finish. Though that's a tough finish for a beginner to pull off, and impossible without the right equipment.

Gloss white, or a vintage color like a seafoam green would look good. I don't think a matte finish will look right on that body shape.

By the way, I hope you have Ultralite tuners on that bad boy, or I see lots of neck dive in your future. And this poll is not legit without a carrots option

 

[two fingers]

Bass Boat Red. Huge metal flakes.

 

[TZero]

Green flake over a black base coat, Strange organic shaped basses always look good with a sparkle finish. Though that's a tough finish for a beginner to pull off, and impossible without the right equipment.

Gloss white, or a vintage color like a seafoam green would look good. I don't think a matte finish will look right on that body shape.

By the way, I hope you have Ultralite tuners on that bad boy, or I see lots of neck dive in your future. And this poll is not legit without a carrots option

I would love to do a flake finish, but yeah, its way to difficult.

Why do you see a lot of neck dive?

 

[Draculea]

I would love to do a flake finish, but yeah, its way to difficult.

Why do you see a lot of neck dive?

I also think there will be some neck dive, the upper horn is a little bit shorter than it should in order to keep the bass properly balanced. Most well balanced basses (but not necessarily all of them) have an upper horn that reaches the 12th fret. Something shorter than that (reaching just the 14th or 15th fret) will be likely to cause neck dive.