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Can a Mahogany body be repaired or refinished/buffed?

FishDub

FishDub

Stuck in the 80s and happy about it
Supporting Member
Jun 12, 2011
2,405
3,429
Charlotte, NC
#1
So a bass that I have an eye on has a mahogany body(think Fender P-lyte Deluxe or Ibanez Sr3000) and it does have a few scuffs, visible wear above the neck pickup and some wear around the plucking area when slapped. I know it wont affect playability but its more of an eye sore. Are there any products out there or suggestions any of you have for remedying this? I really don't think its necessary to send it to someone if its gonna be more than the bass itself. Thanks for any tips!
 
#2
Nothing that wont stand out just as bad as the wear already does, or worse. If its an oiled body you can sand it down and reoil it, but thats a lot of work. same with refinishing, you can do it, but the prep work is more than many people realize, then you have to find a safe clean place to spray and buy a respirator.
 
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#3
Rabidhamster said:
Nothing that wont stand out just as bad as the wear already does, or worse. If its an oiled body you can sand it down and reoil it, but thats a lot of work. same with refinishing, you can do it, but the prep work is more than many people realize, then you have to find a safe clean place to spray and buy a respirator.
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Do you think a Mahogany wood "stain" would do? Or would that just kill the whole bass?
 
#4
FishDub said:
Do you think a Mahogany wood "stain" would do? Or would that just kill the whole bass?
Click to expand...
For a quick fix go to a hardware store and check out their furniture scratch repair products. They have markers and crayons for this sort of thing.

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#11
My SR3000 has a few dings and scratches that I "touched up" using a Rust-oleum Stain marker. It worked fairly well because 1) the dings/scratches are surface only and 2) my SR3000 truly seems to be a stain only over solid mahogany. Truly a thing of beauty. Being about 17 years old, it is going to have some mojo. It is a classic top-of-the-line Ibanez, so I live with it. But I've had a few SR500's and I've never found a good way to repair the finish on those. For one thing, they all seem to be a slightly different color from one another. For another thing, the finish on those seems to be a stain with some kind of sealer on it. Often, the sealer will flake off, leaving the stain (but not the wood) exposed. And touch-up markers don't seem to adhere to that stain. You can find plenty of these SR500's with gouges down through the surface into the natural wood underneath. Best thing to do, IMO, if you're worried about the finish, is to buy one with a poly-coat on it. Unless you drop it, the finish should last forever.
 
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#12
As a dealer that took trade-ins, sadly theres nothing you can do to get it back to pristine. You can touch it up a little for your own satisfaction, but when they get thumb nail marks above the pickup, or slapping marks below the strings, it just kills the trade value.
The dark brown 'shoe polish' finish SR's were much worse for this.
 
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#13
There is, somewhere here on TB, a thread by, IIRC, "WorshipBass" where he sanded down his SR500 to bare wood and restained it and sealed it. It came out looking great, a beautiful color with all kinds of shine to it. But it took him a long time and a lot of work to do this to his SR500. Is it worth it? He obviously felt so. But *if* you like Ibanez Soundgears (as I do), it is, IMO, better to buy a used SR700 or SR800 (or even an older SR500) that has the poly on it. Granted, you don't get the beauty of the natural wood, but you do get protection to your bass' finish. I handle my SR3000 with kid gloves and use my Fender Mustang PJ as my beater bass. But I'm with Paulabass, a stained wood where the marks go down through the stain is probably a hopeless cause in true restoration.

BTW, some of those SR700's have a nice burled or flame maple veneer on them that is simply striking.
 

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