Can You Keep a Secret? T-40 Discussion.

[ejaggers]

First off, can you guys keep a secret?
If you’re still reading, I’ll take that as a yes.
My wife will nag a little about me buying new basses since I have 11 and I’m not gigging.

She rarely complains about my modding addiction.
But I’m considering a total facelift on my T-40.
Someone put a glossy clear coat on it and did a fairly decent job, a few runs in the finish,
and they didn’t remove the PG to do it.

The bass looks good as is, and the few runs will only bother someone who is anal-retentive.
A total refin is over my paygrade so it’s hard to justify the cost.
I was thinking purple/black or green/black, since I have enough red.

So what do you think?
Am I just wasting money (which is what she’ll say)?
What color would you do? (pics please)

Mine:

Colors I'm Considering:

057912

 

[Craig T Vector]

Don't touch a thing, the T-40 is perfect as-is!

 

[GIBrat51]

So, what's under the pick guard? The remains of some old paint? Bare naked wood? If it were mine, I think I'd strip everything off it, and finish it like this Alembic Epic. A thin, clear sealer on the natural wood, and a coat of car polish. Personally, I'm partial to NuFinish, followed by a coat of Brillianize aircraft window cleaner/polish. Which is what Rickenbacker uses on theirs, to make them so shiny. But, failing that? Go with the Purple Burst...

 

[A9X]

Don't touch a thing, the T-40 is perfect as-is!

Agreed.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

Don't touch a thing, the T-40 is perfect as-is!

^this^
100%

 

[ejaggers]

View attachment 3712581 So, what's under the pick guard? The remains of some old paint? Bare naked wood? If it were mine, I think I'd strip everything off it, and finish it like this Alembic Epic. A thin, clear sealer on the natural wood, and a coat of car polish. Personally, I'm partial to NuFinish, followed by a coat of Brillianize aircraft window cleaner/polish. Which is what Rickenbacker uses on theirs, to make them so shiny. But, failing that? Go with the Purple Burst...

It's bare naked wood. The current finish is decent, but you can see the blems up close.
So to go with natural would mean leave it as is and have it buffed out.

@Craig T Vector, @A9X, @eastcoasteddie, my wife would agree with you 1,000,000%.

057912

 

[AboutSweetSue]

Who the crap doesn’t remove the pick-guard?

 

[ejaggers]

Don't touch a thing, the T-40 is perfect as-is!

You're probably right, I shouldn't refin, but it's not perfect, the pic does this bass justice.
I started GASN' after see this one:

 

[blacktocomm]

Do it. The purple/maple board combo would look awesome.

 

[AboutSweetSue]

I say refinish it. I couldn’t deal with a bad finish for long before I set myself to fix it.

 

[nickpc]

A uniquely finished T-40 is exactly that - a uniquely finished T40. Traditionalists won't like it, others will love the look, and still tone options by the ton!

 

[dalkowski]

It's already been refinished. Strip it down and spray it Camaro orange with competition striping.

 

[gln1955]

Any color with a burst like in your examples would be a great improvement. Matching headstock, while you're at it.

 

[Cutter8]

View attachment 3712581 So, what's under the pick guard? The remains of some old paint? Bare naked wood? If it were mine, I think I'd strip everything off it, and finish it like this Alembic Epic. A thin, clear sealer on the natural wood, and a coat of car polish. Personally, I'm partial to NuFinish, followed by a coat of Brillianize aircraft window cleaner/polish. Which is what Rickenbacker uses on theirs, to make them so shiny. But, failing that? Go with the Purple Burst...

^^^ +1

 

[Fresh Eddie]

Do it. The purple/maple board combo would look awesome.

I absolutely agree!

 

[Craig T Vector]

Lots of good points here. Yeah, if the refin now is yuck you may as well do a better job of it.

 

[king_biscuit]

I agree with others, leave it alone, it looks great. If you do refinish it, T-40s looks great in black.

 

[cableguy]

I would say white with the black pickguard, but only if you change the hardware to black as well. Otherwise either of your examples looks great. TB has a rattle can finish club, look it up. Sounds like a fun project. I say go for it.

 

[king_biscuit]

These products would probably work well and give you a fairly "professional" looking finish if done right.

ReRanch Guitar Refinishing

 

[night_mail]

Holographic Metalflake, matching headstock.