Darkening an SR505's brown mahogany

[bitzie]

A couple weeks ago I picked up an Ibanez SR505 which is of course the brown mahogany finish. While I don't mind the look of it per se, I would really prefer it to be a fair bit darker. Not solid black, but fairly close. Pretty much the same color as the fretboard. What would be the best way to go about darkening the finish while retaining the wood grain? Also is this something where I could remove the strings and knobs, tape the pickups, be careful and not slop stain everywhere, or is this a much bigger endeavor than I'm hoping for?

 

[1958Bassman]

A couple weeks ago I picked up an Ibanez SR505 which is of course the brown mahogany finish. While I don't mind the look of it per se, I would really prefer it to be a fair bit darker. Not solid black, but fairly close. Pretty much the same color as the fretboard. What would be the best way to go about darkening the finish while retaining the wood grain? Also is this something where I could remove the strings and knobs, tape the pickups, be careful and not slop stain everywhere, or is this a much bigger endeavor than I'm hoping for?

Ultraviolet light will darken it significantly, but it takes time and the particular piece of wood will determine how dark it will become. It may not go that dark, but you can make this change slowly and get used to it.

 

[tabdog]

I like to use Ebony stain on Mahogany for a
natural wood look,

I put it on heavy and let it set 5 or 10 minutes
and wipe it off. It is too dark for me at that
point, so I sand it until it lightens up some and
then use Formby's Tung Oil Finish (Low Gloss)

It's fairly easy and doesn't take long.

Here's two examples,

Tabdog

 

[bitzie]

Thanks tabdog. That looks like the route I might go minus the sanding. If I'm not going to be sanding would I still need to disassemble the bass or would masking the pickups and removing the knobs and strings be sufficient?

 

[W_R]

If it's a bolt on, I recommend taking the bass apart. Despite the effort that way, it saves you the trouble of masking things, and allows you to be thorough with the effort and easily re-do if the color isn't quite right on the first try. Also it's an excuse to re set up the instrument and maybe check/fix/upgrade stuff. I just bought a new bass and fully intend to go this route soon--they just didn't offer the color I want and everything else is what I wanted. Good luck in your project!

 

[bassman10096]

Maybe a stupid question, but I'm assuming the finish is typical of other, thin Ibanez oil/varnish/stain jobs where the the grain is visible and not filled or coated in a hard clear coat. I read a little about this bass and that appeared to be the case. Even if not covered in a hard, clear coat, a varnish finish seals the wood pretty effectively won't allow additional stain to penetrate. Therefore, I'd be skeptical about the results you could get without sanding at least a little to let some stain penetrate. If you wanted a more complete job, you could stain the sealer off altogether (not too hard on this kind of finish), but I'd be careful not to stain the bass darker than you really want.

Removing the neck, knobs, backplate, strings are pretty much standard to the job. I'd tape the pickups to avoid staining them. Another question would be the headstock -- sanding up there (I'd remove strings, tuners, etc) should be done very carefully in order to avoid sanding through the logo decal (a new one may be impossible to obtain).

 

[tabdog]

Thanks tabdog. That looks like the route I might go minus the sanding. If I'm not going to be sanding would I still need to disassemble the bass or would masking the pickups and removing the knobs and strings be sufficient?

You're welcome Minimal.

I agree with Wardak and Bassman.

It must have the finish removed for the
stain to soak into the wood.

May as well dis-assemble it.

I think your bass is already darkened some.
I don't have a photo to know.

I have used screw drivers and heavy elec
drills with a philips head chuck. The big
drills are unruly. Batteries are a PIA.

If you want to make dis-assembly easier,
I've discovered that using one of these
smaller rechargeable screw drivers makes
the chore so much easier. Not necessarily
this one, but similar. The charge last a long
time,

 

[bitzie]

Ahh well in that case I may not dive into this right now. Since it's my only bass at the moment I don't really want it to be out of commission until the project is done. I guess that means I should start shopping for another bass right? This type of logic would be the first signs of GAS wouldn't it?

 

[gregmon79]

I like to use Ebony stain on Mahogany for a
natural wood look,

I put it on heavy and let it set 5 or 10 minutes
and wipe it off. It is too dark for me at that
point, so I sand it until it lightens up some and
then use Formby's Tung Oil Finish (Low Gloss)

It's fairly easy and doesn't take long.

Here's two examples,

Tabdog

Wow that pickgaurd is sweet man!! I've never seen a that, a record cut to a pickgaurd. Oh the ideas they are a flowin for me now......

 

[tabdog]

Wow that pickgaurd is sweet man!! I've never seen a that, a record cut to a pickgaurd. Oh the ideas they are a flowin for me now......

Hay Gregmon,

Cutting a pickguard can be a real
PIA, or it can be quite easy.

First off, they tend to crack and
split when trying to cut them.

To cut the thick ones takes some
good tools, or patients.

I have a lot of LP's. I found that the
thin ones can be cut quite easily with
something like this,

After cutting, I sanded the edges. It
took all of 15 minutes,

Tabdog

 

[gregmon79]

Hay Gregmon,

Cutting a pickguard can be a real
PIA, or it can be quite easy.

First off, they tend to crack and
split when trying to cut them.

To cut the thick ones takes some
good tools, or patients.

I have a lot of LP's. I found that the
thin ones can be cut quite easily with
something like this,

After cutting, I sanded the edges. It
took all of 15 minutes,

Tabdog

Awesome, thank you. I was wondering what to use to cut.

 

[W_R]

How about a Dremel?

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Tools/Pages/CategoryProducts.aspx?catid=2013

A special project is the perfect excuse to get new tools... and look at these options

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Attachments/Pages/SubCategories.aspx?catid=2019