Deglossing a bass body

[Philonius]

Cool thread, and I'll be thinking about doing the same to my new Coda Jazz. The scotchbrite seems like the slow but safe route. I'd be much more tempted to use a fine grit wet sanding method. Running a power sander for hours and hours- been there, done that.
Someone above was asking about Comet Cleanser, which is certainly abrasive but has bleach and other funky unknowns. How about Bon Ami? All it is is powdered calcium carbonate. Pretty inert stuff, should work fine. I think wet sanding would be less messy, and you'd have more selection of abrasive grades.

 

[SolarMan]

Hey, awesome thread. I'm also thinking of doing this ton my bass, but I'm not sure what type of finish its got. My bass is a schack unique 5 fretless, I think it might be lacquer but it very well could be solid poly. What would the difference be in the steps to doing it?
As well, it's my only bass and this would be the first time I'm attempting anything like this.
How high is the margin for error roughly?

Wow, that is a gorgeous bass:

I think the steps would be the same - just start out with a very light touch and go slow. You can get more agressive as your confidence builds.

I'm not sure that I would give such an expensive instrument the treatment - plus that thing is drop dead gorgeous as it stands - and no longer available.


Hey Rip,

Post away! Ain't my thread anyway!

 

[Rip Topaz]

Looks like there's quite a bit of interest in this!!

I don't know if I would do this to my only instrument. What if you don't like it, or it doesn't come out how you would like?

Plus, that bass looks great just the way it is.

 

[gabezylo]

Thank you for the quick response and comments!
Yeah, I love it to death but I was just toying with the idea. Maybe I should try it on a cheaper bass first but I probably won't touch my schack, I'd kick myself after if I did

 

[Munjibunga]

Lotsa cool stuff going on here.

 

[Rip Topaz]

I just had a thought, maybe someone can tell me if it'll work (I think it will).

I have read about how if you knock down the gloss of a poly paintjob that it's possible to get nitro to adhere.

Is it possible to degloss a poly bass, then add a nitro clearcoat? That way in addition to any relic work, authentic checking could be added to the finish.

 

[davelowell2]

I'm doing this to my Classic Vibe 60's P, Fiesta.

I am also trying to dull the hardware. I'm not going for a full beat up relic look, just a broken in, dulled look because the shiny hardware on the deglossed body & neck would look funny. I'm using the salt water/vinegar brine.

The plastic is all I've done so far but the pup covers, tugbar and pickguard look much better already.
The part in the middle is stock, super glossy, and on either side the parts have been hit with the red pad that came with the Ryobi cat.

I'll do the body and neck today.

 

[davelowell2]

I spent about an hour with the neck but it's almost time to watch the Cardinals so I'm finished for the day.

 

[Fenwick]

Hey SolarMan is that the Jade Pearl Metallic MIA P in those photos? With a Delano in it? How does the Delano change the character of the original sound?

 

[SolarMan]

Hey SolarMan is that the Jade Pearl Metallic MIA P in those photos? With a Delano in it? How does the Delano change the character of the original sound?

Yes, you got it right.

Still sounds like a P bass:

https://soundcloud.com/solarman-1/bassman20atsixpointfive


https://soundcloud.com/solarman-1/bassman20attwopointfive

~

davelowell2:

That headstock looks sweet!

 

[davelowell2]

I had some time to work on the body today. I'm going through green pads quickly, the finish on the body is TOUGH!

The tip about doing this with a light is a good one.

Here, above the rout is deglossed while under is not. You can see the light bulb in the reflection.

 

[Rip Topaz]

Since my Dillion deglossing project went all haywire and I ended up with a new bass (!!), and I have now had my SX for over a month and modded it slightly already, I'm gonna go ahead and degloss the SX.

Here's the Dillion project.
Before:

After:

I tolexed the SX's pickguard the other day, so now I don't feel bad about continuing to mod it.

 

[Rip Topaz]

Here's where the SX will begin:

As you can see, I've already changed a few things. It has a Hipshot 3-string retainer (eliminates a nasty buzz on the A string), the pickguard tolex job, and new knobs.

While I have it apart to do the degloss, I'll also be adding a series/parallel switch and also convert from V/V/T to V/B/T.

As a final touch, I'll pop the pickups open and put the tape on the inside to make it look a little better. The tape needs to be there to avoid pops and clicks when the strings hit the pickup poles. Funny I only have that issue with Jazz basses. None of my P-bass do that.

 

[davelowell2]

Here's the final product with an MIM P. You can see how shiny the MIM is compared to the Squier.

Overall, I'm happy I did it. Up close small scratches are visible but it's only in the clear, so.

 

[Rip Topaz]

You could probably get rid of those tiny scratches by going a few more grits higher with wet sanding. Or even dry with micromesh.

Looks great, though. No scratches show up in the pic.

 

[davelowell2]

I did actually go lightly over everything with 600, dry. It helped but I was afraid of glossing it back up after all the dulling work, lol.

 

[SolarMan]

You should be able to get all of the scratches out with just the green pad, but the picture looks great so the scratches must be pretty minor.

I love your headstock - made me decide I need to do my neck too.

What did you do to the bridge? Looks well aged!

 

[davelowell2]

I did the hardware with the salt/vinegar brine. It looks ok but is pretty much just gunk on the surface. It will rub off if touched too much, so it's not going to last...

 

[JIO]

Show some before (and after) pics!

 

[SolarMan]

Great job! That thing is gorgeous!