How Would You Improve This "Open Grain" Finish?

[J Posega]

I got this incredibly cheap Glarry mini bass (25.5" scale) just for funsies for $65 on eBay. It's a pretty fun little bass and a good platform to mod.

It's got a very rudimentary "open grain" finish, which appears to just be paint over an unsealed body.

I'm wondering what easy methods of accenting the grain are out there.

• I thought of doing an acrylic wash sort of like how model builders do, getting thinned acrylic paint down into the grain and wiping it off the surface.
• Or work some black Rub N Buff into the grain, but that might be harder to take off the surface of the body.
• Maybe some kind of wax?

What do you all think?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I got this incredibly cheap Glarry mini bass (25.5" scale) just for funsies for $65 on eBay. It's a pretty fun little bass and a good platform to mod.

It's got a very rudimentary "open grain" finish, which appears to just be paint over an unsealed body.

I'm wondering what easy methods of accenting the grain are out there.

• I thought of doing an acrylic wash sort of like how model builders do, getting thinned acrylic paint down into the grain and wiping it off the surface.
• Or work some black Rub N Buff into the grain, but that might be harder to take off the surface of the body.
• Maybe some kind of wax?

What do you all think?

View attachment 5171384 View attachment 5171385

The simplest thing would be to go over it with Kiwi Black Shoe Polish. Really. Shoe polish is just carnauba wax with black pigment in it. The shoe polish will jam down into the grain, making it blacker. Most of it will buff off the surface. It will be slippery and shiny for a while. When it gets dull, wipe on some more and buff it up again.

 

[Jeff Siddall]

The simplest thing would be to go over it with Kiwi Black Shoe Polish. Really. Shoe polish is just carnauba wax with black pigment in it. The shoe polish will jam down into the grain, making it blacker. Most of it will buff off the surface. It will be slippery and shiny for a while. When it gets dull, wipe on some more and buff it up again.

Be careful -- that shoe polish might make those sanding marks and that hair black too!

 

[J Posega]

Before (looks like a toy fire truck) -

After (yeah, it looks a little weird on the back, but it's so much better than before overall) -

Thanks for the suggestion, Bruce. The shoe polish worked perfectly.