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Double Bass Nasty, shiny finish removed = better sound

#21
Mudfuzz said:
Re-finishing a bass is not fun, it is very un-fun. It takes MUCH work to get those hard finishes off. And if you don't want to mess the bass up it will take lots of time and that means you will be without a bass if you only have one for over a month.

Yes I have refinished my bass, yes it came out better then the original finish and the bass sounded better [for what it is] but it was LOTS of work and I knew what I was doing, do you?
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I had the intention of hiring out the act of re-finishing all along ;-) I'm not that adventurous!
 
#26
Tyler_W said:
True, the only real experimenting i've done with my soundpost was when my teacher (Chris White, principal of VA symphony) tapped the sound post a few times with his tool. Would some Piastro Originals be a good choice, in terms of new strings?
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If this was done 2 years ago when you got the bass, you'd want to have the bass setup re-evaluated now that it's been played in. Even though the bass is about 20 years old, it was in a warehouse for 18 of those 20 years. Playing-in wise it's a 2 year old carved bass. It's likely changed a lot since the first setup. Time to take it back in, talk to your luthier, make some setup changes, and play it again. Do 'before' and 'after' recordings of yourself to keep track of the changes.
 
#27
I agree, get a good set up and play it for some time, get to know the instrument and decide if you like it enough to do the refin.

The sound of the bass will change a lot if you remove all of that poly goop. The real challenge might be finding someone who is willing to do the job without screwing up the bass. Even just removing some of the layers of finish might be a big improvement.

If it was my bass I'd be thinking the same way you are.....but if you hang with it the way it is now, another more appealing instrument may become available to you.
 
#30
Tyler_W said:
Ha, I don't even know how I missed it when it came around the first time :crying:. I'm a 19 year old male, for crying out loud.
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You're too busy thinking about your bass.

For what it's worth, I recommend just playing the bass as is, get another set-up. Talk to your luthier about what sound your looking for and what can be done set-up wise to help achieve it. If you're really dissatisfied, save up and buy a new bass.
 
#31
Have you guys heard of matting a finish? I have a bass that is really blinding in the gigs I play in...really dark except for a spotlight on the musicians, and in certain angles, I'm able to blind audience members with the shine off my bass. I took it to one guy who said he could matt the shine...To take it all off and put another finish on would be too expensive.

Is there a way to buff down the shiny varnish to a matt finish? Does this take out a lot of the surface scratches in the varnish?
 
#32
alohajoy123 said:
Have you guys heard of matting a finish? I have a bass that is really blinding in the gigs I play in...really dark except for a spotlight on the musicians, and in certain angles, I'm able to blind audience members with the shine off my bass. I took it to one guy who said he could matt the shine...To take it all off and put another finish on would be too expensive.

Is there a way to buff down the shiny varnish to a matt finish? Does this take out a lot of the surface scratches in the varnish?
Click to expand...

Check this.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48655&highlight=degloss
 

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