Neck Finish Repair

[N4860]

Wondering if some people might have some tips for fixing a painted neck that is chipping and dented. I am picking it up tomorrow afternoon so I don't have it yet in my hands to examine it but ideally I'd like to sand it down and give it the Music Man 'unfinished' neck feel with some tru-oil and gunstock wax that I've got lying around. Here's the neck:

As you can see it's in rough cosmetic shape. I have some sanding tools that I can use but do you recommend using any sort of paint stripper? Any other tips?

If I find there are significant dings, should I try to fix them with a heat gun and wet cloth? I've never tried that to repair dings but I've read about it so if anyone has any insight into doing that, that would be great. Is it safe to do that method on a neck?

Thanks!

 

[bobdabilder]

If it's bound, don't use stripper. If not, maybe try a spot. You'll need to get down to bare wood to steam those dents out. I don't like painted necks, so I would strip it, sand it and clean it up. Mask off what you don't want damaged and be careful. Goodluck. Show us pics or progress

 

[bobdabilder]

Hd and lowes sell a stripper of some sort. Try a quart. Some poly's are unfazed by it. Aircraft stripper has provided me with success in the past.

 

[bobdabilder]

Once down to bare wood, put a drop of water in the dent and place a damp washrag over the drop and hit it with an iron. I use a monokote iron. Dent will pop right out.

 

[N4860]

Thanks, just got the bass this afternoon. Took the neck off and tried a 60 grit sanding block (the sponge ones) and it seems to be quite effective and is taking the finish off quite easily. The neck isn't bound but I'll be sure to be careful and mask the side of the freboard where the paint meets. Once I get finished with the sanding I'll be able to better tell if there's any dents to worry about. So far it seems it is just the paint that's chipped or flaked off and the wood seems fine underneath.

 

[N4860]

Just did some sanding for about an hour and the finish came of surprisingly easy with a 60 grit block and some 80 grit paper:

I left that bit on the back as it is a sticker with the serial info so I'm going to try to remove it with a razor blade and glue it back on to the bass once I have the back refinished. Next step is to give the neck a few sands with finer grit to smooth things out and then start finishing it with the tru-oil.

 

[bobdabilder]

Nice work

 

[N4860]

Thanks! I noticed there were a few spots where I didnt sand enough as there was some sort of clear finish shining through. I sanded back down a bit to 180 grit because I decided to stain the neck a bit darker. Sanded with 80 to get the rest of the old finish down to a consistent feel and then I went over with 180 again. Used a damp towel to wet the wood to open the pores for the stain. Just did a couple coats while I started stripping the body. Everything is looking good so far. The body is definitely going to be a bit of a pain. stripped the entire back of the body using an orbital sander and mostly 80 grit sandpaper by hand.

 

[N4860]

Update for anyone following (or for anyone interested in doing something similar in the future):

Finished sanding all of the finish off the body and neck. Here's the stripped body and stained neck:

The neck now has around 7 or 8 coats of tru-oil but I'm going to keep adding more coats for a few days.

Added forearm and body contours to the body. First time doing that so that was interesting, could have used a better tool (I used some weird cheap rasp I found at home depot):

Another first for me, filling the existing pick up cavity. I just used the pick up cover to trace out the shape and cut it out with a jigsaw and used wood glue to glue it in.

I used a saw to cut it flush to the body and then used some wood glue mixed with sanding dust to fill the gaps around the insert. This worked ok but the glue shrunk a bit so it didn't fully fill all of the gaps. Used some Bondo body filler this morning instead and it worked better as far as I can tell.

Next job is routing the new pick up cavities. I used an existing jazz bass body I have to make a template. I don't have a plunge router though so I made a single template and then used that template to route 3 more sheets of wood and used dowels to keep the 4 template sheets together so that I can start with 4 sheets and remove each as needed until I get the depth that I will need.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I don't have a plunge router though so I made a single template and then used that template to route 3 more sheets of wood and used dowels to keep the 4 template sheets together so that I can start with 4 sheets and remove each as needed until I get the depth that I will need.

I'm curious about your comment. Almost all standard-base routers have plenty of range of depth adjustment to rout a pickup cavity. You just have to shut it off each time to make the depth adjustment for the next pass. Something like a pickup cavity should be routed in 4-8 passes of 1/16" to 1/8" deep each. Don't try to go more than 1/8" per pass, unless you have a big solid setup and know what you are doing.

A plunge router saves time because you can do those small depth adjustments with the motor running and both hands on the knobs. But a plunge router is a luxury, not a necessity. You can do all the routing of a bass body with standard-base routers easily. Many of us prefer them. I have about 20 routers around here in my shop, and only two of them are plunge routers.

 

[bobdabilder]

I would use epoxy around the edge of that wood plug you used to fill that pup route. Wood glue will shrink and telegraph through the finish. I know it's already glued in, but as you see the glue shrink back, use epoxy to fill that or hit the edged with a sharp chisel and fill that void. Not a show stopper but I would.
I will add that some bondos shrink and maybe some don't. I generally don't use them.

 

[N4860]

I would use epoxy around the edge of that wood plug you used to fill that pup route. Wood glue will shrink and telegraph through the finish. I know it's already glued in, but as you see the glue shrink back, use epoxy to fill that or hit the edged with a sharp chisel and fill that void. Not a show stopper but I would.
I will add that some bondos shrink and maybe some don't. I generally don't use them.

Do you think the bondo filler I put over top will help with that or will it still be an issue with the wood glue underneath shrinking?

 

[bobdabilder]

I have seen bondo shrink. I'm not sure which one it was. Some of the newer stuff says non shrinking. I'm not sure. Hope someone will stop by with more bondo time.

 

[Beej]

Yeah, typical bondo (talc & resin) will shrink back a little and allow for some telegraphing. I used to use it a long time ago, but moved to 2-part marine epoxy to prevent this exact issue.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Yeah, typical bondo (talc & resin) will shrink back a little and allow for some telegraphing. I used to use it a long time ago, but moved to 2-part marine epoxy to prevent this exact issue.

I agree. Bondo works fine to fill shallow gaps on metal car fenders, but it isn't very good for deep gaps between pieces of wood. I use marine epoxy (West Systems is my favorite). It does not shrink, filling gaps in wood. I've got examples of bass bodies more than 25 years old, where I used West Systems to fill gaps, and there's still no shrinkage or telegraphing under the paint.

 

[N4860]

Well I guess time will tell. I was planning to not do a pick guard with this build but I'm not against the idea. If I do go with a pick guard that area that was filled will be hidden.

 

[bobdabilder]

It's not too late to tool out that perimeter and fill with epoxy. Or maybe it is. Goodluck on the project.

 

[Beej]

Well I guess time will tell. I was planning to not do a pick guard with this build but I'm not against the idea. If I do go with a pick guard that area that was filled will be hidden.

You could hand apply a couple of epoxy seal coats over the body to add some protection against shrink-back, you'll probably want to seal it before paint anyway as most of the body still has a lot of seal coat on it - you can see the lighter areas on the edges and arm bevel where the polyester is gone. An epoxy coat will seal that all up nicely.

 

[N4860]

You could hand apply a couple of epoxy seal coats over the body to add some protection against shrink-back, you'll probably want to seal it before paint anyway as most of the body still has a lot of seal coat on it - you can see the lighter areas on the edges and arm bevel where the polyester is gone. An epoxy coat will seal that all up nicely.

Can you recommend a particular product for the epoxy seal coat, and what would you use to apply it?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Can you recommend a particular product for the epoxy seal coat, and what would you use to apply it?

I've been using West Systems epoxy for many years to repair instruments. Bonding seams, filling gaps, filling grain, even as a base coat under poly finishes. It's very strong, sands and shapes nicely, and doesn't shrink at all over time. I use their standard 105 Resin and either 205 Fast Hardener or 206 Slow Hardener.

System Three and Total Boat also make similar marine-grade epoxies. They are also good products.