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Newbie refinish question

Z

zeppelinbass95

Dec 26, 2008
330
0
PA
#1
I have an Sx fretless jazz that I don't care for. I know it wouldnt be worth much if I traded it in so I want to make a poject out of it. If I were to give it a cool color I may invest in a fretted neck. My questions are.

1. Do you have to remove electronics while refinishing. That may get a bit messy for me seeing as i don't know a thing about electronics

2. How difficult of a process will it be. I've read some stuff on reranch and it sounds simple but I feel like I may not be as easy as it seems.

3. Do you think it's worth a shot for a newbie?
 
#2
1. Yes, everything must be removed from the bass.

2. this is subjective, I don't personally find it difficult, but many many guitars are abandoned after their owner attempts something and then finds it too difficult to complete.

3. I do, but its a tough estimate to make. I strongly suggest reading refinish threads here and on reranch to get a better grasp of what's involved and the efforts required. Refinishing is not rocket science, but it does take a great deal of elbow grease, attention to detail, patience and the willingness to redo something that you already worked hard on. Also, its not cheap. If you have no tools or skills, it will be time consuming and can easily cost between $100 and $200 for the equipment, supplies, primer, paint and clearcoat...
 
#3
First you need to completely disassemble the bass, neck electronics, strap buttons all of it so that your body is completely "naked".

Then you need to decide if you want to strip the finish down to the wood or put a finish on top of the existing finish. There are advantages to both ways.

Go here and read read read
http://www.reranch.com/reranch/

and yes it's definitely worth it if you are okay with the risk if something doesn't come out the way your expected. Doing a refin on a cheap sx is a great introduction to the world of finishing guitars.
 
#4
I was thinking of refinishing my Ibanez SRX355, but I'm afraid. What could go wrong?
If I put everything back exactly the way it was, the bass should work, but still... :hmm:

Just few questions (I'm a total newbie so don't make fun of me if the questions are stupid :D ):

1. Can I use regular spray and just spray over the first finish or is there something that should be done before spraying?

2.a) I should remove the neck from the body, right?
2.b) It's a bolt-on so I should just unscrew it and take it away, I suppose?
2.c) And is there anything that could disrupt or I screw it back on and everything is fine?

3. Is it a problem to remove electronics?

That's it for now. If you have any advice, I'll gladly hear it! :)
 
#5
Elektron said:
I was thinking of refinishing my Ibanez SRX355, but I'm afraid. What could go wrong?
If I put everything back exactly the way it was, the bass should work, but still... :hmm:
Click to expand...
how to take your guitar apart It can be intimidating. Take some pictures of your bass before touching it if you think you might not remember how everything goes. You don't need to cut wires or anything. It's not really that hard at all.

I'm in the process of refinishing my black poly VM tele to a nitro surf green. You need to remove everything from the guitar. All hardware and the neck. If you don't have a shop with good ventilation then you'll need to use your (or someone's) backyard which is what I'm doing. I hang my body up on a tree with a wire hanger when I spray.

Spraying isn't too difficult if you're patient and pay attention. Spraying close (12" and under) will give you a "wet" coat and spraying further away (15"-18") will give you a "dry" coat. Keep a happy medium to avoid runs. If you get runs or spray over a bug then stop, let it dry, and then sand it out. Stay fairly dry the first couple of coats to get the hang of it.

Read as much as you can about wet sanding and buffing. I find wet sanding to be the hardest step. Some say you can avoid it in between coats if you spray perfectly, but you'll still need to do it at the end if you want a shiny bass. Sanding is where you can mess up the work you've done You're bass won't look anything like a brand new bass until the very last step when you buff. So don't get discouraged. My pic is the tele just after the first coat of clear.
 

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#6
If your going for a dodgy finish that will wear and ooze with mojo (and look awesome)
you need to:
1) buy a few cans of spray paint in different colours (and some clear finish)
2) remove the neck,bridge, knobs, and anything you dont want painted (I like painted pups and it saves you like an hour of soldering)
3) Go crazy with paint
4) Wait...
5)Coat in clear coat, wait for it to dry
6) spend weeks explaining to people that you want it to look like that
 
#8
Depends on how much time you have, your process and materials.
If you are stripping a finish that can take hours to days depending on your equipment.
Applying sand and sealer and primer can take a day.
Painting a finish takes a few hours for a couple good coats.
Clear coat can take days if you are using lacquer or hours if using poly.
Any clear coat needs to cure before you can sand it, poly takes a couple days of drying time, nitro lacquer takes about three weeks.

http://www.reranch.com/reranch/
 

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