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Nitro Refinish Question

bray101

bray101

Feb 26, 2012
836
82
Ohio
#1
I bought a hard shell case off craigslist, and the kid that sold it to me had a Mexi jazz in there that was in absolutely deplorable condition.

Completely rusted out, finish beaten up, the works.

He said he wasn't playing anymore and said I could have the bass for another $20, so why not? Haha

Long story short, I thought of it as a trial and error kind of bass that I know I would never play out. I cleaned up the bridge and pickups and got it back functional. Then my friend had the idea to make a DIY fretless, so we ripped the frets out, filled, an stained the neck and it's actually a pretty decent playing fretless now. Still not a gigging bass though.

I also sanded the finish down and I guess "relic'd" it. It was already beaten. Not relic'd. I know that word brings the masses of people who hate faux-roadworn stuff, but that's not what this is about.

My question is:

Since I've already sanded all the clear off, as well as went down even further where there was significant finish blems when I got it, what would I need to do to spray this with some Gracey's Nitro and change the color?

I know that if you rough up the existing poly finish, it makes for a good primer for spraying rattle can nitro as a fun little project (At least from what I've read). Not sure how it would apply since some of the paint is completely gone in spots here.

I was thinking of filling the dings with automotive putty and sanding it flat, then spraying the nitro. I have zero desire to strip it clean and start fresh. This is just for a fun experimental project.

Any recommendations?

I have attached pics so you guys can see the current sandings of the body. Again, this is no more than a bedroom fretless to get a point across. Maybe if I can refinish it successfully, it may see a stage somewhere.

Thanks.

ImageUploadedByTalkBass1387182180.896953.jpg
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1387182192.548072.jpg
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1387182206.833929.jpg
 
#3
You are going to want to seal the bare wood that is exposed on the bottom two corners. A can of gray automotive primer will work nicely for this. When you spray it the grain is going to raise in that spot, so you will need to sand it smooth and spray another coat. Repeat as necessary.
 
#4
I've done what you suggested with body filler on an Ibanez bass I picked up for 25 bucks. Finish was almost 1/16" thick, with pieces missing, however not as much as what you've pictured. I filled the spots with body putty, then sanded. Once I got it smooth, I primed and painted. Not a factory paint job, but looks good. Definitely looks better than pieces of finish missing and swear words scratched into it like before!
 
#5
Hopkins said:
You are going to want to seal the bare wood that is exposed on the bottom two corners. A can of gray automotive primer will work nicely for this. When you spray it the grain is going to raise in that spot, so you will need to sand it smooth and spray another coat. Repeat as necessary.
Click to expand...


Just the bare wood? Or prime the whole body?
 
#8
Just as an additional question, I have the body pretty much sanded down to even after the automotive putty I used.

Should I prime before laying the nitro? Or just sand everything to 400 grit and start spraying nitro?

If I should prime it first, what is a good primer for nitro?

Thanks.
 
#10
Want to reopen this topic for a similar question.

The project I explained when starting this thread has been shelved until it warms up a little here in chilly ohio.

My question now is I have a new squier body, that is finished with sunburst paint and poly. If I want to change the color, should I just sand the clear coat off and use the existing sunburst paint job as a primer for black nitro? I want to avoid priming so when the nitro wears, the burst will show through.

Thanks in advance.
 
#12
RyanJD said:
Dang dude.
If I were you, I'd just consider putting a (tort) guard on there and leaving the body alone.
The "relic-ing" looks pretty good.
Click to expand...


I thought about that, too. I had a tort guard on it. I just wanted to go to a more greenish-blue color, like a daphne or seafoam.

I'm gonna get to that one soon enough. Got my eyes on this new one now.
 
#13
bray101 said:
Want to reopen this topic for a similar question.

The project I explained when starting this thread has been shelved until it warms up a little here in chilly ohio.

My question now is I have a new squier body, that is finished with sunburst paint and poly. If I want to change the color, should I just sand the clear coat off and use the existing sunburst paint job as a primer for black nitro? I want to avoid priming so when the nitro wears, the burst will show through.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Just scuff the surface of the existing finish to give the new finish a mechanical bond to the old finish. All you need to do is take some 320 or 400 grit and knock the gloss down until the entire body is a matte finish.
 
#14
Hopkins said:
Just scuff the surface of the existing finish to give the new finish a mechanical bond to the old finish. All you need to do is take some 320 or 400 grit and sand the gloss off of it until there are no shiny spots left.
Click to expand...


That's what I thought. Just wanted to make sure that was all I needed. Wasn't 100% positive that the nitro would adhere to the regular paint finish on it currently.
 
#16
JoeWPgh said:
When tying together different surfaces (poly-raw wood) it can be helpful to lay down a coat of shellac, so that there is a similar absorption when you apply your nitro to the differing surfaces.
Click to expand...


I'm assuming you're referring to my original post? The one where I had bare wood, mixed with some finished areas...

If so, that one will be primed before paint.

This new project is more for the finish under nitro scenario, where I want to have the black nitro wear off over time and show the original sunburst finish. In this case, I'm going to just remove the clear from this new, different body, and then nitro over the existing sunburst paint job.
 
#17
bray101 said:
I'm assuming you're referring to my original post? The one where I had bare wood, mixed with some finished areas...

If so, that one will be primed before paint.

This new project is more for the finish under nitro scenario, where I want to have the black nitro wear off over time and show the original sunburst finish. In this case, I'm going to just remove the clear from this new, different body, and then nitro over the existing sunburst paint job.
Click to expand...

You aren't really removing the clear, you are just knocking the gloss down.
 
#18
Yeah, any attempt to actually remove all the clear is going to make a burst finish look weird. The faded finish is extremely thin and you can't sand "to" it without going through it a lot. As the nitro wore away, the finish underneath would not look the same as unmolested burst. Now, if you want a more distressed look under the nitro, then doing that might actually give you a result you liked, but it will definitely change the look of the burst.
 
#19
Major Softie said:
Yeah, any attempt to actually remove all the clear is going to make a burst finish look weird. The faded finish is extremely thin and you can't sand "to" it without going through it a lot. As the nitro wore away, the finish underneath would not look the same as unmolested burst. Now, if you want a more distressed look under the nitro, then doing that might actually give you a result you liked, but it will definitely change the look of the burst.
Click to expand...


So essentially just get the gloss off, which will leave some clear to protect the burst once the nitro on top wears through??
 

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