Peavey Cirrus Refinish Job

[Garth Jantzen]

I finally pulled the trigger and recently bought a Peavey Cirrus 5-string off the TB classifieds (Thanks Mike!). While the instrument appeared and sounded incredible, I had some regret for not getting one with a satin finish rather than the glossy polyurethane finish this one had. I know some would shrug it off and enjoy the glossy finish, but I thought I'd take a *risk* and use it as an excuse to take the whole thing apart and get some experience doing some refinishing work. There's just something sexy about a silky smooth satin finish on natural wood.

I just finished the project and thought I'd post some pictures and share some insight in case anyone out there crazy enough decides to do something similar.

Goals

- Remove the polyurethane finish.
- I decided to apply a Tru-Oil finish, buffing to a nice satin finish.

Concerns

- Trashing the guitar. Obviously the biggest concern was that attempting to remove the poly coating would somehow wreck the wood. I enjoy wood working, but have very little experience removing or applying wood finish.
- Removing the electronics. I’ve never gutted a guitar before, or really done any fiddling with pickups or preamps. I’m also no pro at soldering.

Tools

Heat gun - to remove poly finish
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/peavey-millennium-preamp-upgrade-step-by-step.395853/ - for removing poly finish
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/tru-oil-tips.762307/ - to prevent inhaling polyurethane
recently bought - to protect eyes from poly chips (and nerf wars)
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/peavey-millennium-preamp-upgrade-step-by-step.395853/ - to remove leftover poly and sand down any nicks from chisel
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/tru-oil-tips.762307/ - to prepare for finish
Invalid Link Removed - final sanding before applying finish
Invalid Link Removed - the glorious oil finish
Invalid Link Removed - to apply Tru-Oil finish
Invalid Link Removed - to remove Tru-Oil from hands after applying
Invalid Link Removed - to buff Tru-Oil finish
Invalid Link Removed - to solder wires to preamp
Invalid Link Removed - to solder wires to preamp
Invalid Link Removed - to remove wires from preamp
Saw horses - for stripping and sanding
Invalid Link Removed - for when you mess up
Serial Podcast - to make sanding more enjoyable
Assorted Rags

Some Online References

Preamp Removal
Invalid Link Removed

Removing Poly finish
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Invalid Link Removed

Tru-Oil Tips
Invalid Link Removed
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Process I used

0. Remove pickups and all electronics. I had to disconnect 8 wires from the preamp to remove.
1. Use heat gun / chisel to remove poly finish.
2. Start with 80 grit sand paper to remove left over poly, moving to 120, 150, 220, 400, and finally 800 grit to get things super smooth. I also sanded the neck and headstock with 400 and 800 even though they already had a satin finish on--I wanted everything sanded and oiled together.
3. Apply a first coat of Tru-Oil, let sit for 5 hours, buff with 0000 steel wool, then apply another coat. Wait 24 hours.
4. Buff with 0000 steel wool, then repeat step 3 three times, until 6 coats have been applied.
5. Do a final buff with 0000 steel wool to remove the shine until its to the desired satin.
6. Put pickups back on and solder wires to preamp.
7. String up, and enjoy



Pictures!!

Tools:

Before:

Let's do this:

Sanded from 80 to 120 grit:

Sanded from 400 to 800 grit:

Six coats of Tru-Oil done:

Buffing with 0000 steel wool. Notice the difference:

All done buffing:

Nice blend from the satin neck to our new satin back:

My biggest regret, messing up the headstock. The walnut overlay was super thin and needed way more delicacy than the rest of the body. I was hoping that the decals were better embedded in the wood, but they came off with the poly finish. In hindsight, I wish I'd been way more careful in removing the decals so I could've reapplied them later. I called the factory and they said it's not possible to get new ones. Guess I'll need to come up with some custom decal now

Electronics back in, all stringed up:

I'd like to talk to the person at Peavey who decided to use these reddish wood knobs on a claro walnut body and ask them what they were thinking. I called the factory and got these new matte black ones to replace them, but alas they're too small... I'm going to bore them out sometime to fit.

So silky...love it

Full album for anyone interested:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/garthjantzen/sets/72157650114614516/


Overall, the body turned out beautifully. I know some prefer the glossy poly finish, but I think this Tru-Oil satin looks great on the claro walnut top. As I mentioned above, my only regret is messing up the headstock. At some point, I'll probably take it to a luthier and have them come up with something custom.

If you've actually made it this for in the post, thanks for reading! Hope it helps someone out at some point!

Garth

 

[scubaduba]

Nice job!

 

[mark beem]

Wow!! Honestly, my first thought was "What an idiot!! That bass is beautiful as it is!". I must admit though, the finished result is very nice.

 

[PeaveyPlayer]

I have a cirrus and love the shine/gloss

 

[metermech]

great job! Hate the decals didn't work out for you..still it's a nice finish,

 

[Philonius]

Rather bold starting in on such an already beautiful instrument. Once you get that first hunk of poly off there is pretty much no turning back. Where are you located? I just want to come on by and touch that thing. Yummy.

 

[Landsharks]

Great job Garth! I think that looks 100% better. I have a Cirrus Maple 5er I want to do this to. You may have just given me the inspiration and motivation to do it when it warms up. How long did it take and how hard was it to get the finish off?

 

[M Sharp]

"Reverend, you've got balls as big as church bells."
Very nice job.

 

[dedpool1052]

that looks awesome. nothing like the feel of an oil finished bass.

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

I tend to prefer the poly finishes, but I've got to say you did a great job on the refinish. It looks really classy.

 

[wvbass]

Your balls are far bigger than mine. I surprised you can walk.

I am equally surprised by the finished product. You took an already beautiful instrument and made it better. Wow.

 

[wvbass]

Here is where I started to tear up. I am so glad there was a happy ending to this.

 

[Djadja]

beautiful...

I have a walnut Cirrus with the satin finish that I wish had a gloss ;-)

the gloss is much more protective of the wood and since I'm primarily an acoustic guitar player, I have nails that can cause problems with the wood... I have thought about going half way and applying True Oil which I think would be a bit more robust than the factory oil finish

 

[placedesjardins]

Really cool project.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

I too was surprised that it came out even nicer than it started.
I agree about the knobs.
They are great looking, but maybe they'd be more at home on a redwood topped Cirrus.

 

[Garth Jantzen]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Definitely was a risky project, but I'm glad to hear some kudos from other Cirrus lovers.

Once you get that first hunk of poly off there is pretty much no turning back. Where are you located? I just want to come on by and touch that thing. Yummy.

Hah, seriously! When it took the first chunk off, I suddenly realized what I'd gotten myself into...

I'm in San Jose. Happy to let you see it in the flesh if you ever are around here!

How long did it take and how hard was it to get the finish off?

Below is a rough estimate on the time it took. Bear in mind I'm a semi OCD perfectionist, so it might take someone less time...YMMV.

Removing poly - 4 hours
Removing the poly was the most tedious, but I took a lot of extra care going around the curves and corners; those were the trickiest parts. Make sure to keep the heat gun moving to prevent too much heat being applied to the same spot, which I've heard can actually burn the wood. I applied only enough to allow the chisel to get under the poly and get some good size pieces up. Once it starts lifting, you can really get under it in broad strokes.

Sanding - 5 hours
This took the longest. As the pics show, there was a bunch of poly cruft left over, along with some nicks that needed to be sanded off the wood. The poly will collect on the sandpaper as you sand, so you can keep tabs on your progress .

Applying finish - 2 hours (across several days)
Tru-Oil is super forgiving, and very easy to apply. I used a 2"x2" piece of paper towel to apply. Go easy when you're buffing with 0000 steel wool, as you don't want to buff to much so that you're removing what you put on. I also just got some Birchwood Casey gunstock wax to put on for some extra protection.

Cheers!

 

[two fingers]

Wow!! Honestly, my first thought was "What an idiot!! That bass is beautiful as it is!". I must admit though, the finished result is very nice.

That's the exact same journey I took looking at the pics in order. My first thought was "Why is this dipstick gonna mess with that finish???" Turns out I'm the dipstick because I love a satin finish and that bass turned out freakin beautiful.

Noyce job! Congrats and enjoy!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Nice job, I love oil finishes cause I just like the feel of wood vs poly, particularly on the neck. I've never used Tru-oil, just Watco Danish Oil. What's the difference?

 

[Garth Jantzen]

I've never used Tru-oil, just Watco Danish Oil. What's the difference?

From what I understand, Tru-oil differs in that it actually hardens on the surface, versus danish or tung oil which permeate the wood as more a traditional oil would. With Tru-oil, you could actually layer it to create a glossy mirror finish if you wanted, or buff to remove the gloss as I did. It provides a harder, more protective surface than other oils do. I'm no finish expert though, so if anyone sees that wrong, correct me.

 

[mb94952]

Hi Garth !!
When you said you got the bass from Mike I had to look at the photo and realized you WERE talking about me !

WOW, you are one BRAVE soul ! I have the EXACT same bass but in a 4 string and I'll never touch it. BUT, my 2002 flamed maple has the poly removed and a hand rubbed oil finish and like you, I LOVE it ! It is the one that I had side LED's installed into.

Oh, and I'm the idiot who put those red knobs on it. I like those knobs ! They're claro walnut knobs. I have them on most of my Cirrus's and the ones that don't have the stock knobs, which I've come full circle to really appreciate now.

Garth, you did an AWESOME job ! You now have a bass that is truly yours and I sincerely hope you keep it forever. I have 4 USA Cirrus basses that I will NEVER sell.

Here is my 2002 Cirrus with side LED's and poly coat removed, just FYI ...
Mike