Dolled up my affinity jazz over the weekend with a (closely) matching headstock. Retained the squier serial # on the back.
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Rattle Can Refinish Club
- Thread starter redlikejazz
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I'm working on two bodies right now. It's been a learning process for sure. Both are ash bodies. I sandblasted them. Painted them black with acrylic paint. Sanded the top. Then stained them blue. The Strat has a pinch of black dye in it b/c the owner of that wanted it a bit darker than the bass (mine).
Cleared with enamel then a top coat of satin on the Strat and matte on the P bass. The Strat body was delivered to the owner last week and he's begun assembly. Ignore the upside down jack. That's been fixed. LOL. I don't have any parts for mine yet but I'm going with black PG and black hardware.
So the only rattle can portion of this was the clear coat but still felt like this was worthy of posting here.
Cleared with enamel then a top coat of satin on the Strat and matte on the P bass. The Strat body was delivered to the owner last week and he's begun assembly. Ignore the upside down jack. That's been fixed. LOL. I don't have any parts for mine yet but I'm going with black PG and black hardware.
So the only rattle can portion of this was the clear coat but still felt like this was worthy of posting here.
Love a matching headstock, but I learned the hard way that most selling sites (including TB) will not permit listings of Squiers with an F decal, even if the Squier serial is intact.
I've been on this site nearly 20 years and this is the first time I've ever heard of that. Many Squiers with Fender decals have been sold here in the Classifieds.
Yup, I’ve had listings flagged here and on Reverb recently because of that. Same with doing an F decal on a Warmoth or AllParts. If it’s not a Fender made neck, no decal allowed. Craigslist and FB Marketplace definitely don’t care, though.
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I’ve bought a Squier bass with a Fender decal from this site
Never said it hasn’t happened. But the mods do not approve, and they will delete listings if they notice.
Any advice on spraying the back and headstock of a neck with tinted lacquer? The neck is currently finished with a few coats of Tru-Oil, but I'm going for the "custom shop" style relic look. I assume I just sand with 350, wipe off the residue, then spray until the desired tint is achieved? I'll be leaving the mid-section of the neck unsprayed, similar to this look.
Copper shielded. Guyker roller bridge installed: Guyker brass adjustable nut installed. Dual coil jazz pickups installed (Guitar Madness sourced) Audere 3 band presmp installed, strung up intonated and ready to play!View attachment 6985194View attachment 6985195View attachment 6985196View attachment 6985197View attachment 6985198View attachment 6985199Project in motion:
Lightweight Jazz, Okoume body, Squier neck.
Lil Daddy Roth Rattle bomb black cherry Flake.
Waiting to clear coat
Black pickguard, chrome Guyker roller Bridge, linear humbuckers. Audere Pre : 3 band.
Attachments
Post gig report:
Well balanced, a little over 8lbs. The action is super low and feels very good.
The pickups are SILENT.
They are meaty and present , punchy and hot. Dynamic.
The audere pre allows lots of tone shaping at my fingertips.
Bandmates loved it, several patrons, none of which I know approached me to comment on it (which is a surprise) .
When it was explained that I put it together: 2 of them took my # and one contacted me about revamping one of his telecasters.
I dig this Dark cherry Jazz very much.
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So I have just purchased a 1980-something Ibanez Roadstar II bass which is painted a very bright red all over, including the neck and headstock. It's got a lot of dings and scratches all over, and I wanted to ask if anyone on this thread (or, really, any relevant thread you can point me to) has had experience refinishing one of the Ibanez basses or guitars from this period. I ask because the "paint" doesn't really feel like "paint" to me, more like some sort of thick industrial plastic shell? I'm probably wrong about this, but if, in fact, it's some sort of paint-adjacent product, what would it take to remove it? Do I chip it off with a jackhammer? Any tips, hints, passwords, cheat codes, etc., would be much appreciated.
Probably a really thick poly of some sort.
What finish do you want to give it? IME sanding is the best way to fully remove a finish like that, but its time consuming and a mess. If you want to paint it a solid color then no need to go to bare wood, just use filler on the dents and such, prep the whole surface with light sanding, and paint over it.
This. Bondo wood filler or similar, sanding, then rattle can it. I learned quickly on the Yamaha RBX (that I found leaning against a dumpster) just how tough that poly coating is. And it's likely covering a multi-piece body.
I always recommend the Bondo Glazing & Spot Putty. Comes in a small tube for a low price, and it’s great for filling chips, dents, etc. Apply, dry overnight, then sand flat. Super easy.
So, I dug around for a bit, and it turns out it's most likely a thick polyester coat, as opposed to polyurethane (I don't know about all this "science" mumbo jumbo) and most folks seem to agree that it's best NOT to remove it down to the wood, as the wood is usually like the factory foreman's leftover firewood from the company cookout, at least the parts that aren't just wood fill or concrete or whatever. But if one MUST, the old heat gun treatment is the way to go. I have a feeling I will be at MOST doing a surface prep sanding, then fill in the cracks, and then do a rattle can finish. But the thing hasn't even shown up on my doorstep yet, and I may change my mind completely when it does.
It depends on what year the roadstar bass is I suppose, but I doubt very much it is crappy firewood. In fact most of the Roadstars had pretty nice wood. If you want a painted bass then obviously you need to fill and sand flat. Polyester can be extracted with a heat gun. If you want a wood finish, why not give it a shot?
Well, the bass showed up yesterday and the finish is actually a lot brighter and in better shape than I hoped. So, until I've had more practice with a beater "project" bass I think I'll hold off, and limit my customizing of this one to some stickers or maybe even something as dramatic as custom knobs! Oooooohh! But I'm bookmarking this exchange of ideas for if I ever change my mind.
Just finished this one: Squier Sonic P in Krylon Fusion Metallic Rose Gold with Krylon clear lacquer. Came out well overall, but got a bit of orange peel, which I can’t seem to avoid with metallics.
