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Rattle Can Refinish Club
- Thread starter redlikejazz
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Nice job! For future reference, you don’t have to sand off everything before you refinish unless you just want to. I’ve always just scuffed the existing finish with sandpaper, then sprayed primer/color/clear. My first ever attempt was with a black Squier body, and even using a lighter color (Surf Green), it came out great. I’ve used that method ever since on pre-finished poly bodies.
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Yeah, I wanted to be down to bare wood b/c ultimately I want that lacquer to wear away and give me a nice road worn look, which is why I went to all the trouble. It was a hassle for sure.
It's not perfect, but it doesn't need to be either. I'm pretty happy with the way it's looking. The blue is gorgeous and for a back yard rattle can job its pretty good. It should sand and buff really nicely I think.
My first refinishing job!
The bass is a Squire. I was gonna replace the neck, but I'll be damned if the original neck doesn't play really really nicely, the frets were fine and it actually has a very nice piece of rosewood for the fretboard, so I kept it.
I used Rustoleum Copper Rose paint & primer in one, and a couple of cans of Rustoleum acrylic lacquer.
Wet sanded with 400, then 2000 and finally Turtle wax rubbing compound for the final gloss. I watched some videos and read some posts that said using 5 different grits of sandpaper from 400 to 800 to 1000 to 1500 to 2000 was totally unnecessary, and my test pieces bore that out.
Its not perfect, but for my first try I'm very happy with the results.
I had to redo it once, because the first time I only used one can of lacquer and ended up sanding right thru to the paint.....so I sanded it down, put a few coats of paint and redid the lacquer using at least 2 1/2 cans.
Also, upgraded the pickups to the Duncan Designed ones that were in my Vintage Modified Jazz (its getting Dimarzios) and installed a Hipshot Kickass bridge.....BIG sound improvement!!!
I also painted the tuners and control plate black, as well as painted the pickguard to match the body, but used a matte type of clear coat for a different look.
The bass is a Squire. I was gonna replace the neck, but I'll be damned if the original neck doesn't play really really nicely, the frets were fine and it actually has a very nice piece of rosewood for the fretboard, so I kept it.
I used Rustoleum Copper Rose paint & primer in one, and a couple of cans of Rustoleum acrylic lacquer.
Wet sanded with 400, then 2000 and finally Turtle wax rubbing compound for the final gloss. I watched some videos and read some posts that said using 5 different grits of sandpaper from 400 to 800 to 1000 to 1500 to 2000 was totally unnecessary, and my test pieces bore that out.
Its not perfect, but for my first try I'm very happy with the results.
I had to redo it once, because the first time I only used one can of lacquer and ended up sanding right thru to the paint.....so I sanded it down, put a few coats of paint and redid the lacquer using at least 2 1/2 cans.
Also, upgraded the pickups to the Duncan Designed ones that were in my Vintage Modified Jazz (its getting Dimarzios) and installed a Hipshot Kickass bridge.....BIG sound improvement!!!
I also painted the tuners and control plate black, as well as painted the pickguard to match the body, but used a matte type of clear coat for a different look.
Looks like you had better success on your first try than I did my first time.
Congratulations...It looks beautiful
Wow, love the color! I'll have to try that one next time.
Regarding the wet sanding, I once tried the method you used, and it didn't work as well for me. My goal is to get the clear as smooth and glass-like as possible, and I've found that cycling through the grades from low to high (followed by polishing compounds) is the only way I can get it. And I always use 2 cans of clear. I might even use 3 next time.
Thank you!Looks like you had better success on your first try than I did my first time.
Congratulations...It looks beautiful
Its hard to capture in a pic, but here's a better shot of how the clear turned out, it could be better im sure, but its pretty glassy.......the first time when I sanded thru to the paint I did use a couple more grits (800 & 1500 I believe) so I figured more clear and less wet sanding would lessen the odds of it happening again.
- Jun 30, 2010
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
The thing about paint is that it shrinks over time - especially lacquer. So the most subtle surface discrepancies will eventually show up. One way to avoid that is a thicker primer/base-coat. I stripped a Kubicki Ex-Factor body once and was amazed how thick the grey base/primer coat was and how hard it was to remove.
Well, I just painted over the factory paint job after scuffing it up pretty good, I don't know how much difference that will make in the long run. I'm still a total noob at this though
Ladies and gentlemen, this project is better than good - it's DONE! It's not perfect, far from it. But I didn't expect it to be. And since I intentionally didn't put a ton of paint on it b/c I want it to show wear fairly quickly, I'm not worried about the imperfections.
But I do have one question, how the hell do you get a neck back on without chipping the paint at the edge of the neck pocket? This isn't the first bass where I've chipped paint at the front (nearest the nut) most point on the pocket. Any tips?
Anyway, I love it. The color is excellent, I dont recall who without scrolling, but thanks to whoever used Duplicolor Bahama Blue Metallic in this thread, b/c those pics made me realize that was the color I was after. Topped off with 2 cans of Mohawk nitrocellulose lacquer.
But I do have one question, how the hell do you get a neck back on without chipping the paint at the edge of the neck pocket? This isn't the first bass where I've chipped paint at the front (nearest the nut) most point on the pocket. Any tips?
Anyway, I love it. The color is excellent, I dont recall who without scrolling, but thanks to whoever used Duplicolor Bahama Blue Metallic in this thread, b/c those pics made me realize that was the color I was after. Topped off with 2 cans of Mohawk nitrocellulose lacquer.
@marko138
Hey that looks really good! As far as a tip what I do is I tape off the neck pocket leaving about a 1/4" at the top exposed before paint, then if necessary I use an emory board (nail file type) and evenly sand until until the new paint in the pocket is super thin providing it was the same neck and was snug to begin with...Nice looking bass!
Hey that looks really good! As far as a tip what I do is I tape off the neck pocket leaving about a 1/4" at the top exposed before paint, then if necessary I use an emory board (nail file type) and evenly sand until until the new paint in the pocket is super thin providing it was the same neck and was snug to begin with...Nice looking bass!
@marko138
Hey that looks really good! As far as a tip what I do is I tape off the neck pocket leaving about a 1/4" at the top exposed before paint, then if necessary I use an emory board (nail file type) and evenly sand until until the new paint in the pocket is super thin providing it was the same neck and was snug to begin with...Nice looking bass!
Thanks, I went tight to the top of the neck pocket with paint, which is probably why it chipped. Not a huge deal, it's on the bottom of the bass, G string side, so you can't really see it too much.
Spray some in a jar and get a fine paint brush, tape off the neck and go to town. The bass looks great. You can fix the chip.
I would have used tape in the neck pocket to avoid getting any sort of paint or clear. Love the color!
Good tip. Thanks!
Thanks. I did tape the neck pocket, tight all the way up to the top of the bass.
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