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Rattle Can Refinish Club

Working on another refin right now, and I decided to try the quick and dirty method of not scuff-sanding the existing clear before spraying the Krylon color/primer in one. I used a very light touch to start, and it came out totally fine. I wouldn't recommend trying it with all projects and/or products, but I'm pleasantly surprised.
 
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Sorry JIO, the pics were in the wrong order. SO the sunburst bass is the bass that the sprayjob progress pics are of. I didn't buff it - I just wet-sanded it out to 1200 and then hand-polished it with car polish to give it a more worn-in look - but that was four, maybe five months ago now so it's pretty hard, so I think I will hit it with the buffer and finishing polish because I think it will come up nice if it's really glossy! Standby...
Perfect as it is....I was confused why you were posting a vintage bass with factory sunburst...
WOW...Love it
 
Gracy’s Lake Placid blue with vintage clear to give it a hint of yellowing. Hung it on the wall next to a window during the winter, now I have “checking”, looks aged now. It’s a 63.
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Gracy’s Lake Placid blue with vintage clear to give it a hint of yellowing. Hung it on the wall next to a window during the winter, now I have “checking”, looks aged now. It’s a 63.View attachment 4585487
Another Beauty...I have never seen such an amazing collection of Rattle can finishes in this thread!.

I wish my days had produced such results :)
 
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I’m wanting to make one my Ibanez Gloss Black bass’s have a flat matte black finish.
I’ve seen a few mentions of just scuffing up my bass with Scotch-bright or steel wool and then calling it a day,,, or afterwards hitting the body with a clear coat of rattle can flat or matte.
Other options I see mentioned would be doing a light sanding/scuffing and then doing rattle can flat or black matte paint but I’m not sure which brand of paint would give me a nice smooth flat or matte finish ?
I’d prefer to do a flat black finish instead of a matte finish but flat paints I’ve experimented with before leave a rough feel and obviously buffing out the rough feel would take away from the flat finish.
If anyone knows of a brand of flat that sprays a smooth finish that would be awesome ?
Anyhow, suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers, Davyo
 
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I’m wanting to make one my Ibanez Gloss Black bass’s have a flat matte black finish.
I’ve seen a few mentions of just scuffing up my bass with Scotch-bright or steel wool and then calling it a day,,, or afterwards hitting the body with a clear coat of rattle can flat or matte.
Other options I see mentioned would be doing a light sanding/scuffing and then doing rattle can flat or black matte paint but I’m not sure which brand of paint would give me a nice smooth flat or matte finish ?
I’d prefer to do a flat black finish instead of a matte finish but flat paints I’ve experimented with before leave a rough feel and obviously buffing out the rough feel would take away from the flat finish.
If anyone knows of a brand of flat that sprays a smooth finish that would be awesome ?
Anyhow, suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers, Davyo

I'd try 0000 steel wool on the existing finish first and see how that goes.
 
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I'd try 0000 steel wool on the existing finish first and see how that goes.

Thanks, and yeah that might happen.
I’m just a little bit hesitant on the steel wool as I had used it once on a bass many years ago and it was definitely a bit of a cleanup mess afterwards.
I’ve never tried the gray Scotch Bright pads yet or really fine sandpaper so those will probably happen before the steel wool.
I’m also kinda wondering what the Magic Eraser pads could possibly do.
Cheers, Davyo
 
Just finished this one, going for a Phil Lynot inspired/tribute Precision with light relic.... used StewMac Nitrocelulose spray cans, painted it back in December 2021 and let it sit for a couple of months, then wet-sanded starting with 600 grit, then 1000, 1500 and 2000 sandpaper. Then used Maguires Rubbing Compound then Polishing Compound to finish it out. Lastly, used the "hair dryer / upside down air can/sprayer trick" to get some nice finish checking. It looks so much better in person!!
I got numerous compliments from my bandmates when I brought it to rehearsal earlier this week....

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My 3 tributes (Phil Lynot, Pino Palladino, Steve Harris)
TPvtoIQ.jpg
 
Thanks, and yeah that might happen.
I’m just a little bit hesitant on the steel wool as I had used it once on a bass many years ago and it was definitely a bit of a cleanup mess afterwards.
I’ve never tried the gray Scotch Bright pads yet or really fine sandpaper so those will probably happen before the steel wool.
I’m also kinda wondering what the Magic Eraser pads could possibly do.
Cheers, Davyo

Yeah, it definitely makes a mess. I've found that fine sandpaper tends to polish more than create a matte finish, but results may vary. I'm curious about the Magic Eraser as well - may give that a shot next time.
 
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Just finished this one, going for a Phil Lynot inspired/tribute Precision with light relic.... used StewMac Nitrocelulose spray cans, painted it back in December 2021 and let it sit for a couple of months, then wet-sanded starting with 600 grit, then 1000, 1500 and 2000 sandpaper. Then used Maguires Rubbing Compound then Polishing Compound to finish it out. Lastly, used the "hair dryer / upside down air can/sprayer trick" to get some nice finish checking. It looks so much better in person!!
I got numerous compliments from my bandmates when I brought it to rehearsal earlier this week....

View attachment 4609675

View attachment 4609676

View attachment 4609677

View attachment 4609678

My 3 tributes (Phil Lynot, Pino Palladino, Steve Harris)
View attachment 4609679
Absolutely Gorgeous!!!!
Please explain the hairdryer upside down lighter flame method to make checking?

Did you polish all by hand? Or use a hand held machine....I bought one for car polishing...Simonz ...not too sure if helped
 
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Hey thought I'd make a club. I'll hand out numbers too! Anyone who aint afraid to dig in and change the look of their bass on the cheap! Here's my refinishes, all colors came from the shelf at wal mart.
My first attempt. Looks good, but didn't prime it well enough so it started chipping away. 2001 Affinity P bass.

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This is the final version of that guitar. The paint is Satin Lime, so I had to clear coat it to make it glossy.

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Next up my metallic red affinity J. This was a two can job, 1 can of white primer and one of Blue Ocean Breeze.

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Lastly my first attempt at a sunburst. Went two tone just for sake of never had done it before. Looks ok. In the middle of refinishing it again. After a failed attempt at Fiesta Red I'm going olympic white with tort guard.

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You know, I don't think I have a number here.

But, count me in
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Transtint dye, krylon black, spraymax clear
 
Absolutely Gorgeous!!!!
Please explain the hairdryer upside down lighter flame method to make checking?

Did you polish all by hand? Or use a hand held machine....I bought one for car polishing...Simonz ...not too sure if helped

Yes, sanded and polished all by hand. As for the upside down air can/hair dryer trick, there are a few videos on Youtube but basically you need a can of that compressed air you use to clean out computer equipment/keyboards etc. What I did was, used a hair dryer to heat a portion of the guitar for about a minute or so, then hit that same area with the can of compressed air turned upside down, (it shoots really cold air this way) and just repeated the process a couple times and all over the body. The more you hit it, the more checking you will get so need to be careful and not go overboard.
 
Yeah, it definitely makes a mess. I've found that fine sandpaper tends to polish more than create a matte finish, but results may vary. I'm curious about the Magic Eraser as well - may give that a shot next time.

Yep, I might try the Magic Eraser first since I’ve never tried it before and I’m definitely curious as to what the results would be.
Perhaps I’ll try it on the back of my bass as an experiment.