Double Bass refinish

[gus01]

whats the best way to refinish, a plywood bass with tons of scratches, from being drug around by 12 yr olds? I'm not sure of the year but it's an older engelhardt M3,
thanks for any help

 

[robgator]

Gus, did you get any replies to this post? I'm also interested in learning more about refinishing an upright. I have a battered Kay that sounds OK but looks like it came out on the wrong end of a cat fight (a lot of scratches, front & back). Is refinishing an upright something that you can do yourself? I've stripped and refinished a number of pieces of antique furniture, and I know this can be an investment of many, many hours.

Who can chime in here with some advice?

Rob K.

 

[james condino]

I regularly get a better price for old Kays with a beat-up and well-worn original finish than for a non-original refinish in better shape; it just depends on your neighborhood.

j.
www.condino.com

 

[robgator]

Well sir, this one is beat-up for sure. It's rough-rough, with a lot of scratches - both minor and major. The thing looks like it's been on-tour for years, dragged behind the tour bus instead of getting to ride inside. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. A friend and I talked over a few beers about options to refinish or perhaps just touch-up some of the larger/deeper scratches. I'm in no hurry on this one. Structurally, the bass is fine (no neck-breaks, no cracks, no separation of top or back, etc.), so I might just leave it the way it is.

Rob K.

 

[Damon Rondeau]

I regularly get a better price for old Kays with a beat-up and well-worn original finish than for a non-original refinish in better shape; it just depends on your neighborhood.

I've got one down in the basement with a crappy non-original finish. Some DIY'er with good intentions didn't really have the skills to pull it off... I'd sure like to get to that project one day and see how it sounds.

 

[Martin Sheridan]

Search the posts including one that I started a while back called varnish matters.