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Refinishing a Squier P Bass. Input and advice welcome!

bassist11

bassist11

Jul 14, 2009
95
4
Grand Forks, North Dakota
#1
I have a Squier P Bass and it's blue. I hate the color blue on instruments..

So I want to refinish it, maybe a natural finish or solid color, not sure yet.

Question is, will I have any problems with it when it's all finished? As in will the neck be fine sitting around with no string tension on it? Once I put it all back together, will it still play the same once I get it set up?

I like the way it plays now so I don't really want to ruin that.

Will try and post pictures of progress now and then.

Thanks.
 
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#5
Look at the one I refinished in here.. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=561385

It's not a Squier but it can give you an idea of how they glue different types of wood together for the lower cost basses.

While the pics from the front doesn't look too bad, the back can show more of how the different wood pieces can look, so YMMV on the natural finishes.

S5030936.jpg
 
#6
OK so I just spent about 4 hours sanding and made some good progress. I've got most of the color and primer off except around the edges in a few spots.

Do they put some sort of wood sealer on before they prime it and paint it? Cause I'm at the point where I can see the wood, but it's super smooth still and feels like plastic? almost.

So far, it looks like I got a solid piece of wood for a body. There is definitely no noticeable strips like in yours RedsFan75. Maybe I got lucky?

And where should I go from here? Should I just leave the wood like it is with that sealant or whatever it is on there and just prime and paint? Or should I keep sanding away until I actually get to bare wood and then continue?
 
#7
The last time I attempted a refinish myself, I used a liquid paint stripper - that way you don't have to spend that 4 hours sanding. I think I was shooting acrylic laquer on the project and I remember it taking a lot longer than I thought - spraying, color sanding, buffing - it's a lot of work. Then I discovered Warmoth. I know it may not make sense to order a P bass body from Warmoth that would cost $300 to $400 for your Squire neck, but maybe pick up a Fender USA neck in the future and get a nice painted body from a parts place - not plugging Warmoth - there's USA Custom and others...ebay stores etc.
 
#8
What I saw was a very strong sealer over the wood, which is why I used a liquid stripper, cause you still have to sand and get down to the fine grades of paper before oiling it. But to paint over it, leaving the sealer would be fine.

Glad you got solid wood and not strips.
 
#10
bassist11 said:
OK so I just spent about 4 hours sanding and made some good progress. I've got most of the color and primer off except around the edges in a few spots.

Do they put some sort of wood sealer on before they prime it and paint it? Cause I'm at the point where I can see the wood, but it's super smooth still and feels like plastic? almost.

So far, it looks like I got a solid piece of wood for a body. There is definitely no noticeable strips like in yours RedsFan75. Maybe I got lucky?

And where should I go from here? Should I just leave the wood like it is with that sealant or whatever it is on there and just prime and paint? Or should I keep sanding away until I actually get to bare wood and then continue?
Click to expand...

That sealer is probably a polyester resin and won't come off with a stripper. If you want it all off, so that you could use a clear finish, you'll have to sand it. I spent many hours on my 78 P bass getting through that to bare wood. I lucked out though because the body is a couple of nicely matched pieces of ash. I refinished it with a clear oil/varnish finish I concocted myself. That was over 9 years ago and it still looks good.

If you plan on using a paint you don't have to get all that sealer off. Just get the surface smooth and absolutely flawless. Any imperfections will telegraph through the paint and spoil what could be a very nice looking job.

When I figured it was sanded smooth enough, I'd probably patch any small pin holes with filler and then give it a coat of a good oil based sealer to fill in those areas where you've sanded right through the original sealer. Then sand absolutely smooth and top coat with paint, followed by a clear coat.

Lots of work if you want to do a good job.
 
#11
Ok. That sounds right. It's definitely covered in a resin of sorts still.

Would it be alright to just sand it down and leave it like that? With that resin on it? It's a very tough layer, my 180 grit sandpaper does nothing but buff it.

It doesn't look half bad, just real natural looking obviousy. I'll post some pictures tonight of the progress.
 
#12
bassist11 said:
Ok. That sounds right. It's definitely covered in a resin of sorts still.

Would it be alright to just sand it down and leave it like that? With that resin on it? It's a very tough layer, my 180 grit sandpaper does nothing but buff it.

It doesn't look half bad, just real natural looking obviousy. I'll post some pictures tonight of the progress.
Click to expand...

I had to use 40 grit ceramic sandpaper (from belt sander rolls) to get mine off and I still wore out 3 belts of 3"x18".

Sure you can leave it as is if you like the look. It's your bass.
 
#13
IMG_7328.jpg

IMG_7330.jpg

IMG_7336.jpg


Some pictures. The wood is darker than my headstock, so I'll have to do something about that if I keep it a natural color. Also, I thought wrong about having a solid piece of wood. It's mainly one chunk of wood but all around the edges there are obvious chunks glued. So overall, very nice piece of wood excet around the edges like you can see. Not quite finished taking all the paint off either, those horns are a pain...

Also I had to go and give it a little character(dropped it on my garage floor)
IMG_7333.jpg


What's the best way to cover that up?
 
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#14
bassist11 said:
IMG_7328.jpg

IMG_7330.jpg

IMG_7336.jpg


Some pictures. The wood is darker than my headstock, so I'll have to do something about that if I keep it a natural color. Also, I thought wrong about having a solid piece of wood. It's mainly one chunk of wood but all around the edges there are obvious chunks glued. So overall, very nice piece of wood excet around the edges like you can see. Not quite finished taking all the paint off either, those horns are a pain...

Also I had to go and give it a little character(dropped it on my garage floor)
IMG_7333.jpg


What's the best way to cover that up?
Click to expand...

Boy, that's a bad one. Sand out some of it without destroying the profile too much. The maybe a mixture of fine sanding sawdust with a bit of the oil finish you use and tinted with artists pigments to match the rest. It'll be tough to hide completely. And it takes some experimenting to get the finished colour to match. Very good furniture finish restorers can do it but they have lots of experience.

Some guys with the woodworking skills and tools would cut out that piece and patch in a piece of solid wood of the same type and grain. Then finish the whole body at once.
 
#15
For the headstock, I'd make up a glaze with gelled oil based wood stain and apply it over the headstock, then clear coat it to protect it. You might have to combine several colours to get an exact match.

That's why I always recommend people asking about these things to get a copy of the book-"Hand Applied Finishes" by Jeff Jewitt from Taunton Press. It answers all these questions with advice from a pro and it has photos to guide you.
 
#17
Alright. Color is gone, hooray...

I'm going to put it together and play it to see how it sounds. A friend of mine insists that guitars/basses sound better without a finish. So depending on how that goes, I might be done with this one. The natural is growing on me.

I don't plan on sanding off all resin though no matter what. Can you stain/paint over the resin or would I have to sand down to bare wood?
 
#18
bassist11 said:
Alright. Color is gone, hooray...

I'm going to put it together and play it to see how it sounds. A friend of mine insists that guitars/basses sound better without a finish. So depending on how that goes, I might be done with this one. The natural is growing on me.

I don't plan on sanding off all resin though no matter what. Can you stain/paint over the resin or would I have to sand down to bare wood?
Click to expand...

If your down to the resin coat, you can start right away with priming then apply solid color, then apply clear coats. Then polish.

Stain over resin, no.
 

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