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Refinishing your fender p bass ??

descendent22

descendent22

Jul 29, 2015
1,543
924
39
Connecticut
#1
Just a quick thought and more or less just wondering about this... An idea has run through my head to have my black fender p bass sanded down and painted a different color. I won't won't be attempting to do this myself, I'm going to hire a professional. I know people have had their instruments refinished with a different color. I kinda would like a different color but I most likely won't have it done. Can anyone share their stories/experience refinishing and painted/changing the color. And can someone explain the whole process
 
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#2
it was easy for me I sent it to Pat Wilkins
swampash1.gif

before

body2.gif


S_blk_3.gif

after
 
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#4
Word of advice, don't sand anything. Use a heat gun and some finesse, that poly will come right off.

Start at the re-ranch site. Do lots of reading beforehand. I used the site below as well.

Spraying A Finish - The Tundra Man Workshop

If I was going to do it again I would use a spray gun and mix my own clear coat. I had a bad experience using store bought acrylic lacquer, it never cured properly. I would also suggest you really take your time and do not rush anything.
 
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#8
I've refinished a few at this point, and believe me, you'll want to do as much research as possible before you start. It's a good bit of work, and you must have patience and take your time. Rushing will get you poor results. Thankfully, TB and Reranch.com are great resources for getting started.

On the other hand, if you don't want to go the DIY route, Pat Wilkins and Marty Bell both do excellent work. Spending the money on a pro job would save you a lot of time and headache.
 
#11
DiabolusInMusic said:
Word of advice, don't sand anything. Use a heat gun and some finesse, that poly will come right off.

Start at the re-ranch site. Do lots of reading beforehand. I used the site below as well.

Spraying A Finish - The Tundra Man Workshop

If I was going to do it again I would use a spray gun and mix my own clear coat. I had a bad experience using store bought acrylic lacquer, it never cured properly. I would also suggest you really take your time and do not rush anything.
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Oh I'm not doing it, so no worries there.gunna hire a professional tech with experience
 
#13
friskinator said:
I've refinished a few at this point, and believe me, you'll want to do as much research as possible before you start. It's a good bit of work, and you must have patience and take your time. Rushing will get you poor results. Thankfully, TB and Reranch.com are great resources for getting started.

On the other hand, if you don't want to go the DIY route, Pat Wilkins and Marty Bell both do excellent work. Spending the money on a pro job would save you a lot of time and headache.
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I'm hiring a professional I would never do it
 
#14
BigBigGuy44 said:
Another option that costs about the same is to order a new finished body from Warmoth. Keep your original body. If you don't like it or grow tired of it, move everything back to the original and sell the extra body.
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This is what I was going to say. I think a finished gallery body from wamoth is around 300 bucks these days (more if you pick the body and have them finish it). I'd be surprised if you could get a body stripped and finished for less than 300 bucks. I've got one at MJT right now (i wanted nitro) and I think finishing (and a little relic work) on a prepped body was 275.
 
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#15
MobileHolmes said:
This is what I was going to say. I think a finished gallery body from wamoth is around 300 bucks these days (more if you pick the body and have them finish it). I'd be surprised if you could get a body stripped and finished for less than 300 bucks. I've got one at MJT right now (i wanted nitro) and I think finishing (and a little relic work) on a prepped body was 275.
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That's a good option.warmoth has some nice stuff,but my bass is my bass.i want my body of my bass that I have now.
 
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#17
The precision in my avatar was a black P-bass. I lightly scuffed the surface and sprayed primer and Olympic White DUplicolor. I then brought back out the existing defects with a small file and added some relic to the contour and low string area. I finished it with a couple of light coats of ReRanch Satin Nitro. If I was doing a gloss finish I would have a pro do it, but satin is a little more forgiving in my experience.
 
#19
DiabolusInMusic said:
Word of advice, don't sand anything. Use a heat gun and some finesse, that poly will come right off.

Start at the re-ranch site. Do lots of reading beforehand. I used the site below as well.

Spraying A Finish - The Tundra Man Workshop

If I was going to do it again I would use a spray gun and mix my own clear coat. I had a bad experience using store bought acrylic lacquer, it never cured properly. I would also suggest you really take your time and do not rush anything.
Click to expand...
You know, I've been using a heat gun on & off on a 96 MIM P body for months now and that shizzz takes forever to come off! On mine, there's like 5 layers of paint, some sort of sealer, and a clear layer that is almost like super glue near the edges of the body. It's super frustrating. I'm debating switching to a chemical stripper for the rest!!!
 

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