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Revamping a Squier Precision Bass

Woodyrson

Woodyrson

Aug 23, 2009
385
73
#1
After months of wanting to do this project, I finally found that great deal on an old Squier that I've been looking for. What I have is a white 1998 Squier P-Bass. The body is pretty dinged up and just looks pretty bad. When I first thought about doing this, I went out and played some new Squiers to get a feel for what all I would need to do. The first thing that I noticed on all of the new Squiers (Affinity) was how terrible the neck felt. I fully expected to have to roll the edges of the knifelike fretboard and file the ends of the frets to make the neck comfortable. However, the guitar I got a hold of had a FANTASTIC neck! I was so surprised by how good it felt. So, that took a little of the work out of this project. Anyway, on to the bass...

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So, that is what I'm starting with. My plan is to strip the paint and refinish it in Fiesta Red, add a tort guard, put a Fender waterslide decal on the headstock, and probably replace all the electronics (I haven't decided on pickups yet, although the stock ones were surprisingly good, so any suggestions are welcome!). I'm going for a Pino Palladino look on this one. It is my first complete refin, so I hope it turns out well.
 
#2
I started stripping the paint off the body last night. This is my first experience with a Squier, but I knew the paint would be thick and pretty tough. I used some Citristrip I had left over from another project on a small spot to see what effect it had. About all that was good for was to strip the top layer of dirt from the paint. So, I moved on to the most powerful chemical stripper I know of, Klean Strip Aircraft Paint Remover. The paint scraped right off without much trouble at all, but there is still a clear "shell" under the paint that the Klean Strip didn't even attempt to phase. I will post pictures when I get all the paint stripped off, but does anyone know the best way to get rid of that "shell?" If there is not good way, I can just rough it up and paint over it, but I really wanted to get to bare wood so I could prime then paint and end up with a fairly thin finish.
 
#6
I got most of the paint stripped from the body today with the exception of a few small, stubborn flecks which I will sand off tomorrow. I also sanded down the headstock.

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I plan to have my paint ordered within the next couple days and have the painting process started by the end of next week. I still have quite a bit of work to do on the body between now and then. There are a few dings that need to be filled and it needs to be sanded and prepared for the primer.
 
#8
nutso42 said:
You should add this: http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-P-Bass-Bridge-Cover?sku=420553

And this: http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Precision-Bass-Pickup-Cover?sku=420554
Click to expand...

You have great taste! I was actually thinking about putting the bridge cover on, but wasn't completely decided on the pickup cover yet. I really dig the look of those things. It may be the last thing I buy for this project, but covers will definitely be on it at some point.
 
#11
Thank god you're posting pics. I hate when folks do build threads and post almost zero pics.

Are you going to Reranch the neck?

Let me know if you want a good vender who does water slides.

If you go with new electronics, use vintage wire. That stuff is so much easier to work with.

Pups: Lollar or Fralins?
 
#13
I'm not painting the headstock or anything. I plan to put the decal on the headstock and just spray the finish over that. I actually have a couple different places I was thinking about ordering the decal from. I originally planned to go with the American Deluxe style with the mirrored chrome look, but since I'm shooting for a Pino look, I decided to go with the 61-63 decal. It will probably be sometime tomorrow before I have more pics. I didn't get around to priming last night, so I'll do that tonight. As soon as I get done posting this, I'm ordering the paint and the decal, so hopefully they'll be here pretty quick.
 
#14
rdwoody1 said:
I'm not painting the headstock or anything. I plan to put the decal on the headstock and just spray the finish over that. I actually have a couple different places I was thinking about ordering the decal from. I originally planned to go with the American Deluxe style with the mirrored chrome look, but since I'm shooting for a Pino look, I decided to go with the 61-63 decal. It will probably be sometime tomorrow before I have more pics. I didn't get around to priming last night, so I'll do that tonight. As soon as I get done posting this, I'm ordering the paint and the decal, so hopefully they'll be here pretty quick.
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I'm sorry. I mean, are you tinting the neck? It gives the raw wood neck that classic amber look.
 
#15
Oh, ok, no, I'm not tinting the neck. The neck was already finished, and as I said before, felt fantastic. The only modification I'm doing to it is sanding the logos off so I can put the new waterslide decal on. I plan to put a couple coats of finish on, then the waterslide, then more finish over that. But, the rest of the neck is going to be left alone. If I was going for a dead ringer copy, I would probably sand down and tint the whole thing, but the Pino bass is just kind of a template.
 
#16
rdwoody1 said:
Oh, ok, no, I'm not tinting the neck. The neck was already finished, and as I said before, felt fantastic. The only modification I'm doing to it is sanding the logos off so I can put the new waterslide decal on. I plan to put a couple coats of finish on, then the waterslide, then more finish over that. But, the rest of the neck is going to be left alone. If I was going for a dead ringer copy, I would probably sand down and tint the whole thing, but the Pino bass is just kind of a template.
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very cool. where are u getting the body paint?
 
#20
DumDrummer said:
basspartsresource.com-- I put the '62 reissue pickups and vintage wiring kit in my old MIM pbass. It thumps. I love it.
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I actually looked into those. I got a lot of parts from there when I fixed up my old Jazz Bass, but they're out of stock right now.

But, I am trying to keep this a pretty low budget project. My stuff usually doesn't stay that way, though :D

Anyway, I've been keeping up with the accessories page on here to find pickups, pickup covers, strings, etc.
 

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