Double Bass Sanding finish off the neck

[MrPeel]

First off... I'm DIY inept/ cautious for anything involving my string instruments. I love my everything about my bass, except for the annoying fake flame on the neck. The gloss finish is super catchy when I'm playing in venues that get a bit warmer with the added bodies.
My question is roughly what will a luthier charge to sand off this finish and retreat it, leaving a more satin-like finish? I know this stuff is going to vary greatly between luthiers, so a rough estimate alone would be hugely helpful... at least until I can ask a luthier myself

Cheers all!

 

[SidMau]

I think it would be in the ballpark of $100-150

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

This is an easy DIY job. Tape off the top and bottom of the area you want to sand with black electrical tape, as well as the fingerboard/neck seam.

Hit the varnish with steel wool, scrubbing as evenly as possible.

If you wish to go all the way down to bare wood, hit the wood with boiled linseed oil.

 

[uOpt]

This is a photoflame neck?

In that case you will also have to work through glue between the flame and the actual neck wood.

 

[LakeEffect]

Meet my luthier for the very purpose you speak of: http://www.google.com/shopping/prod....3&ei=bS5bUv_gGKKGyQG3q4HICg&ved=0CJQBEKYrMAI

 

[MrPeel]

This is a photoflame neck?

In that case you will also have to work through glue between the flame and the actual neck wood.

Not sure if it's photoflame... it's a 60-70's Hofner carved.
Even if it was an easy job to do, I'd still be super hesitant to attempt.. maybe on a cheap second hand ply, but this thing is my baby and easily the most expensive thing I've ever purchased, so if I screwed up... I don't think the bass would ever forgive me and it'd never play well for me again

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

uOpt, you wandered into the doublebass forum. Down here, fake flame neck finishes aren't done with contact paper and glue, they're airbrushed onto raw maple.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

MrPeel if you play the crap out of the bass, your sweat will wear the fake flame off the neck. Worked for me.

 

[uOpt]

uOpt, you wandered into the doublebass forum. Down here, fake flame neck finishes aren't done with contact paper and glue, they're airbrushed onto raw maple.

Blast the "New Posts" function

Carry on then...

 

[MrPeel]

MrPeel if you play the crap out of the bass, your sweat will wear the fake flame off the neck. Worked for me.

I feel this is the most noble route to take... better start getting some more hours in there then!

Out of curiosity, what about alcohol? Not that I'll try it, but I know it's good for fingerboards and string cleaning, but an epic no no for varnish.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

How would you control where the alcohol traveled?

 

[MrPeel]

How would you control where the alcohol traveled?

cotton puffs, or those oxy makeup remover pad things... they hold liquid in quite well.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

Blast the "New Posts" function

Carry on then...

Open your profile, and under Edit Options, you can exclude the forums that you don't want to see in New Posts.

 

[wallawallabob]

Out of curiosity, what about alcohol? Not that I'll try it, but I know it's good

Alcohol helps many things: It helps me to concentrate on the baseball games and it comes in really handy for inventing that new bass-line you've never had guts enough to try!

 

[powerbass]

If you do DIY I recommend scraping the finish off w/either a cabinet scraper or sharp paint scraper. Be careful not to dig into the wood.