Shell pink P bass refinish

[spaz21387]

So this is my first big project like this. Im stripping and rebuilding an old mim p bass. The plan is to give it a geddy lee jazz neck g&l mfd pickups and a babicz bridge... now on to the pictures

thats where im at now just needs to be wet sanded out with 1500 grit and maybe more coats of clear.

 

[deepestend]

Nice! Keep going!

 

[wraub]

If that were mine I'd probably do a few more color coats before sanding. IMO could use a bit more paint.

I dig the color.

 

[alltomorrowsparties]

Im excited now

 

[Hopkins]

If it were me, I would use an 80 grit sticky back sand paper on a hard flat block and sand it back down to wood to get the top and back flat. You needed alot more prep work on the wood before you sprayed your sealer coat, which is why I never recommend stripping a body down to bare wood. The previous finish could have had the dings filled and level and you would have had a nice level surface in which to apply your color

 

[wraub]

What Hopkins said.

 

[spaz21387]

Id say its an improvement over what the previous owner did even with a few dents.

 

[Hopkins]

Id say its an improvement over what the previous owner did even with a few dents.

I'm not criticizing, I am just giving information on how to achieve the best possible outcome. You aren't too far into spraying finish yet so it wouldn't be a major ordeal to take care of a few problems that were missed in the body prep stage.

 

[spaz21387]

I think im just going to let it go as it is. Ill wet sand with like 1200 to 2000 grit and polish it up. I want it to wear eventually thats why I went with reranch nitro...

Oh and the mailman left me a little present today. My pickguard came! Heres a little mock up.

 

[spaz21387]

Heres where im at now. Just need the pots cap and resistor to be delivered. Im wiring it up like a g&l sb1.

 

[Splods]

Looks good man, how many coats did you end up doing? If you only did a few, then it should begin to wear quickly. The issue you may encounter will be when it begins to wear, and instead of a nice grain you will see just the sealer coat. Not the best look. Shell pink with the Geddy neck is a great look though!

 

[spaz21387]

Im going to say 6 coats of sealer. 3 of primer . Like 10 of color. And 9 of clear. So are you saying i should have got a clear primer instead of white?

 

[Splods]

No, I'm agreeing with Hopkins in that you should have sanded back to the bare wood, and then sealed. MIM instruments use a thick sealer, so the grain doesn't come through as nicely. Bass looks great, and I'm sure it's not as big an issue in person as I think it is.

 

[spaz21387]

But it was sunburst so did they do anything different on those? You could see wood grain through the orange. I do think i left the original sealer intact and just sprayed over it. I do love what I ended up with shell pink with a pearl pickguard is beautiful. The geddy neck just adds to it.

 

[Will_White]

No, I'm agreeing with Hopkins in that you should have sanded back to the bare wood, and then sealed. MIM instruments use a thick sealer, so the grain doesn't come through as nicely. Bass looks great, and I'm sure it's not as big an issue in person as I think it is.

IMHO the amount of wood grain your going to see through a wear spot is minimal and I don't think the sealer will have much of an effect on how it looks down the road.

 

[Hopkins]

I built pretty close to the same bass, or at least the same color scheme a while back.

 

[charlie monroe]

I'm glad you posted both of those pics, @Hopkins

I was going to suggest black knobs to the OP, and now he has a comparo between stereo knobs and knurled chrome

 

[Hopkins]

I'm glad you posted both of those pics, @Hopkins

I was going to suggest black knobs to the OP, and now he has a comparo between stereo knobs and knurled chrome

The black knobs were just temporary. I was going to use white pickup covers but they didn't match the pick guard very well at all, the contrast of the black looked better than a non matching white

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Looks good dude, if you cant see it from 5 feet back then oh well is how I look at paint, there tools after all.

 

[spaz21387]

Whoa that really is the same bass. Same bridge too! And i think i like the p bass chrome knobs better. Im still waiting for the parts to get here. Why did g&l use oddball parts on the sb1? Who has a 6.8k resistor and a .01uf cap laying around in their parts boxes? I have plenty of spare pots and .47s or .047s whatever one is the standard in p basses. But anyway they are in the mail. Im dying to hear this mfd pickup though. I bet it will kill with my v4b.