I recently bought a 2008 American jazz bass. I was thinking about stripping the sunburst of the body, I really enjoy a natural stain. How would I go about doing this, is it way to much work for what I'll get?
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Stripping bass sunburst
- Thread starter meathead69
- Start date
Poly is awful to get off, and even when you think you are there, there is probably going to be a thick layer of filler. I stripped an epiphone burst and eventually went the orbital sander route, but the amount of sanding you will have to do and horror of it all...I would just sell the burst body and buy a natural body from Warmoth or some other site.
Often times they burst or paint guitars for a reason and only the nicest bodies get sold as natural.
It might turn out awesome though. We need pics!
Often times they burst or paint guitars for a reason and only the nicest bodies get sold as natural.
It might turn out awesome though. We need pics!
I stripped a mexican jazz bass with the fotoflame maple top that was sunburst... a heat gun made it VERY VERY easy. was done in 15 minutes. then just a light sand/wipe off before starting to refinish. I used many layers of varnish (from the boating world) and waited for it to harden enough to wetsand/polish... STILL looks this awesome today.
Yes, go for it. IIRC the wood selected for a sunburst finish has to be good quality as most of it does show through the finish. I stripped the SB of a 1972 Jazz Bass back in the early '80s; lots of sandpaper is what I used I am pretty sure, no power tools, and I had to deal with the Fullerplast which was the hardest part to get off. In the end the results were worth the effort.
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It's much easier if you change to a plain solid color. But count over ten hours of work for stripping, filling the holes, wood filler, undercoat, several layers of paint and gloss, paper sanding, polishing, etc... The most difficult areas are the horns, the contours and the sides, as I used only a scrapper blade and sand paper, and neither solvents nor a heat gun (now, I know I made a mistake).
I did it for my 3TSB Alder AVRI '62 Jazz, that had been very badly reliced before I got it, and it was not to my liking.
There was a very thick coating over the nitrocellulose finish that was very hard to get rid of and the wood was severely dug by places.
These pictures below show the different stages during the refinishing.
I tried the Sea Foam Green color (and even tried a SFG Warmoth ash body, that I later used for another Jazz), but eventually stripped the green out and ended up with Ice Blue Metallic (pic at the top). I am very happy with the final result. I used automotive paints and clear coating.
If the wood has been carved either before or mistakenly during the process, forget the natural finish, as holes need to be filled with something that will never be the same color as the wood.
Sorry, pictures are not in the right order, and show 2 different pickguards. I also upgraded the pickups to a pair of Custom Shop '62.
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Man that looks great! I think I have a heatgun lying around, any suggestions for a slightly darker stain?I stripped a mexican jazz bass with the fotoflame maple top that was sunburst... a heat gun made it VERY VERY easy. was done in 15 minutes. then just a light sand/wipe off before starting to refinish. I used many layers of varnish (from the boating world) and waited for it to harden enough to wetsand/polish... STILL looks this awesome today.
That bass also looks very nice. I might just finish it in a good ol black solid colour.
O Course! any stain you choose from light pine to dark walnut will work as long as you let it dry and prep before what I did. I was just going for the blonde look to highlight the flame veneer on top.
Watch out!
The total thickness of the paint and filler/sealer can be considerable!
Fifteen years ago I stripped the paint off a cheap fretless bass to refinish with a dark stain,
After all was done,I put the bass back together.
Much to my horror I found that the point of one of the neck screws came though the fingerboard!!
The screws was sticking about the thickness of the paint and finish.
I nipped the screw tip off.Used a punch to tap it down and sanded it until it was not visible.
The total thickness of the paint and filler/sealer can be considerable!
Fifteen years ago I stripped the paint off a cheap fretless bass to refinish with a dark stain,
After all was done,I put the bass back together.
Much to my horror I found that the point of one of the neck screws came though the fingerboard!!
The screws was sticking about the thickness of the paint and finish.
I nipped the screw tip off.Used a punch to tap it down and sanded it until it was not visible.
