The Soundgear Club

[ruju]

Hi guys, I need some advice with respect to refinish of my Sr 505, which probably was not good idea for my hands. Did couple mistakes and finally decided to try kinda relic/vintage view. This is current state, before wipe on poly application which I will do as a final step. So the question, can THIS be considered as a relic view style or is it complete sh..t? Is it better to sand to zero and start from beginning or can it be left as it is followed by wipe on poly ? Thanks

Honest opinion,it doesn't look good sorry. The good news is if you are going for a relic look and perfect finish doesn't matter you can just buy a $12 rattle can and spray it..
I bought a cheap black affinity p and gave it a quick sand,spray it with rustoleum chalked paint. The results were decent,and it shows minor wear from my arm rubbing..

 

[Lighten]

Thanks for your replies, to be honest that is my 1st experience. Original idea was taken from some topic over here in TB, where red mahogany 225 and wipe on poly satin were used, so I went that way. My main mistake was to not wipe out the stain right after application, and I did 3 such coats. And second consequent error was to sand afterwards slightly which brings to what you have seen earlier. Now I'm sanding it back to zero, but stain got too deep. This is how it looks currently. Any suggestions for another stain, maybe some darker one to hide grains? Or can I still apply mahogany stain, with wiping out this time?

 

[Drop1]

Thanks for your replies, to be honest that is my 1st experience. Original idea was taken from some topic over here in TB, where red mahogany 225 and wipe on poly satin were used, so I went that way. My main mistake was to not wipe out the stain right after application, and I did 3 such coats. And second consequent error was to sand afterwards slightly which brings to what you have seen earlier. Now I'm sanding it back to zero, but stain got too deep. This is how it looks currently. Any suggestions for another stain, maybe some darker one to hide grains? Or can I still apply mahogany stain, with wiping out this time?

It will be a pain to get that out. Tons of sanding. You've gotten it to a point that if you want to stain it again with a similar color you can. If you sand it completely you could do a clear coat with a bit of color mixed in. As a last resort there is always paint. Some auto paint shops will do little side projects of a little bit of nothing. I've had a few bikes painted that way. A home painter, particularly one that finishes cabinets could do it and give you any stain finish you could dream of. Lots of cabinets painters these days specialize in give wood an aged look. If you are gonna stain it yourself, dont let the stain sit for more than a few minutes before wiping off excess. Do a really light sanding between coats for the best results. Use somewhere around 600 grit sand paper for the between coats sanding. If you are going to clear coat it with a spray can, barely mist it. You dont need full coverage per coat. It will dry faster and look better doing several extremely light coats.

 

[ruju]

It will be a pain to get that out. Tons of sanding. You've gotten it to a point that if you want to stain it again with a similar color you can. If you sand it completely you could do a clear coat with a bit of color mixed in. As a last resort there is always paint. Some auto paint shops will do little side projects of a little bit of nothing. I've had a few bikes painted that way. A home painter, particularly one that finishes cabinets could do it and give you any stain finish you could dream of. Lots of cabinets painters these days specialize in give wood an aged look. If you are gonna stain it yourself, dont let the stain sit for more than a few minutes before wiping off excess. Do a really light sanding between coats for the best results. Use somewhere around 600 grit sand paper for the between coats sanding. If you are going to clear coat it with a spray can, barely mist it. You dont need full coverage per coat. It will dry faster and look better doing several extremely light coats.

Good advice on the clear coat. I made that exact mistake on my first refin attempt. Less is definitely more..

 

[Lighten]

I've done with those tons of sanding finally. Ordered minwax dark walnut, would it be ok for the mahogany body?
Upd. This is how it looks after 2 coats. Just wonder whether I need 3d one, as technically it is recommended, but I wouldn't want to go into so dark color.

 

[Vulkus]

Got this about a month ago.

 

[Erik Asma]

Here's mine. Poor pic but the only one at hand right now. SR1820.  Had to have those big nordstrands. Opted for the 1300 first, but this was a return and came cheaper then the 1300.
It plays insanely nice. Never stops amazing me when I played my other basses for a while and grab it again.

 

[Seashore]

I can't help it... I don't like Ibanez stock preamps. They make me feel like I'm playing with gloves on. I tried to get used to the vari-mid pre in my 1006, but even when I had the EQ just right, the instrument felt and sounded a little dead to me. So here we are! No controls, bridge pickup wired to the jack.

I tried both pickups in series, with and without volume pots, but I dislike the sound of the neck pickup in this instrument... And I couldn't get everything to ground properly, either with a star ground or with the pot and jack grounds connected directly to the six individual wires coming from the saddles. The noise made it borderline unplayable; the single pickup straight to the jack was the most tolerable option. It wasn't until this morning that I realized I could ground the bridge wires to the power lug on the output jack. Now that the grounding issue is solved, I might put volume controls back in and blend the neck pickup in very sparingly, but I have to say I love the sound and feel now. Just like every other instrument I play regularly, this one came alive when I took the brains out. I'm considering cutting my own (hopefully tasteful) adhesive pickguard to cover up the lobotomy scars.

 

[FatFunk]

Hey! How about a little audio clip with the pickups straight to the jack? Would you be so kind?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

If I had that bass (4 control-holes):
two linear taper 500k Ohm volume pots
500k Ohm audio-taper treble-cut
1 MegOhm Reverse-Audio (C-taper) bass-cut

If those are Bartolini's, I doubt they have 4 wires for parallel/series wiring.
Which is too bad, because the neck pickup in parallel might sound just right.

 

[Seashore]

Hey! How about a little audio clip with the pickups straight to the jack? Would you be so kind?

I might be able to get something recorded tomorrow, but if not I'll follow up next week

If I had that bass (4 control-holes):
two linear taper 500k Ohm volume pots
500k Ohm audio-taper treble-cut
1 MegOhm Reverse-Audio (C-taper) bass-cut

If those are Bartolini's, I doubt they have 4 wires for parallel/series wiring.
Which is too bad, because the neck pickup in parallel might sound just right.

Good call I had two 500k linear taper pots in when I did the dual-volume configuration yesterday, and I might put them back in tomorrow. Gotta admit I'm stumped about why it was so ridiculously noisy when I grounded the pots to the bridge wires. I'm on the fence about tone controls, but it would definitely look nicer to have something other than gaping holes in that figured maple top...

You're right about the pickups, they're single-conductor USA Bartolinis. I think just a hair of the neck pickup blended in with the bridge would be beneficial. It sounded bad on its own though, dark with a weird mid-range bump that doesn't work for me at all. Even with the preamp in, I didn't use it.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

If you want no tone controls you could get better pickups (with 4 wires) & put in series/parallel switches for the remaining two holes.
or even a 3-position switch for parallel/split/series:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1941/7837/files/Dual-Coil-Diagram.pdf

 

[Seashore]

If you want no tone controls you could get better pickups (with 4 wires) & put in series/parallel switches for the remaining two holes.
or even a 3-position switch for parallel/split/series:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1941/7837/files/Dual-Coil-Diagram.pdf

Not into that adhesive pickguard idea, huh? Thanks for the recommendation. That looks great, and would actually be more my speed. I'm considering something like Big Blades, at some point when I can put more money in. I like a good amount of "zing" around 1.5-1.7kHz and a pretty strong midrange - almost guitar tones, but dialed back enough to be complementary. This bridge pickup isn't the best fit, but it sounds lively and detailed straight to the jack when I EQ it properly. I tried the dual volume configuration again today and hated it, that neck pickup adds nothing good no matter what way I slice it. That feels odd to me since the neck pickup in my other two basses is the majority of my tone.

 

[hypercarrots]

soundgear with a pickguard is like a camry with a fake convertible roof...
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[Seashore]

soundgear with a pickguard is like a camry with a fake convertible roof...
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But I have a vision, gosh darnit!

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Hi everyone-- I've been an Ibanez player since the early 80's when I bought my first Roadstar II Ric shaped cherryburst. I have an SR500L and SR300EL iron pewter that I love and use according to gigs. The SR500L is used for country and acoustic gigs. The SR300EL is used for 80's rock. In my neck of the woods we get calls for 80's classic rock gigs regularly.

The reason I'm here today is because I have a very nice economy Ibanez, the SR100L. It has a P-style bass pickup. The finish, neck, and body are in good shape for it's age. I somehow have bonded with this bass for what it is-- a cheap practice bass that sounds nice and lives at the office now. So here's my issue. I want to change out the pickup. I'm down to three choices. First, a Nordstrand pickup, I have no idea how it would work but I like Nordy's. Second, either an EMG Geezer Butler P bass pickup or the EMG Active P bass pickup. If I do the Geezer, I think I can do it myself. If I do the Active, I'll have to send it out of town for a pro technician to do the job. Also, I'm wondering if there will be room in the electronics cavity to add the 9V battery and additional electronics.

What's your opinion, TB'ers? Anyone out there have any experience with my pickup ideas? Thanks in advance!

My economy SR at the office:

 

[generalduncan]

Also, I'm wondering if there will be room in the electronics cavity to add the 9V battery and additional electronics.

I can't say anything about the SR100 but I did put an Aguilar active EQ and a 9V battery in my normally passive Washburn XB-200 and everything fit in snugly. Changed the pups to Barts as well. Many people have done it in other basses, can't see a reason you can't do the same on yours.

By the way, keeping a bass and amp at work is such a joy.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I can't say anything about the SR100 but I did put an Aguilar active EQ and a 9V battery in my normally passive Washburn XB-200 and everything fit in snugly. Changed the pups to Barts as well. Many people have done it in other basses, can't see a reason you can't do the same on yours.

By the way, keeping a bass and amp at work is such a joy.

 

[Basehead]

Trying these out and one is now in my 5 string Aerium. These are slightly longer than a standard Duracell/Energizer but it fit here. It didn't fit in my Cerro as I switched out the standard battery compartment with a Fishman one. So far, no problems...

 

[kleinenenten]

Trying these out and one is now in my 5 string Aerium. These are slightly longer than a standard Duracell/Energizer but it fit here. It didn't fit in my Cerro as I switched out the standard battery compartment with a Fishman one. So far, no problems...

View attachment 3499713

How long have you had it in there? And how much did they cost? Always thought of rechargeables for my Ibbys, but only have to change them every other year or so. And I typically get “free” batteries when I buy used pedals that contain old ones.