A quick repair question for the DIY bunch here in the club…
The issue:
I have an Eppi Custom Shop Limited Edition with a good size chunk of wood knocked out of the butt end of the upper bout.
The finish is white but beautifully and naturally aged to a French vanilla patina…
Here’s it is with a white piece of paper for reference; and here’s some cool player wear on the finish that I’d hate to loose…
It’s a 15 year old bass, so there’s various and sundry nicks and dings in it but from five feet out it looks fine.
The two challenges:
1) I don’t have the missing wood chunk, so an area about 1-1/2” square will need to be reconstructed and of course it’s right on the front and side where the edge radius is.
2) Matching a white poly finish is nearly impossible and matching a naturally aged one is even more so.
Solutions:
Do I use bondo to fill the chunk or wood putty or epoxy or resin?
Do I just eyeball matching the edge radius with patience and sandpaper?
Do I mix white/yellow/tan paint to get a close match and hand paint with a brush and sand smooth since no rattle can color will match?
Do I just fill the chunk and shape as best I can, skip painting and just put a sticker over it?
Do I hand it to Pat Wilkins and have him do a total body repair (maybe sand a forearm contour to eliminate the missing chunk, and then refin the right way for about $500?
Other options?
What would you do?
Keep in mind this is a used low value bass that will be gifted to a nephew in law for his worship band. I’m already putting some neat innovative hot rodding mods into it that total about $400 and will bring my out of pocket costs to about $650 (not including shipping to his address) so in this case cheaper is better as long as it looks presentable. It’s his first Tbird (he normally plays a P Bass or Guitar) and he’s excited about it.
The issue:
I have an Eppi Custom Shop Limited Edition with a good size chunk of wood knocked out of the butt end of the upper bout.
The finish is white but beautifully and naturally aged to a French vanilla patina…
Here’s it is with a white piece of paper for reference; and here’s some cool player wear on the finish that I’d hate to loose…
It’s a 15 year old bass, so there’s various and sundry nicks and dings in it but from five feet out it looks fine.
The two challenges:
1) I don’t have the missing wood chunk, so an area about 1-1/2” square will need to be reconstructed and of course it’s right on the front and side where the edge radius is.
2) Matching a white poly finish is nearly impossible and matching a naturally aged one is even more so.
Solutions:
Do I use bondo to fill the chunk or wood putty or epoxy or resin?
Do I just eyeball matching the edge radius with patience and sandpaper?
Do I mix white/yellow/tan paint to get a close match and hand paint with a brush and sand smooth since no rattle can color will match?
Do I just fill the chunk and shape as best I can, skip painting and just put a sticker over it?
Do I hand it to Pat Wilkins and have him do a total body repair (maybe sand a forearm contour to eliminate the missing chunk, and then refin the right way for about $500?
Other options?
What would you do?
Keep in mind this is a used low value bass that will be gifted to a nephew in law for his worship band. I’m already putting some neat innovative hot rodding mods into it that total about $400 and will bring my out of pocket costs to about $650 (not including shipping to his address) so in this case cheaper is better as long as it looks presentable. It’s his first Tbird (he normally plays a P Bass or Guitar) and he’s excited about it.
