Vintage Stingray finish ruined: please help!

[logdrum]

If it was me. I'll let it be and let the Krylon peel away or like some mentioned above, use compress air

 

[JamesGrant]

If you slip a fingernail under the paint, does it lift off? If so then there’s every chance it’s a spray coat over the original varnish finish which won’t have keyed particularly well and will be possible to remove. BUT it’s painstakingly slow work and very easy to damage the original finish as the keying will be better in some areas than others. There may well already be damage to the original finish so the varnish layer may already be inconsistent, making top layer removal more of a challenge.
Someone suggested a light sanding - I suggest not doing that as you will likely turn the white paint into a micro-dust and grind it into the original varnish finish.
I wouldn’t attack it with a credit card which can sharpen and have sharp edges, plastic/nylon scrapers are cheap - just make sure they don’t have a moulding/flashing seam on the ‘smooth’ edge!
The most I would do myself would be a plastic/nylon scraper to see if the paint simply lifts off. If not, get the wallet out and think of the future value.
Good luck!

 

[T. Brookins]

Don’t move yet; don’t sand, don’t scrape. There is a high probability that an acetone rag will take the Krylon off. I bought a cheap manual Escort wagon about 20 years ago that was made into an art car with spray paint all over it. An acetone rag took the spraypaint off down to the door centerline, below which I painted with black bedliner spray. The acetone did nothing to the 2K automotive finish.

 

[LanEvo]

You made a horrible mistake in this trade in the long run.

These are personal choices. I’ve got other fretless basses (a 1980 Carl Thompson and now a 1989 Wal Mk-1) that I like more, so the Status wasn’t getting much use.

I’ve never owned a Stingray and this one played and sounded great, so the trade made sense. If it hadn’t been refinished it would have cost more than I’d be willing to part with for a Stingray. I thought I didn’t mind the finish, but the more I look at it the more it annoys me!

Sorry to derail, but what a lovely baby blue

Thanks! That’s always been a favorite, especially for fretless: Very sweet mids … which is not something later SWRs are known for.

 

[DanAdams]

Sometimes people do a poor refinish like this to cover up a problem that you have not seen yet.
I would not assume that the original finish would be decent, even if a plan to remove the paint were to go perfectly.

 

[LanEvo]

I’ve definitely thought of that. But even if there’s something lurking under the finish, it can’t be any worse than the crap on top!

 

[BassHole1]

I'm not a luthier, but I am an amateur drum/bass/guitar restorer, refinisher and relic-er. I can make new instruments look old, old instruments look new, and everything in between. I think it looks cool as is.

You can start with a plain baby wipe. If not, then microfiber towel and hot water with a few drops of Dawn soap. Very lightly damp cloth. See if it works. I would start on the back side so if not, it's not visible, and just a small test area. I would then escalate to the following. All with little liquid and a microfiber cloth:

1) Baby wipe, plain;
2) Hot water/Dawn
3) Magic eraser sponge with hot water only
4) Hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol;
5) Vinegar;
6) Goo Gone;
7) WD-40;
8) Nail polish remover.

If none of those work (and I have to think one or more will work, especially #8), then I would go for Citrusstrip. This is a paint/glue stripper and my go-to for heavier jobs. I would rub on a light coat, give it ONE MINUTE, then wipe it off. If not, then try 2 minutes, etc. It will eat through paint and lacquer so be careful.

As with all attempts, DO AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!! And again, just a very small area to start with.....good luck and post photos!

 

[toastw]

I think you should just accept that it's gonna be a refinish. And if you want it to look old and beat up, you're in luck, 'cause you might even leave a couple spots of white behind.

Just because the finish is new doesn't mean it can't pair well with the vintage neck, hardware, etc. I bet it'll look awesome, warts and all.

 

[turf3]

You can do a solvent test with a cotton swab in an inconspicuous area (under the bridge maybe).

If it's something like Krylon and there's a polyester finish underneath, you mat be able to remove the aerosol finish with a solvent like lacquer thinner without harming the finish below.

But it's hard to know what you've got without being able to examine it.

I don't know the history of early MM finishes, but we should be clear the prefix "poly" doesn't mean that "polyurethane" and "polyester" are interchangeable. They are two different resins and two different finish systems.

Most cured urethanes are resistant to lacquer thinner (especially if they're two part catalyzed urethanes) and polyester certainly is. But early G&L basses, which came after MM, do have solvent reversible finishes so there's reason to think that the MM basses do as well. Hopefully, someone will have more detailed info on this.

In my conservation work, I've seen people do remarkable things with simple materials. If the overfinish is not well attached to the original finish (which looks possible based on the way the overfinish is flaking off), you may be able to do what a colleague of mine once did: remove the overfinish by burnishing good quality packing tape (Scotch brand, etc.) onto the overfinish and then yanking it off, taking the overfinish with it and leaving the original finish intact. When it works, it's cheap magic and fun.

If you decide to scrape off the overfinish, a great tool is a scrap of Lexan or other sheet acrylic or polycarbonate with a bevel ground onto an edge with a belt sander to create a working edge that's akin to a chisel or scraper. With this, you have much more control than with a single edge razor blade. I've removed entire overfinishes with those types of tools and no chemicals involved, just mechanical removal. Tedious but satisfying.

My hope is that if you get the overfinish carefully removed, the original finish that lies underneath will be worthy.

All of this is what I'd try. At least give it a good college try. You might well end up with just a few specks of white left stubbornly adhering, and it'll be a lot easier to deal with just a few such spots (get after with a pick or something similar, touch up underlying natural finish) than to try to make a brand new finish on brand new wood look old.

The wood under all that has been absorbing oxygen and developing patina for the last 40 or 50 years. Sand it down and all that's gone in an instant. I'd rather have the original finish with a few touchups where you had to get after the remaining bits of white paint, and some blemishes here and there, than an all new shiny blinding finish.

 

[skycruiser]

Disassemble the bass and take it to a local antique restoration shop. They have so many tricks and techniques for all types of finishes, materials, damage etc. They can probably remove the paint with no impact on whatever is underneath.

 

[LanEvo]

Looking closer at the bass, there is some grey primer under the white topcoat. I don't know if that changes anything. I wonder if maybe this was automotive paint rather than Krylon. Who knows?

 

[BassHole1]

DIY, dude!

 

[DolphinBro]

OK. Here's my take having dealth with various stuff like this over past 35yrs. The white layer is single coat...not clear coated. So removing it should be fairly easy. If it has any flaking or peeling, that is a good thing and makes sense as to the cheapness. But scraping with anything hard will mark up the layer underneath so forget that. You need to sand it off. Start with a medium grit like 600 and see what happens. Only sand just enough to take off white where it exists and not any cleared area next to it. As a final pass, slowly sand the whole bass lightly as one big piece to make it level and remove any waves. Like someone said, the original finish had a decently thick clear coat that you are not likely to go thru if you are careful. From there it is a matter of buffing out the clear coat with light compound and swirl remover etc. Use 3M products. If successful, what you will have is the finish before the dude screwed everything up with refrigerator paint. Ha. Question is, "Why did he repaint it?" It may be screwed up underneath the white. If that proves to be the case, take the whole thing down to bare wood and decide what finish you want from there. Most Stingrays are easy with no-additive straight colors. I could guide you on how to do it with 2K rattle can but sounds like you're not ready.

Just know that many of these basses and Fenders actually sound dead as a 2x4 without a finish. With most Jazz basses you are actually hearing the finish...not the bass. The thicker the finish the brighter the sound.

Nice bass. Worth fixing and restoring. Then YOU can age it by just using it a lot.

 

[DolphinBro]

Just found page 2 and if you use any solvent past paint thinner (lacquer thinner or acetone), I guarantee you will melt everything together and make a mess. Perhaps I should back out of this discussion. As a final thought, the dude who cautioned what's underneath is dead on. Dents, chips, cracks, wood repairs...who knows. If you start sanding as I suggested, be prepared for a total repaint if things go south. If it were mine, I'd take it down to wood...do a flawless body repaint with clear coat and play the "Flea" out of it. Best of luck.

 

[BassHole1]

I would not paint. I'd start with a small area that's not visible and hope for the best......and if you don't want to use an old t-shirt/rag, use only a plastic scraper (not metal) or a credit card edge.