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Worth repainting Fender jazz?

#2
krstko said:
I'll buy a Fender Highway one jazz bass. Everything is nice, except the colour. It's sunburst. I don't like it and it doesn't go with my style (rock).
Tell me, do you think it is worth repainting it? :)
Click to expand...


You might try taking all the hardware off, dipping it in rubberized plastic, and bouncing some ideas off of it.

See if any of them stick.
 
#7
krstko said:
I'll buy a Fender Highway one jazz bass. Everything is nice, except the colour. It's sunburst. I don't like it and it doesn't go with my style (rock).
Tell me, do you think it is worth repainting it? :)
Click to expand...
Absolutely not.

Repainting an original finish is either expensive to have done or difficult to do well yourself and always devalues the instrument.

Buy what you want in the first place.
 
#8
It's only worth it if you dislike the sunburst enough to go through the hassle and cost. In the end should be happy with all aspects of your bass, including looks. Should have got a different color at the start, but usually Fender only offers about 2 or 3 colors for each model, so you probably didn't have many options anyway. If you dig the H1 and wanna keep it, paint it, if it makes you happy.
 
#9
How much did it cost?

When it's fully refinished it will probably be worth half that or less.

So if color is worth the cost of painting plus the devaluation to you? ...well only you can answer that.
 
#10
Damn why my band didn't told me that you couldn't play rock with a sunburst bass ? All those years looking like a newbie...

Seriously, if you don't like the color you're probably better changing the body if you have minimal skills. It would cost less and will not hurt resale value.
 
#12
1. There were an awful lot of rock groups in the 60s that had sunburst basses on stage.

2. Even if I think that it's silly to consider buying something that you don't want in the first place, it's your money and music so do whatever you want.

3. Disclosure: I have a Fender 60s reissue Jazz bass in sunburst with three-ply tortoise pick guard and I love it for how it sounds and for how it looks and for how it connects me to the music I grew up with.
 
#15
It's cool if you don't like sunburst but to say it doesn't fit with "rock" is just preposterously nonsensical! If you really like the bass get it and see if you can deal with the color. The nice thing about the highway one is the really really thin nitro finish, so if you can live with the sunburst and play the bass a lot the finish will wear off very quickly. But if you get it do what you wish.
 
#16
1. Everyone who said sunburst instruments rock is absolutely right.

2. If you really want to take up refinishing don't make your first attempt on a MIA Fender. Use a cheap bass that you can afford to ruin because the likelihood is that you will ruin it first time around. Look at any of the refinishing threads if you don't believe me.
 
#17
If you like the natural look, it's not hard to sand the finish off on the Highway1s, down to the sealer, then wet sand it smooth. Just have to be a bit careful and hope the grain looks good. Here's mine:

btw, I think sunburst finishes rock.

precision1.jpg
 
#18
Contrary to what most of the posters have said here, refinishing a common highway jazz bass won't drop the value in half if the refinish is well done. Hell I've seen awfully relic'd highway series instruments going for only maybe a hundred or so less than their minty counterparts. The price of the instrument, if you decide to resell it, is determined by what people will pay for it.

Unless you, or a friend who'll do it for cheap, have experience doing this kinda stuff I'd avoid it. You'll probably have better luck putting it on craigslist asking someone if they'd rather have sunburst.

That said, its not SUPER hard to refinish a bass if you take your time and do your research. Especially if you're doing a solid color.

I have a 2006 Highway P-bass that I "refinished." The top coat with the color is actually very thin so you can strip your bass natural with some steel wool and 20 minutes worth of elbow grease. I was trying to get a "george porter jr" kind of vibe until I realized that the bass was kinda ugly. I then passed it around to some friends who started painting it with sharpie paint markers.

This is an old WIP, there's a bunch more stuff on it now.

Link Removed
 
#19
GeneralElectric said:
Contrary to what most of the posters have said here, refinishing a common highway jazz bass won't drop the value in half if the refinish is well done. Hell I've seen awfully relic'd highway series instruments going for only maybe a hundred or so less than their minty counterparts. The price of the instrument, if you decide to resell it, is determined by what people will pay for it.

Unless you, or a friend who'll do it for cheap, have experience doing this kinda stuff I'd avoid it. You'll probably have better luck putting it on craigslist asking someone if they'd rather have sunburst.

That said, its not SUPER hard to refinish a bass if you take your time and do your research. Especially if you're doing a solid color.

I have a 2006 Highway P-bass that I "refinished." The top coat with the color is actually very thin so you can strip your bass natural with some steel wool and 20 minutes worth of elbow grease. I was trying to get a "george porter jr" kind of vibe until I realized that the bass was kinda ugly. I then passed it around to some friends who started painting it with sharpie paint markers.

This is an old WIP, there's a bunch more stuff on it now.

Link Removed
Click to expand...

you and I were having that same george porter jr thought. :D. love the drawings on yours.
 

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