Yamaha BB revisioned

[Bob McAlister]

I don’t know if many of you have considered reinventing your old bass with a vinyl wrap. I bought a vinyl guitar wrap from ‘Sticka-Steve’s’ a couple of years ago and kept a lookout for the right older bass (with electronic cavity in the rear). Anyway, I got a real good deal on a 1998 Yamaha bb g-4s a couple of weeks ago. It had been played a lot. The seller said it had been his (passed away) uncles’ main bass. It was all black with tired looking gold hardware. Perfect! So I set about taking it all apart to get the body ready for its transformation. I also did a fret leveling, crowning and polishing on the neck. Then I watched EVERY video on how to apply the vinyl wrap. One thing none of the videos mentioned was how to work it to the surface with the adhesive that comes with it and then use the heat gun to stretch it over the curved sides. Oh well. I also used ‘knifeless tape’ to define the perimeter. It’s not a perfect job, but turned out good enough. Check it out. Cheaper than a paint job and pretty fun to do. There are thousands of different wraps available. Bob

 

[Bob McAlister]

Thx, Matt!

 

[bdplaid]

I did one in leopard.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Thx, Matt!

Yeah. It’s definitely interesting. I never really tried a wrap, I started with fabric tops and went with that. Now I’m working on good spray paint jobs. I’ve done a flake and a couple of color change pearl. It’s for sure a learning process.

 

[Daniel B5]

I also used ‘knifeless tape’ to define the perimeter. It’s not a perfect job, but turned out good.

Can you share some photos of the side and back, too? I'm interested in that perimeter.

 

[SharpCat]

Ooo, Mandelbrot!

 

[SpyderX]

Can you share some photos of the side and back, too? I'm interested in that perimeter.

Yeah if the back and sides look as good as the front, thats a darned good first attempt. Not something I would try - 100% positive it would end up looking like like my kids 3rd grade paper mache project

 

[SpyderX]

I did one in leopard.

View attachment 7415575

ooh I like that - stands out but not over the top (for my taste)

 

[pb9717]

I did chrome wrap on a Cort A5plusSC,

 

[toastw]

Looks awesome!

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Groovy! Or....Trippy?


...ok, very nice looking bass

 

[Bob McAlister]

Hi in response to the asking of a few photos from the side of the bass, here ya go. The back I just left the original black paint. I took the knife less tape and stuck it on the final edge of the radius contour where the top becomes the sides. I left a 4” ‘tail’ at each endl in order to have something to grab once I started ‘cutting’. Also, I’ve provided a photo of the ‘knifeless tape’ box. I bought the cheapest one I could find, but I think if I ever do another one I’ll buy the 3m product. Also, I used 1/4” abalone vinyl position marker dots on the fret board from ‘Jockomo’. I could have gotten real fancy with some of their other designs, but thought these would compliment the bigger picture and not detract from it. If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me. Bob

 

[GDUBS]

Man looks fantastic. I've been thinking about doing this to a bass of mine.
I've wrapped several pickguards and a head stock!!
Nice work and cool choice on the design of the wrap

 

[Barticus]

I don’t know if many of you have considered reinventing your old bass with a vinyl wrap. I bought a vinyl guitar wrap from ‘Sticka-Steve’s’ a couple of years ago and kept a lookout for the right older bass (with electronic cavity in the rear). Anyway, I got a real good deal on a 1998 Yamaha bb g-4s a couple of weeks ago. It had been played a lot. The seller said it had been his (passed away) uncles’ main bass. It was all black with tired looking gold hardware. Perfect! So I set about taking it all apart to get the body ready for its transformation. I also did a fret leveling, crowning and polishing on the neck. Then I watched EVERY video on how to apply the vinyl wrap. One thing none of the videos mentioned was how to work it to the surface with the adhesive that comes with it and then use the heat gun to stretch it over the curved sides. Oh well. I also used ‘knifeless tape’ to define the perimeter. It’s not a perfect job, but turned out good enough. Check it out. Cheaper than a paint job and pretty fun to do. There are thousands of different wraps available. Bob

Cool!
That fractal wrap is very Tool’ish

 

[funkinbottom]

Nice job, I like.

 

[hrodbert696]

I did this with my BB back in 2015. Got bored of the tomato-soup red. In my case, instead of wrapping the whole thing, I cut the decal in broad stripes. Did not know how to use cutting tape at the time so the edges are sloppy, but it's not very noticeable from the crowd.

 

[Bonkersville]

Never heard of knifeless tape before. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Geogio]

This is a very fortuitous thread for me, because I have a black and white tuxedo FSO Pbass that looks pretty tired and I have been thinking about another scratch plate. Since it's not a Fender and I don't really feel like fashioning a plate out of a blank, I have been considering this wrap or a type of this wrap for countertops, which is marbled so will have a marble pick guard on a black bass and that should pop it a little bit. Red wouldn't be bad either.