I'm about to mod that exact bass. Got it for 70 as my first bass. Thinking a flat black fretless, possibly adding a J pup.
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Yet another POS Squier Build
- Thread starter sandman357
- Start date
Yep. The scrap piece is Metal Flake Blue covered by VHT nightshades clear red. The red is an epoxy so I am going to wait at least a week for the blue to cure on the bass before I shoot it. On the scrap, the blue was still tacky, but I wanted to see what the color would be. I will post another picture of the bass once I have the clear red on it.
Thank you, i'm starting painting in only a month ish time so if you have pictures before then, it'll be appreciated very much
best of luck
Hopkins
Commercial User
I am pretty sure that its not an epoxy, because if it were it would have a very short pot life in the can. Epoxies always are a two part system. Looking at the MSDS, I think its just a regular acrylic.
So is it safe to cover it with Minwax clear lacquer? The car guys say they use the night shades and cover it with clear lacquer. I will do a test on the scrap wood, but wanted your advice.
Hopkins
Commercial User
So is it safe to cover it with Minwax clear lacquer? The car guys say they use the night shades and cover it with clear lacquer. I will do a test on the scrap wood, but wanted your advice.
Its hard to say because they are two different products from two different brands, with different formulations. If its compatible on your test piece then it will be compatible on your bass body.
So is it safe to cover it with Minwax clear lacquer? The car guys say they use the night shades and cover it with clear lacquer. I will do a test on the scrap wood, but wanted your advice.
I've used this Minwax lacquer over Duplicolor auto color as well as Reranch nitro color, and I've always gotten great results. It dries fairly hard after a week or so, but I usually give it 2 weeks to be safe.
I tested the Minwax on a scrap piece of wood painted with the Nightshades red and no problems. That and the car guys saying they spray lacquer over it gave me the confidence to spray it over the blue sparkle. The metal flake did not come through as much as I would have liked, but I do like the result. I had a very hard time getting the flake to show in the pictures, and the flash of the camera make some of the photos look much lighter than the bass really is. The other pictures are truer to the color. But the sparkle is there in person. Just not as much as I was hoping for. I still like it and will go with it. I probably should have used Reranch Orange like the guy that inspired this in the first place, but live and learn.
Here is my next project: Yamaha RBX 250II. I am going to add the P pickups I took out of the Squier so it will be a double P bass. Then I will do a lace paint job on it. It looks like it fell off a truck on a gravel road there are so many dings in it! This is the good side! I will probably start a new thread for it as I do the lace paint job. As for the Squier, another week of waiting then lacquer. Then copper slug tape the cavity, connect new electronics, reassemble and play!
Here is my next project: Yamaha RBX 250II. I am going to add the P pickups I took out of the Squier so it will be a double P bass. Then I will do a lace paint job on it. It looks like it fell off a truck on a gravel road there are so many dings in it! This is the good side! I will probably start a new thread for it as I do the lace paint job. As for the Squier, another week of waiting then lacquer. Then copper slug tape the cavity, connect new electronics, reassemble and play!
Thank you, i'm starting painting in only a month ish time so if you have pictures before then, it'll be appreciated very much
I have five coats of Minwax Lacquer over the Niteshades Red and no reaction to the paint yet, so I am thinking it is safe to apply lacquer over this clear red. I will do 5 more coats then do some wet-sanding and polishing.
Let the Lacquer cure for about 2 weeks. Now my first attempt at wetsanding. I am fully expecting to burn through the clear coat since I have never done this before, but going to take it slow in an effort to avoid that!
Here I have half of it leveled with 400 grit wet sand. the other half is still orange peel.
After leveling with 400 grit, I went up to 2000 grit. Then rubbing compound, then swirl removing polishing compound. Here is the part I have finished with the swirl remover.
Here is a close up of this section. Getting close to mirror like! No burn through yet.
Here I have half of it leveled with 400 grit wet sand. the other half is still orange peel.
After leveling with 400 grit, I went up to 2000 grit. Then rubbing compound, then swirl removing polishing compound. Here is the part I have finished with the swirl remover.
Here is a close up of this section. Getting close to mirror like! No burn through yet.
Does the original finish have to be taken off entirely? I just sanded mine and sprayed on top and it seems fine.
Very nice! No, you don't have to strip it all the way down. This is my first attempt at doing something like this. I wanted to see if the wood grain was nice enough to finish with a stain. I scorched it so bad with the heat gun it wouldn't have mattered. Live and learn. But you are right, no need to take it down to wood.
Does the original finish have to be taken off entirely? I just sanded mine and sprayed on top and it seems fine.
I've found that actually works better to not go to the wood on Squiers. Just sand off the gloss and get down to the sealer. Use whatever filler you plan on, sand, fill again, sand. At this point I like to shoot a couple coats of sand sealer over it. I've been told others don't, so I don't know if it's needed or not. Then primer. Check for low or high spots, sand and fill if needed, spray a couple more coats of primer. Then go to base coat.
New 250K pots, jack and wiring finished.
All assembled
Since the neck has been sitting without tension on it for a few months, I will let it sit with tension for about a week before I do a setup on it. Again, it is hard to see the sparkle in the photos, but it the metal flake really lights up in person. In sunlight that is. Without direct light it almost looks black.
All in all I like it! Can't wait to do the setup and see how she plays.
All assembled
Since the neck has been sitting without tension on it for a few months, I will let it sit with tension for about a week before I do a setup on it. Again, it is hard to see the sparkle in the photos, but it the metal flake really lights up in person. In sunlight that is. Without direct light it almost looks black.All in all I like it! Can't wait to do the setup and see how she plays.
Hopkins
Commercial User
It looks good,
Don't worry about letting the neck sit for a week, just adjust it as needed which is exactly why it has a truss rod. There is no reason to deal with a poor playing neck for the sake of letting the neck settle.
Don't worry about letting the neck sit for a week, just adjust it as needed which is exactly why it has a truss rod. There is no reason to deal with a poor playing neck for the sake of letting the neck settle.
Thanks, The E string had a very bad buzz when played open so I did give the truss rod a 1/2 turn and it is gone. Still have to do a proper setup on it, but the tone pot makes a humming sound when on, when off it goes away. When I touch the knob, or bridge it goes away. So I have to take it apart and check the ground. I put the new ground wire in the little groove under the bridge. It may not be making good contact with the bridge. I will check that first before I take the pick guard off.
