Remove Bass Finish

[phbrown]

I noticed that my bass's paint job has a few chips in some places where I was not careful.

I was wondering does anyone here have any experience refinishing a bass?

It is currently painted black with some sore of metallic finish or sparkles or something.

I'm thinking I can take everything apart.
Sand with sandpaper by hand to remove the existing job.
Stain it. (I think i want to see some wood!) Plus people will think I got a new bass
Apply a clear poly urethane coat.

[ddwilkins]

From my research on TB, its difficult to remove the finish off basses. You have to have some heavy duty sanding tools just to get those paints off. My suggestion is to just let it be. If its not to bad. To me, a small ding is going to happen regardless, so I don't worry about them much. But that doesn't mean that I go around bangin my basses against hard surfaces to give it the reliced look.

[phbrown]

Thanks DD,

I was also just looking in the luthier corner on TB and discovered what you just told me.

Oh well plus on top of that I only have 1 bass and I can't really have my workhorse out of commission for more than 3 days.

[bandnos]

Use a sticker. 

[lowlife350]

I've actually been asking around about this exact question.  A friend of mine who repairs for a couple of local shops, recommended furniture shops.

He says in the past, he has used furniture shops to strip his guitars.  He also cautions that especially with colored finishes, you never know what lies beneath.

Good Luck

[kevmove02]

I bought a bass that was banged up to start (all the electronics were fine and it was a great price). I ended up getting some acrylic nail polish that matched the color of the finish and covered the exposed wood. The other dings got covered by decals I got at a Christian Bookstore. One of my newer basses got a ding next to the strap pin, which led to the discovery that there seems to be some kind of coating on the body that would make refinishing a job far beyond my skill level.

[mjl422]

I've actually been asking around about this exact question.  A friend of mine who repairs for a couple of local shops, recommended furniture shops.

He says in the past, he has used furniture shops to strip his guitars.  He also cautions that especially with colored finishes, you never know what lies beneath.

Good Luck

Yeah, chances are you're not going to find the best quality woods under the paint (if it is good, the grains might not match).

[DHavron]

If you REALLY want to take that finish off, do what I did as a kid: go to the hardware store, get some paint remover, brush it on the body. A half-hour later, scrape it off with a paint scraper. I guarantee you this will do the job. A really messy job.

I have mixed feelings about the results. One, I stripped off the original cherry red translucent finish from my 1964 Gibson EB-3 doing this. Boy I wish I had that finish back!

On the other hand, the bare mahogany has taken on a hand-rubbed luster of its own and darkened naturally over the years. The neck is now glossy, smooth and feels really good. They talk about a nitrocellulose finish letting the body "breathe." Wow, this bass practically pants....Also, Gibson now makes this bass with a natural color mahogany body and semi-gloss finish...which is exactly the way my 45-year old stripped-down bass looks! Go figure. Good luck.