Input wanted: What would ya do with this bass body?

[Day-mun]

I just lately replaced this '51 bass body with a '54 because the sans contour design doesn't agree with my playing form/anatomy. The product of my first DIY finish project, this hunk of alder has been stained with iodine after a failed attempt to get a Mary-Kayish look with a light colored stain that only remotely penetrated the wood on the end-grain. It was then coated generously with semi-gloss polyurethane; it turned out okay, but not great by any means.

Do I do some other finish right over the top? Strip it? -Then what? Are there finish ideas that do not require a flawless blank canvas to turn out good?

Then, what about the 3/16 edge radius and no contours? is this something that can be remedied without having a fully outfitted wood-working shop? -Without it looking like Jeff Beck's Esquire afterward?

Or should I just sell it? -For how much? I dunno what it could possibly be worth at this point, but without a clear-cut vision for it, the idea of just peddling it sounds better than trying to peal the poly off this sucker...

The floor is open, -suggest and discuss.

 

[bagman67]

Well, you'd need to refinish, but it sounds like you're pretty committed to that anyway, if you keep the body.  You can get some contours on there with a simple wood rasp, sur-form, or microplane, followed by progressive hits with sandpaper starting at 60 grit and on up to 220.  If you go this route, use a flat rasp or microplane for the forearm contour, and a convex rasp for the belly contour.


I have an alder Telecaster body I'm going to do this with, and will post photos.  But it's pretty straightforward.


As for the radius, if you want a rounder edge, you can go after it with a contour sanding block and coarse sandpaper also, followed by finer grits. 


Here are contoured sanding pads in various radii:


http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2005237/10567/complete-sanding-pad-set-4-piece.aspx


[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Take your time, have a plan, and don't rush it or push too hard.  Use sharp tools and don't try to maximize your sandpaper life - dump it when it gets dull, or clogs to a point where you can't clear the load.  Use a sanding block to keep from inadvertently sanding a ripple into your supposedly flat surface.[/font]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]And have fun with it - which, given some of the really neat builds I've seen out of you, I don't think I really need to say.  But there it is.[/font]





Bagman

 

[bagman67]

...and as for refinishing, since your top coat is poly, you could get away with sanding it uniformly with 220 or 320 using a block, then coating with shellac, and then top coating with the new finish.  Shellac is a great interface layer.  Of course,  you'll want to scuff-sand the shellac before top coating.


If you want a new transparent coating, and you plan to add contours, you should strip it in order to get the new coating as uniform as possible.  For a solid color, though, just shellac and then lay the color coat on top as I've already described.  Finish with a clear coat of your preference.

 

[Re-Pete]

You seem intent on re-finishing, so once you have stripped the old finish off it (easier typed than done I bet), copy the contours from your 54 as best you can, then re-finish in a solid colour.
Maybe Gloss Black with a white pickguard? Would look unique in the 51 styling for sure. Or Dakota Red with a white pearloid pickguard?  :dontknow:

 

[Day-mun]

Having fun with it and experimenting is a do-able option... -like I said, I have already replaced this guy; I don't have a pile of parts waiting to get re-installed, so this one can take all the time in the world. Just never did too much wood-working before, so I wasn't even sure if contours could be done (well) with hand tools. Once (and if) I get the shape right, I will start picking your brains about finish options.... Thanks, guys! Keep it comin'  :icon_thumright:

 

[Day-mun]

I have another (-more fun/less work type of) project under way right now, so I guess I will let my CL ad run until it expires... if the ol' '51 is still hanging around at that time, I'll start gathering tools and sandpaper and have a go at it.

-Let the Universe decide, I suppose. 

 

[jackthehack]

Link to Craigslist ad?

 

[Day-mun]

I wasn't gonna try pawn it off on the forum brothers (or sisters... all three of 'em)... but if ya wanna check out the ad it is here:

http://muskegon.craigslist.org/msg/4429052442.html.

 

[Day-mun]

I didn't run a For Sale or Trade thread on this because, frankly, I am a bit embarrassed; its current state is less than stellar, and to bring it back around to square-one (bare wood) is gonna be more work than I'd wish on anyone here. But if one of you considers this sort of thing to be good times and really wants to take it off my hands, feel free to PM me; I'm sure we could work something out.

Otherwise, I'll proceed as before and take a crack at getting some good solid experience in the turd-polishing department.  :toothy12:

 

[Cagey]

Don't discount the value of turd-polishing experience. Few things teach mistake avoidance as effectively as making mistakes.

 

[Day-mun]

Somehow, I knew KG would vote for sucking it up, sticking it out, and gettin' 'er done right!  :laughing7:

 

[Day-mun]

Don't discount the value of turd-polishing experience. Few things teach mistake avoidance as effectively as making mistakes.

experience (noun) def.: The knowledge one gains just after one needs it.

 

[Cagey]

Hehe! Yeah, no kidding.

 

[Day-mun]

Well, I'm gonna pull my CL ad; gathered up the needed mat'ls and PPE to begin strippin' this puppy... -I figured this would be the first step. (-Will determine what type of finish I can get away with) -Guess I'll see how that goes before deciding where to go with it next. (-Contours: to cut or not to cut) However it pans out, I think I'll start a new thread in a more appropriate catagory, so ya might see this stinker pop up again in General Discussion, or DIY, or Tips-n-Tricks, or...

 

[stubhead]

I'd like to see it with the iodine, if it's easy. Not to buy it, and I'm not even going to ask where the heck that idea came from, right up there with the shoe-polish (Ve vill not discuss ze time I tried brewing, and rebrewing, and rebrewing tea stronger and stronger when I read about zee ancients dying stuff with tea. Uff COURZE ZEY DID – they didn't have LMII, Stewie-M or Ebay....)

I'm just wondering if something nifty could arise from the heap of iodineness. :hello2:

 

[Day-mun]

The pic in the first post is with the home-made iodine stain. I got the idea from hearing about the original stain that was used to make "Soviet Red"; that blood-red colored (-and slightly toxic) finish on the wood furniture on Russian-made AK's. I half-ass'd my research on how the stain was formulated, and as a result, mine turned out not very red at all (-more of a yellowish caramel-brown).

One bad side-effect of this treatment was that the oidine (an oxidizer) caused my bridge screws to rust inside the body... I dunno if left unto its own the screws would've corroded completely through, but I'm glad I caught it in the beginning stages. (I have already stripped the body since starting the thread, and flushed the bridge mounting screw holes with acetone to dissolve and carry out any of the remaining offending element.)

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

this hunk of alder has been stained with iodine after a failed attempt to get a Mary-Kayish look

"Mary Kay"?  Like the cosmetics?!?!

 

[bagman67]

this hunk of alder has been stained with iodine after a failed attempt to get a Mary-Kayish look

"Mary Kay"?  Like the cosmetics?!?!

Nope, this one:


http://www.fender.com/custom-life/mary-kaye-tribute/

 

[Cagey]

No, the term comes from an original (at the time) translucent finish put on a Strat for Vegas lounge player Mary Kaye. It's sorta like milk paint in appearance in that it didn't completely conceal the grain, but glossy. Hers was white, but it got reproduced in other colors over time.

Tonar did this one...

 

[erogenousjones17]

I don't have anything useful to add, only that I understand where you're coming from on this. My first finish job is far less than stellar, and I keep telling myself that I'll fix it (i.e., do it over) someday. What's probably ridiculous is that I'm not so much afraid of doing another crappy job as of somehow RUINING MY GUITAR FOREVER, in the sense that it sounds and plays fantastic as it is. It just looks like it was painted by someone who didn't know what they were doing.*



*HINT: It was.