carlsim

I think I saw them once at a function I did a gig at… they were the headline act!

So… I have been a bit quiet on here, mainly due to the endless sanding and chipping, sanding and chipping. I actually found that I was able to chip the sealer coat of much easier and quicker than sanding (that was slow and hard work) but sliding a sharp chisel under the sealer coat, it just seemed to chip away. This saved me a lot of hassle and sanding around those corners! Finally, I get all the sealer coat chipped off and clear the white base coat to be left with (what I think) is some lovely wood and once oiled and buffed, I think is going to look great! quite a bit more sanding to go, got to clear the white base coat on the sides and the progressively through the grits to get it baby smooth. Then onto the slurry and buff!

Thanks for the advice… I think I cracked it using a small dremel sanding tool and I managed to chip it off with a Stanley knife… no damage to the wood! That was a relief… just got to get the rest of the sealer coat off now… it’s coming off but it’s slow work… with the sides, I have taken to chipping it off with a chisel…. I can slide the chisel under the edge and it just breaks away! Will be slow work though…

ha!! Bit late now for that, all the top coat is gone! More sanding this weekend…

Some significant progress this morning - have cleared most of the top coat (just the sides left to go and had a little experiment of getting through the clear sealer / primer coat - man that was a b****!! So, I got quite excited first off, burnt off the top coat in a small area, a bit of a rub with 120 grit sandpaper and wahey!! Wood! oh wait... nope, that's the clear sealer coat. Hopes of a quick job were dashed. So, I burnt a bit more off around the control area just to be sure there was no damage to the wood itself and I thought, 'Odd - I can still feel it'. Start sanding and then realise that this was the sealer coat. Damn. So I sand.... and sand, and sand some more until finally, I start to see wood. And I am PLEASED! Lovely grain and gives me hope that a strip and a wax was not such a terrible idea after all! Yes it is a lot of work, but I can get through a lot of it with a tougher grit and an orbital sander leaving the finer stuff to hand. Will be a lot of work but the outcome should look good in the end I hope! The control knob recesses will be tough, as will the sides as I would be wary of tackling these with a orbital sander for fear of mis-shaping them. Any advice is welcome on that front! Overall I am pleased with the look of the wood so far, and you can kinda see the grain patterns through the sealer coat so I think it is definitely going to be back to the wood. When I get there I may ask for opinions on finishing as I want to achieve a satin lacquer look - not heavily glossy but with a nice smooth finish. Feel free to chip in at this stage with opinions! Going to try and strip the rest of the top coat from the sides later today and then the sanding can begin!

For anyone interested, i have started a build post where I will document my limited successes and no doubt, a long list of failings before I finally turn it over to someone who knows what they are doing!

So I began the process of repairing the Xotic I have been banging on about in the 'repairs and technical' section... Just spent about 40 mins stripping the bass down to the body and from there you can get a much better idea of the damage. Luckily, there is no structural issues (I was concerned that there might be some cracks in the control cavity but luckily there are none). Thanks to @Andyjr1515 for the advice, I will be starting off tomorrow with a heat gun and scraper around the damaged area to see how that comes away, and possibly a bit of sanding to gauge how thick the primer is! Softly and gently she goes! I will say that if the neck pocket is anything to go by, I could have a nice lump of wood so would be willing to put the effort in if the wood underneath looks good. Will report back tomorrow!

Thanks mate - will start a build diary post and add the link shortly...

going to make a start this week stripping the hardware ready to start on the paint this week... gonna start slowly with the damaged area by hand and will see how that goes, then I may well get a bit more on it with a stripper and orbital sander! @Andyjr1515did you mention that the best approach is to use a heat gun and decorators scraper? Any other advice with getting stuck in stripping the paint? I'm going to try a small area on the back to see how easy it is to get back to the wood (and also to see if it is worthwhile to consider a natural finish...) I will start a new post on the build diaries if anyone is interested to see how it goes!

Can anyone recommend someone to do a re-spray? Just need the top coat and lacquer...

Thanks for all the great advice guys, I'm still at a bit of stalemate with what to do. It isn't my main bass so have the luxury to make it a long term project. I had a more in depth conversation with someone at Xotic and he did say that the body may have small flaws (he stressed the may) but essentially they are all the same wood - they just pick out the ones with the nicer / more distinct grain patterns for natural finishes. Either way, I think it's two options - strip back and re-paint (I will do the prep work myself and just pay someone to paint) or strip right back and see what the wood is like with an aim to wax / satin lacquer finish which I can do all myself. If i get it sanded back and don't like the look of it, I can then look at painting again. I think I am going to sand back / strip off the paint on the front anyway to get an idea of what it 'could' look like waxed, and then decide if I continue that route or just strip back to the sealer coat for a re-spray. The good thing is I got it cheap enough to pay for a re-spray! It isn't a cheapo bass and it plays lovely so I do want to make a good job of it at the end. Better get stripping! The bass, not me!

Thanks for the advice @Andyjr1515 I have spoken to someone at Xotic and they confirm that they use 'paint grade' bodies for painted finishes and in his words, "Save the pretty ones for the natural finishes". I think a strip and wax will be put on the backburner for now. They recommended a complete strip and re-paint if I wanted to fix as they think a match would be difficult but I think I have managed to stabilise any loose layers of paint with CA and clamped them down as it wouldn't stay down whilst it dried. I'm not entirely happy but it will do for now until I can decide what to do. I am going to speak to some paint people to see how good they think they can get a match and then I can possibly look into a repair rather than a full respray.

https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Xotic_XJ5_LITE.html

Hi all... I have picked up a very nice Xotic XJ ProVintage 5 string recently (the build in Indonesia and assembled in USA ones...). I bought it from Bass Direct knowing it had damage to the finish in the bottom corner where the knobs are and luckily, it is just damage to the finish - not the wood beneath. Some of you may have seen it on their website - i took a risk as I got it at a good price. Not good enough for me to hand it over and pay for a complete strip and repaint, but good enough that I can treat it as a project and get it better than how it is now. It's the lake placid blue finish which I really like: So the idea would be to speak to Xotic, see if I can get some paint, strip the damage and repaint probably doing the prep myself and taking it somewhere to get it painted. Alternatively, do the prep work myself and key the rest of the body, get some lake placid blue from somewhere and paint the damage and blow over the rest of the guitar to a good finish. I assume it will need a lacquer as well. Alternatively, as it has the same body wood as the natural finish version, do I strip and oil / finish the wood so it's a natural finish. I'm aware that guitar builders use the 'best' bodies for natural finish, so it will be pot luck as to the grain / look of the wood but I am hoping for the best on this front. The plus side is that I enjoy a good bit of woodwork, could do it all myself and would aim to sand flat, get rid of all the paint and get it nice and smooth. Then possibly oil or probably wax and wax then buff to a satin kind of look. What do people think? I don't have the dosh for a complete re-finish professionally and I am aware of it looking like a bodge so the strip may be the way to go. Can anyone offer any advice or personal experiences? Thanks for any advice!

Then I see they have another HB listed for just shy of £900... oh my days!

This has been on here a while I think, and may have been posted about before but it does make me chuckle... Markup must be down to the cost of living crisis... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265742496058?hash=item3ddf7cb13a:g:BeAAAOSwx49hUEeW

Hi everyone... I love a 70s jazz look. Natural body, black blocks and binding... But i don't really gig 4 string basses at all but would like a cheap one sitting around when I fancy having a noodle... I am liking the HB JB-75 vintage series and I know people have played around with re-shaping the headstocks to make them look like the early 50s p basses... anyone tried it with the normal fender headstocks? Are all the HB headstocks the same? I have a SR5 clone and i can print a template and check it against that... Anyone got any ideas or tried it? Much love to the BC community!

So... here is my modified HB - MB5... My aim was to try and create a unlined (almost) looking fretless 5 - plus I also wanted a bit of a project. So, ripped the frets out, filled with a dark veneer, sanded flat and laquered the fingerboard. I was going to do an Epoxy coat but ran out of patience... plus I already had the lacquer from North West Guitars - although I forget this was a tinted one which is why the inlay dots look yellow! Used a vinyl wrap on the headstock and added a MM SR5 decal. Added the same wrap to the scratchplate. Routed out a battery box on the back and added a Warman MM5 pup with the Artec SE2a volume, blend and stacked treble and bass controls. Bit of a bugger to fit but did go in eventually! I am using the blend to select individual coils or both together in parallel - no series on this unfortunately but something I may try and add at a later date! As a fretless it play great - plenty of mwah. Not the most precise finish (I would have liked a better finish on the fretboard) but hey - it's strung with flats and even they soon start eating away at the finish. I like the active system, gives a lot more control than the VVT passive loom it came with and the Warman is a big improvement on the original pup for not much cash. Oh, and I also found a cheap set of chrome sire tuners I chucked on as well. Eventually, I will change the bridge to chrome and possibly the control plate but who knows. I see this as a long term mod! I like it though - some may not, some may prefer the stealth look but I like the white breaking up the matt black. I do wish I had used a non tinted lacquer though - maybe when it gets a bit work I will re-sand and re-finish.

Eureka moment… I think I see the issue - I thought the jack would short to the output, but as you say, it shorts to ground. DOH!! Probably the root of the issues…. Will get it sorted hopefully with a new output jack! thanks again…