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refinishing (amateurishly) a Jazz bass body... Capri Orange!


mcnach
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So, a couple of weeks ago I tried a Squier VM Jazz fretless from a local BC member, which happened to be for sale too. Just to find out how they felt. And I fell in love with it. So it's now mine.

Now, this BC member (Hi haimesy :)) dislikes sunbursts. So in addition to changing the pickups to some Basslines of some description (sound great!) he sourced a shoreline gold body and swapped it.

I don't like shoreline gold.

So I thought of changing the body etc... but, nah, I always wondered how horrible a job I could do at re-spraying a body. I would not like to try with something precious. So this seems like a good canvas to try. The worst that can happen is I have to plug in my orbital sander and remove all finish and just oil it.
From reading other threads, I know there's other people that sometime think about this. Like me, most seem put off by the amount of work required to get a truly good finish. Yes, to do what a pro shop would do, you will have to spend a LOT of time, and even then, being inexperienced, nothing guarantees you will have a good enough result. But what about "half-arsed finishes"? ;) well, that's me. That's what I'm going to try, and I will tell you all about it, how it all works horribly bad. Or not. Like I said, I don't need a £300 quality finish on this one.
So I just went and bought a nitrocellulose laquer in a rattle can. Capri Orange. Subtle... not. It arrived yesterday.

My plan is to make it really easy on me. The existing finish is in good shape. Nothing but the tiniest of imperfections. I can live with that. I was going to light sand the body with very very very fine sandpaper to create a slightly rougher base. However I have decided to try and see what happens if I don't. It's bound to become a "relic" finish rather soon... but how soon? I'll find out. It can look cool. Or not. The only way to know is to try. It's only £20 delivered for one can... how wrong can it all go? :lol:
So, I'm just going to clean the body very well, remove all traces of finger grease etc... and spray over it.

Watch this space.

[color=#ff0000][b]Edit: pictures on page three![/b][/color]

Edited by mcnach
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[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1339862331' post='1695582']
I was going to light sand the body with very very very fine sandpaper to create a slightly rougher base. However I have decided to try and see what happens if I don't. It's bound to become a "relic" finish rather soon... but how soon? I'll find out. It can look cool. Or not. The only way to know is to try. It's only £20 delivered for one can... how wrong can it all go? :lol:
So, I'm just going to clean the body very well, remove all traces of finger grease etc... and spray over it.

Watch this space.
[/quote]

Be interesting to see how the finish stands up without any sanding prep! If you chicken out then 1200 grit followed by a good clean will gently rough it up without creating a ton of work after the nitro's on. If the shoreline gold is nitro already then it should just burn straight on and adhere well as the solvent eats into the current finish. Good luck!

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[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1339867424' post='1695668']
Be interesting to see how the finish stands up without any sanding prep! If you chicken out then 1200 grit followed by a good clean will gently rough it up without creating a ton of work after the nitro's on. If the shoreline gold is nitro already then it should just burn straight on and adhere well as the solvent eats into the current finish. Good luck!
[/quote]

No, the original finish is not nitro.

I have just decided it WILL need some prep.

I sprayed last night a tiny bit on the cap of the can, to check colour. And it flakes off extremely easily. Really, just gently scratched with my nail and the orange paint flaked off. It would be a relic finish before I have time to finish it!!!

So... some fine sanding will be done initially. But that's as far as I'm willing to go with this!!! :lol: If it lasts two days, at least I'll have proof of it for future generations!!! ;)

Edited by mcnach
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Will you not have to finish it with clear lacquer to stop it all rubbing off within the week? I've used this with good results [url="http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_203865_langId_-1_categoryId_165495"]http://www.halfords....tegoryId_165495[/url]

You can use the nitro stuff if you're after authenticity [url="http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/category/nitrocellulose-lacquer/clearcoats/"]http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/category/nitrocellulose-lacquer/clearcoats/[/url]

Edited by gjones
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I bought a Fender Precision Lyte unseen, fell for a sob story, and when it finally arrived it was a dog. Bad drippy and uneven re-finish in a colour I hated (I was told it was red, it was day-glow deep pink) with majorly faulty electrics. Rather than lose money pointlessly I decided to use it as a teaching aid - I stripped and refinished the body, stripped the painted headstock and stuck a new decal on it, put in completely new electrics. The finish didn't look bad but I used the wrong paint under a clear enamel coat which has now cracked! Do I care? Not particularly. It isn't sellable without making a loss, but I don't intend to sell it. I found out so much about how the bass was put together and now fearlessly tackle most jobs on my basses. One day I will take it to bits again and do a better job on the body.

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[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1339928807' post='1696297']
Will you not have to finish it with clear lacquer to stop it all rubbing off within the week? I've used this with good results [url="http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_203865_langId_-1_categoryId_165495"]http://www.halfords....tegoryId_165495[/url]

You can use the nitro stuff if you're after authenticity [url="http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/category/nitrocellulose-lacquer/clearcoats/"]http://www.mancheste...uer/clearcoats/[/url]
[/quote]

Yes, a clearcoat would probably be needed (I was going to first see how solid it was without), but I imagine if the paint does not attach solidly enough to the body to start with, I'm just going to easily remove too much of it and make scratches before I even get to the stage of applying the clearcoat. We will see.

And yes, that's exactly the coat I had in mind (manchester guitartech) since I bought the paint from him. Your Halfords one looks good, but being inexperienced, I was a bit wary of having trouble adding a non-nitro coat, and also concerned about it maybe taking to long to dry properly.

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[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1339930174' post='1696320']
I bought a Fender Precision Lyte unseen, fell for a sob story, and when it finally arrived it was a dog. Bad drippy and uneven re-finish in a colour I hated (I was told it was red, it was day-glow deep pink) with majorly faulty electrics. Rather than lose money pointlessly I decided to use it as a teaching aid - I stripped and refinished the body, stripped the painted headstock and stuck a new decal on it, put in completely new electrics. The finish didn't look bad but I used the wrong paint under a clear enamel coat which has now cracked! Do I care? Not particularly. It isn't sellable without making a loss, but I don't intend to sell it. I found out so much about how the bass was put together and now fearlessly tackle most jobs on my basses. One day I will take it to bits again and do a better job on the body.
[/quote]

that's the idea...

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[quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1339937729' post='1696449']
Use a couple of coats of primer first and it shouldn't flake off.
[/quote]


so...

2 coats primer + several orange + buff ok? without clearcoat?

I do like the idea of the finish not being ultradurable... but I don't want it all to flake off in my gig bag within a couple of days :)

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I sanded down my old Vox many yonks ago, gave it a couple of coats of purple celly & never got round to putting a top coat on it. That was 20 odd years ago & it still hasn't flaked off (though I did start partially sanding it off a few months back).
As long as you sand the thing so it keys, it should be fine (unless it has an adverse reaction to the current finish, but then you already do :yarr: ).

Mind & post pics.

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I'm watching this with interest as i have a VM fretless jazz body sitting here that I'd like to re-finish, i actually like sunburst but this body has some knots in the wood that would normally mean a solid finish and i have GAS for a sonic blue jazz, I'd want to finish over the original sunburst so it would naturally wear away a little at the edges over the years (I'm not a fan of relics but i do like a little natural wear and tear)
and i seem to remember hearing that Fender would refinish any sunbursts that went wrong in a solid colour or if they has an order for a solid colour they didn't have in stock they would just grab a sunburst and re-finish it so many solid colour basses have a sunburst finish underneath that comes through when they get a bit worn.
Matt

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[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1339952276' post='1696691']
I sanded down my old Vox many yonks ago, gave it a couple of coats of purple celly & never got round to putting a top coat on it. That was 20 odd years ago & it still hasn't flaked off (though I did start partially sanding it off a few months back).
As long as you sand the thing so it keys, it should be fine (unless it has an adverse reaction to the current finish, but then you already do :yarr: ).

Mind & post pics.
[/quote]

thanks for that, very interesting info, thanks!

I will be posting pictures, for sure. Watch this space

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[quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1340010267' post='1697407']
I refinished my Precision in Capri Orange. Love it!
Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
[/quote]


pictures, pictures!!! :)

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Sure :)
It's a 78P which had been stripped before I got it (originally white). I wanted a funky colour that was faithful to the year of the bass, and Skank pointed out the International Series to me. Capri Orange it was:
Before:

After:



As you can see, I put on an off white scratchplate to be in keeping with International Series.
Since these pics were taken, the pickup cover now is a P one, after someone pointed out to me that the one on there was a J one :blush:
It now also has black screws, as per the International Series. Oh, and black nylon strings, which is because it's conducive to the reggae sound I'm after, but also looks great on the bass.

Edited by Roland Rock
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I must admit Im realy coming round to this colour! Orange is by no means my favourite but this has a lovely 'not too in your face' thing going on. It reminds me of a matchbox mini I had as a child :)

Consider my :facepalm: withdrawin

and have a :friends: and a :i-m_so_happy:

A

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[quote name='apa' timestamp='1340034377' post='1697982']
I must admit Im realy coming round to this colour! Orange is by no means my favourite but this has a lovely 'not too in your face' thing going on. It reminds me of a matchbox mini I had as a child :)

Consider my :facepalm: withdrawin

and have a :friends: and a :i-m_so_happy:

A
[/quote]

You'll get a :modspank:

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[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1340034228' post='1697975']
wow, that is really nice!

You did a great paintjob, at least on the pictures it looks very good.
[/quote]

Cheers. There are some imperfections that don't show in the pics. The biggest bummer was that I was too impatient with the lacquer (I went for the Halfords lacquer). I left it for a few days, and it seemed dry enough, but when I screwed on the bits, the pressure squished the lacquer a bit. Not really noticeable unless you take the bits off. Overall I'm pretty happy with it for a first time job.

Edited by Roland Rock
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[quote name='apa' timestamp='1340034377' post='1697982']
I must admit Im realy coming round to this colour! Orange is by no means my favourite but this has a lovely 'not too in your face' thing going on. It reminds me of a matchbox mini I had as a child :)

Consider my :facepalm: withdrawin

and have a :friends: and a :i-m_so_happy:

A
[/quote]


:lol:

yeah, I never considered orange until recently when I saw one orange jazz and i thought... "that is warm looking and nice" :)
It also brings me feelings of... warmth and fuzziness... maybe because it was a popular colour when i was child :P

So, are you getting ideas for a new bass project? ;)

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