NBD Squier Precision Bass for restoration

[Grahambythesea]

Having only 5 string basses I had a sudden wave of nostalgia for a 4 string Precision. Partly driven by a friend who wants me to teach him but also because I an easy project. So this Squier Standard Precision arrived covered in dirt and stickers and looking very neglected. I given it a quick clean over and polish to find the body work pretty good apart from a bad chip around the rear strap button.  The J pickup is not working either.

The scratch plate has toned down to a quite shade of greens white but the previous owner had put stickers on it and where these are now removed there are rectangles of the original white. Anyone any suggestions as to how to either whiten the plate or tone down the white patches? 

I think it’s Candy Apple Red (metallic finish), any where I can get paint to match so as to repair the chip? 

 

[BassBunny]

I remember reading somewhere that Candy Apple Red isn't actually a single colour. It's made up of 3 different shades that are sprayed on the body. I had a Squire VM in CAR and had the same problem trying to get that colour.

All is not lost however as Renault have a colour that they brought out a few years back that looks identical. I spotted a car just outside a pub were playing in that colour and took the bass to compare it and pretty much bob on. Never got to a dealer to find out what it was called though.

[Grahambythesea]

Cheers, sounds like a trip Halfords! My wife suggested nail polishes!

[Maude]

Yes a 'candy' colour is a gold or silver metallic basecoat with a tinted lacquer over the top to give that deep look, the more coats of lacquer the deeper shade of colour achieved. 

The Renault colour is a three stage pearl with either a coloured ground coat, coloured basecoat and clear lacquer or coloured basecoat, tinted lacquer then clear lacquer, I can't remember off hand which it is. Mazda also do a red which is a good match for CAR. 

Three stage pearls are not good for touching up, quite often the correct colour when sprayed looks very dark when applied as a touch up because of the pearl pigments in it. 

I'd find a good matching nail varnish personally as there will be loads of pearl reds that will match. Maybe a touch of clear lacquer over the top to protect it if you wanted, although try it on a spare bit of wood first to check for reactions in case the nail varnish and lacquer aren't compatible. 

 

[Reggaebass]

I’ve got a candy apple red p bass special , similar to yours and northwest guitars sell the cellulose spray or if you just want an inexpensive nail polish to touch it up this one is a pretty close colour 

[bigsmokebass]

Some hydrogen peroxide should make your scratch plate sparkle white again, you'll find it online cheap enough and an aluminium baking tray from Asda to pop it in. 

I'd leave it out of the way of where it could spill/tip over, from sunlight and definitely away from children/pets. 

Should only be a few pounds to do, that and some nail varnish will cosmetically do the trick. 

The J pickup shouldn't be too hard to resolve. If it's not an issue with the knobs or wiring, then a replacement J pickup is never too much to replace these days. 

http://www.entwistlepickups.com/pickup.php?puid=JBX

[therealting]

I’d take the opportunity to gut the electronics and put good pickups in. 

[Reggaebass]

3 minutes ago, therealting said:

I’d take the opportunity to gut the electronics and put good pickups in. 

Definitely, so would I   ,   @KiOgon  is your man for the electronics, the ones he did for me absolutely transformed the sound of my basses 🙂

[hooky_lowdown]

+1 to replace pickups and electrics, these are the weakest points to the Squire P Specials imho. The necks on them are fantastic though, and if you shim the neck you can get a super low action, and they can play superbly.

[Pea Turgh]

On 07/04/2019 at 09:12, Reggaebass said:

Definitely, so would I   ,   @KiOgon  is your man for the electronics, the ones he did for me absolutely transformed the sound of my basses 🙂

I got two @KiOgon looms this week - my p sounds better, but my Hohner Jack is phenomenal now!  Well happy.

[Grahambythesea]

Thanks for the nail polish tip, i’ll Try that first as the damage area is around the strap button and doesn’t really show, but I’d like to stop it chipping more.

[EliasMooseblaster]

On 06/04/2019 at 16:09, BassBunny said:

I remember reading somewhere that Candy Apple Red isn't actually a single colour. It's made up of 3 different shades that are sprayed on the body. I had a Squire VM in CAR and had the same problem trying to get that colour.

All is not lost however as Renault have a colour that they brought out a few years back that looks identical. I spotted a car just outside a pub were playing in that colour and took the bass to compare it and pretty much bob on. Never got to a dealer to find out what it was called though.

A car in CAR?

[Guest Marcoelwray]

I'd go for a pickup replacement too, as Delano has a nicely priced J vintage pickup available in single coil or dual (hum cancelling version but sale sound) Jazz pickup, but I'd go for Ferrite big poles (Sandberg style) P+J... 

[Grahambythesea]

The pots are shot but a mate is fixing this. Will probably hold fire on changing the pups as this won’t be my regular gigging bass and i’ll See how the stock ones sound initially.