Refinishing opinions and advice - Musicmaster Bass

teknomike

teknomike

Oldbie
Been a while since I've posted here, but I can count on the fact that everyone's got an opinion, and I'll welcome any advice, so here you go :D

I've got a '78 Fender Musicmaster bass that plays and sounds great, but it looks like crap. This thing has been rode hard and put away wet.
That's fine, normally, I wouldn't care, but it also feels like crap, particularly if you're wearing a short sleeved shirt and you gouge a(nother) chunk of skin out of your forearm on the chipped paint. :(

I don't figure there's enough value in this instrument to make me keep it as is, although, it's completely original, and nothing has been changed until today - I decided to put some strap locks on it - first modification it's ever had. It's maybe worth a few hundred. In any case, I really do like to play it, and it also works well for my 10 year old. And he won't play it very often, because it scratches the heck out of him too (and he thinks it looks nasty).

Anyway, my intent would be to completely remove the existing finish, have my older son (the starving artist) paint something cool on the body (maybe something with a 70's era vibe to go with the guitar's vintage).
Then seal/finish with a clear coat of something.
Yes ? No ? Thoughts ? Ideas ? Pros/cons for various methods of refinishing ?


MusMas1.jpgMusMas2.jpgMusMas3.jpgMusMas4.jpg
 
With the paint peeling like that, it won't be too difficult to remove.

It looks easy enough to do.
sand down to wood. Seal it with sanding primer. Paint a base coat and then the artistic stuff. Then finish with Behlen Instrument lacquer or a polyurethane.

The only thing you'll have to be careful of is the compatibility of the paint and the finish coats. I think poly can cover pretty much anything, but you get a plastic type coating. Instrument Lacquer is what you would expect on a guitar of that vintage, but it's not compatible with most every paint. I found that out the hard way, it bubbled the acrylic paint I used for the edge on my first refinish job.

Well, that's my opinion. You know others will come along with theirs!! :D
 
Put a clear coat over it as is. I think it looks great. A few coats of instrument lacquer would cover the sharp stuff and keeo it looking vintage distressed - as it actually is.
 
rayc said:
Put a clear coat over it as is. I think it looks great. A few coats of instrument lacquer would cover the sharp stuff and keeo it looking vintage distressed - as it actually is.
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Yeah, I can see why you would want to refinish, and you should do whatever you want to do with it, but there's something about that finish that says Sex Pistols or The Clash. Looks like something that would have been played at CBGBs.
 
I've had it out for the last couple of days, playing it, and looking at it, and it really does have a cool vibe as it sits.
I'm not sure if a coating would really work to smooth out the rough spots, as I would assume it would have to be applied pretty thick to compensate for the difference between the bare wood and the current paint.

Unless I have an epiphany as to the kind of artwork I'd like to see, I think I'll just leave it for now, and make sure we wear long sleeved shirts to play it.
 
Well, the boy has changed his mind, and now he thinks that the bass is cool enough to play live. Here's a shot from yesterday on their Pavement and Parking Lot Tour 2015.
They're playing 3 gigs at local public schools for their end of year parties (they are in the local School of Rock program). Not bad for 10 year olds.

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Good! That would have been some workI
I'd not strip it to bare would if he wanted it done. Its a polyester resin under the black. The finish is coming off because of bad prep work. Seen it happen before.
leave it. maybe hit the edges with some 600 grit to take some of the sharpness away.
 
RFR said:
Good! That would have been some workI
I'd not strip it to bare would if he wanted it done. Its a polyester resin under the black. The finish is coming off because of bad prep work. Seen it happen before.
leave it. maybe hit the edges with some 600 grit to take some of the sharpness away.
Click to expand...

Nope....
 
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