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Old bass!
Submitted by Lebowski on Mon, 09/01/2008 - 04:40.
Well I finally dug it out of the cupboard! My first bass! That wasn't a shite hand me down knock off P-Bass....Oh wait!. Complete with 'Oh shit' dings :)
Shall be my fixerupperererer since I'm just starting to get into that sorta thing. An old-ish Stagg with an alder body and a maple neck for which I paid the pretty sum of £110 about 4 years ago. The funny thing is it's actually really nice to play.
The pots were a bit knackered and scratchy so I replaced them, I sorted the intonation(ish) and a few other niggly bits, the only let down is the pickups (Which I shall be replacing) and some bastard decided to use a really thick laquer on the back of the neck so it gets sticky especially with sweaty hands and just really doesn't feel nice.
What would be the best way about doing a proper job of getting rid of it? I thought of sanding it down (start rough just to get the shit off and then smooth it out with a high grit paper) and a thin coat of sanding sealer. Any advice on this would be great, not that I can make it much worse than it already is :)
Ta
-Lebowski
I've seen a couple of fairly nice Staggs to be honest. Any idea what pickups you're going for? I have a spare bass which has been awaiting a set of Quarter Pounders for quite some time now :roll:
The laquer issue come up quite often...if I remember rightly 1bassleft actually like that screeeek up the back of a shiny neck. Weird.
Somebody did post a refinishing link up here ages back and I have a feeling it might have been 1bl...? (bloke in Manc maybe?...)
Anyway most of the 'net seems to say sand it...you could always try dulling the finish by sanding before going full-on down to the wood, just a thought.
I'll look for that link tho,
Tim.
Probably just a set of Wilkinson jobbies for now, don't really wanna lay out the cash on Duncans or anything unless I can find something that fits the bill on ebay as it's just going to be the bass I can lug about and beat up a bit without worrying (Not that I have anything too expensive but my yammie is my baby <3 Donations in the form of an Alembic Rogue 4/5 are however accepted :lol:).
Ta the link would be appreciated, I'm alright with sanding it and stuff I'm just unsure whether to leave the wood bare or use some kinda sanding sealer/fine coat of clear or what.
Pic ahoy :P
I'd just try it then if it were me, could always varnish later, shredders seem to go on about Tung oil a lot but seems like a lot of hassle to me...I'd be a bit more 'Plasti-kote' satin, or nowt.
Sorry for the late reply; I tried two days ago but my connection hung up and booted me out, losing all my text. Staggs are decent value; among the first of the reasonably well-made Chinese instruments imported into Europe around the yurn of the century. I bought my son a Stagg trumpet for £60 and it's respectable enough.
Tim's right, I do actually prefer the gloss laquer of 70s necks (supposedly slow to play) but I doubt if the Stagg is gloss because satin has been the norm for decades now. If it's sticking to your hand, there's possibly something wrong with either the formulation or application at the factory, or perhaps it came into contact with something.
Whatever, if you want to get a finish stripped and/or apply a new finish, here's the link to guitar finishing's Bible:
reranch.com
I've spent hours clicking on all the lovely detail.
Finally, I got a WEM Rapier bass for a collector friend and the neck had been stripped right down to the bare wood. I decided to go for Tung oil, not for speed-shredding, but simply because it's so easy to get an immaculate finish. All I needed was the tin of oil and a lint free cloth. Pour some on the cloth and rub it onto the neck in straight swoops. Give it a few hours, then do another coat in the same way. After a while, you have to leave longer times for coats to dry as the wood has soaked up as much as; you're then down to one coat per day.
After about ten or maybe a dozen coats, it seemed to be enough. No sanding required, quite a lustre (almost glossy) but very smooth and fast feeling. Plus, some quality head-lightening fumes in my kitchen after a while. I'd do it again.
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