Bass project!!

[Daemoniac]

Ok, it's my first project, and i figure it will be a good starting point

No pics as yet, but i shall post some from my shitzor camera phone when i get it working again.

At the moment, its a J&D bass guitar, 4 string, average pups, but real nice sustain and resonance. Ima giving it a once over, sanding it down, taking everything out, replacing hardware, cleaning it up (the cavities for the pickups and underneath the tone knobs etc. are inexcusably coarse and messy) so hopefully i'll end up with an absolutely killer bass guitar, and some experience to get started on guitars!!
Pics up soon, whether its perfect, or an absolute disaster

Wish me luck!!

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Good luck man. Make sure to post plenty of before and after pics.

 

[Daemoniac]

Alright, ive taken it apart, removed all the hardware, and have begun sanding it down... i have also run out of sandpaper So i have to go buy more before i can continue lol.

I have some pics of before i started, before i took everything off, and before i started sanding. I will post when i get home/have time

Also, a question to anyone who has donethis before, do i sand it back to the wood finish? or just until its all matte and you can see that the top layer of laquer/finish is gone? Thanks!

 

[MaxOfMetal]

On a lower end bass it's fine to just sand to the primer/filler layer, as long as you still plan on putting an opaque finish. It really depends on if you want to re-prime/fill the body. Since this is your first I recommend just sanding down to the primer.

 

[Ruins]

i would do it all the way down to the wood but its up to you .

 

[Daemoniac]

Ok, awesome

Also, does it matter what i use to re-paint the guitar? I know that Oil finish guitars/basses sound way way better, but other than that, does it make too much difference?

Thanks so much for the help! Thanks are in order

 

[Josh Lawson]

Ok, awesome

Also, does it matter what i use to re-paint the guitar? I know that Oil finish guitars/basses sound way way better, but other than that, does it make too much difference?

Thanks so much for the help! Thanks are in order

I don't think that oil finish guitars necessarily sound better, it is just that usually better quality guitars with nicer looking/sounding woods have oil finishes. I could be wrong, but I think the wood "breathing" might help the wood age over time. This might be the "sweetening" that we hear about over time. This is an interesting issue you have brought up though.

 

[Ruins]

in paint all it matters that all the layers that you will use will be based on the same compound like acrylic pain so the clear lake will be acrylic based as well and so on.
i didn't check yet about the wood fillers but i guess they also have the same story.

 

[Daemoniac]

Ok, so if i sand it back to the primer colour on the bass (which atm looks like a deep purple) and then spray over it with a black matte finish, it wont matter, as long as any finish i put on top is the same type of paint?

 

[Ruins]

yes.
the only problem is though you don't know what primer type it is. most likely it is acrylic but you never know.

 

[Daemoniac]

is there any way to check that? Dont want to spray it, and have the bass erupt in flames or anything