Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Changing the look of my bass.


xgsjx
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have a 20 odd year old Ibanez SR1000 that I bought new in metallic charcoal & over the years has acquired many chips & dents in the paintwork.
When I bought it I loved hard rock & heavy metal, so the bass' image went well with the leather jackets etc.

Now I'm 40 & I still love the bass but I'm not so keen on black anymore (or all the chips in it) & have been toying with the idea for about a year now of taking the thing apart & stripping it back to the wood & maybe lacquer or oil/wax it or spray it a different colour (I used to be a signwriter, so competent & confident enough to do all the preps & spraying).

Should I do it? I don't plan on ever selling the bass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1217806' date='May 2 2011, 05:37 PM']I have a 20 odd year old Ibanez SR1000 that I bought new in metallic charcoal & over the years has acquired many chips & dents in the paintwork.
When I bought it I loved hard rock & heavy metal, so the bass' image went well with the leather jackets etc.

Now I'm 40 & I still love the bass but I'm not so keen on black anymore (or all the chips in it) & have been toying with the idea for about a year now of taking the thing apart & stripping it back to the wood & maybe lacquer or oil/wax it or spray it a different colour (I used to be a signwriter, so competent & confident enough to do all the preps & spraying).

Should I do it? I don't plan on ever selling the bass.[/quote]

I would say yes go for it ! if you are not planning on selling it and i would imagine being a 20 year olkd ibanez that the wood would be pretty decent underneath the paint . i have an old 86 roadstar in black which i have had pretty much from new and although its decent paint i wouldnt mind doing the same .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why not? Sounds like you've got all the good reasons, the curiosity will always be there if you don't, you've got the ability & in the unlikely chance that you get stuck you've got an excellent luthier just down the road from you who specialises in finishing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Big_Stu' post='1217888' date='May 2 2011, 06:39 PM']Why not? Sounds like you've got all the good reasons, the curiosity will always be there if you don't, you've got the ability & in the unlikely chance that you get stuck you've got an excellent luthier just down the road from you who specialises in finishing.[/quote]
Potentially a silly Q, but who's that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1217948' date='May 2 2011, 07:27 PM']Potentially a silly Q, but who's that?[/quote]

[url="http://www.rvguitars.co.uk/"]http://www.rvguitars.co.uk/[/url]
A really good guy, know him thru John Birch but he did a few jobs for me when I lived in Edinburgh. He lives west of Perth, I'll leave it to him as IF or when he needs to pass his address on.

Edited by Big_Stu
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've started!

I've stripped the paint off it. Started by chipping flakes away & then got the blowtorch out & voala! I'm making a Steinberger Spirit with a head!!!!!

Here's the first couple of pics taken with my phone...

Stripped & ready for stripping (I'd already chipped away at some pait round the edge)



Stick it in a vice & get the blowtorch & paint stripper into action



All the poly gone! Still a bit messy



I've got more pics & I'll get em up soon.

Edited by xgsjx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm toying with a few ideas & there'll definitely be a good bit of wood visible.
My ideas involve either some silver leaf or aluminium paint directly on part of the wood so you can still see the grain & finishing the whole body in a satin lacquer, or maybe something different?
A play around with Photoshop is in order before deciding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1225645' date='May 9 2011, 10:17 PM']I'm toying with a few ideas & there'll definitely be a good bit of wood visible.
My ideas involve either some silver leaf or aluminium paint directly on part of the wood so you can still see the grain & finishing the whole body in a satin lacquer, or maybe something different?
A play around with Photoshop is in order before deciding.[/quote]

Keep us posted - looks much nicer already

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Here's the rest of the pictures for now...

Getting some Danish sanded into it...

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5752494850/"][/url]


From an angle...

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5751951481/"][/url]


Stuck together...

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5752500042/"][/url]


& finished off for now...

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5752503160/"][/url]


Excuse the pics, they was taken with my phone & put on flickr with the iPhone app (no editing or anything). I'll get some decent pics later.

I'm gonna give it a wax in a few days time after the oil has lost it's stench.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Finally finished! :)

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5840432981/"][/url]

Some of my fave angles on it...

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5840429341/"][/url]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5840976246/"][/url]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5840422817/"][/url]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5840425217/"][/url]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5840966188/"][/url]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgsjx/5840968462/"][/url]

It's almost like having a new bass that feels like home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...