how hard to stain an ash body?

[thebuckets]

As in the title how much bother would it be to stain an ash bodied sr600? Ibanez used to do it in a walnut finish but I think it would look nice in black oil finish as well instead of tge flat natural.
ibanez seem to offer nice ccolurs but only in certain models. Love the black ice finish of the 705 but am after a 4 string and dont like the amber of the 700

[hamfist]

It all depends on the current finish on the SR600 body, and whether it would let stain through it or not. Alternatively, if it has an sealed finish (and it probably does), how deep does it go and how easy is it to remove. Unfinished Ash is lovely to stain and work with in general.
I'm guessing the Ibanez finish is fairly minimal, and that with a fairly basic hand-sanding down you would get down to pretty much bare ash again. I am not familiar with that exact model though. Certainly SR500 finishes are very thin.

[stubass]

I have a 600 and I'm pretty sure that it's unfinished. If there is anything on there, it's very thin so wouldn't be much hassle to refinish. I'd always give it a rub anyway just to get the grime off.

[DorsetBlue]

I have a Cort B4 (essentially same bass as the SR600). Pretty sure it has some form of thin coating, as it does not pick up stains (of the sweat etc type I mean). Must be pretty thin though, as you can feel the natural grain.

[thebuckets]

Cheers guys, just a full strip down sand then stain Then. Any particular products you'd recommend?
Still not decided if its more trouble than its worth !

[DaveFry]

If you want black on a budget consider a home-made ebonizing solution .
Also known as the old steel-wool-left-overnight-in-vinegar method .

Also a budget drying oil finish is walnut oil from a supermarket , it just takes longer to dry than the more expensive gun stock oils .

Further possibilty ; charring with a blowtorch , polishing with steel wool and then an oil finish . ( search for " Sugi " finish )

Black ink or leather dye can both work as well .