I need a respray

[Stag]

Hi - has anyone had a luthier respray their bass?

I ask as im looking to get my Musicmaster refinished. Its down to the wood at the moment and I hate it. Just needs a respray rather than a full sanding etc as its ready to be painted now... how much will this cost me?

Oh, and if anyone knows of any luthiers in East Anglia who would do it for a good price, please let me know. Cheers!

[Stag]

Bump

Anyone know anything about this?

[lex_luthier]

If there aren't any luthiers in your area who could do it why don't your look for a car refinishing or furniture company? I reckon either should be able to help you out

[Kiwi]

[quote name='lex_luthier' post='49212' date='Aug 22 2007, 10:13 PM']If there aren't any luthiers in your area who could do it why don't your look for a car refinishing or furniture company? I reckon either should be able to help you out[/quote]

Zakly what I was going to post. There was a custom car painter on Bassworld who offered to do basses for something like £50. If he had a car to do, he'd just add the bass body in with it on the side and they'd both get hand rubbed. He could do custom "candy" colours on maple tops too.

[Rogueporn]

Mike Walsh at zoot bass in Witham has a paint shop i think.

[Sibob]

+1 for Mike Walsh

Si

[Stag]

cheers guys - ill bear this helpful info in mind....

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='Sibob' post='51903' date='Aug 28 2007, 07:39 PM']+1 for Mike Walsh

Si[/quote]

I've seen a "Funkmeister" body sprayed in the "reflex" (colour shifting) paint jobs that TVR use. He'd done a nice job on it.
Personally, I'd favour a pearlescent finish.
Perhaps white over electric blue... Mmmmm.

[Stag]

Well, I got a quote from a local luthier who has been mentioned on these boards...

...quoted me £300!!!!

Surely that's too much? What's a decent ballpark figure for this job guys?

[Sibob]

[quote name='Stag' post='54173' date='Sep 2 2007, 01:43 PM']Well, I got a quote from a local luthier who has been mentioned on these boards...

...quoted me £300!!!!

Surely that's too much? What's a decent ballpark figure for this job guys?[/quote]

That sounds like a price for a full strip and refinish? but if its already down to the wood.......?!
I think the Gallery in Camden has re-spraying from £150, but it all depends on the actual job i guess, including what colour/finish you want.

Si

[WalMan]

The chap I have used in the past on the south coast quoted me a starting price of £150 to refinish the MM Sub with a tobacco burst to match my Wal - depending on the current finish

[Stag]

[quote name='Sibob' post='54176' date='Sep 2 2007, 01:49 PM']That sounds like a price for a full strip and refinish? but if its already down to the wood.......?!
I think the Gallery in Camden has re-spraying from £150, but it all depends on the actual job i guess, including what colour/finish you want.

Si[/quote]


I did tell him the bass was already stripped - im still recovering from the shock of that quotation!

(By the way, your solo bass stuff on your MySpace page is excellent - very chilled!)

[MB1]

MB1.

Martin Simm of Sims LEDS,does resprays and refinishing ,you could take a look at his website,cant see him being dead cheap, but it will be a pro job.

[lex_luthier]

You could try Dan at DM Guitars (Essex)

From what I've seen he's abit of a 'daddy' in guitar finishing:

[url="http://www.dm-guitars.co.uk/"]http://www.dm-guitars.co.uk/[/url]

[Sibob]

Glad you like the tunes Stag, thankyou, i should write some new ones really

Just looked at the DM guitars pricelist, and its again between £200-£300.
Makes me wonder if the gallery's price is for a strip and natural lacquer finish, and any other kind of colour/stain/sunburst will bump the price to within these other quotes!

Si

[Stag]

As my bass is already stripped I would have thought that would reduce the price somewhat?

Anyway, ive emailed about 4 different luthiers now so let's see what they call come up with....

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I bought a "stripped" musicmaster bass for £100 a few years ago for my daughter's birthday and promised we'd paint it any colour she liked as the alder used was not very well matched in colour & it wasn't very pretty.

At a larger branch of halfords, she flicked through the colour books & chose a lilac used on some model of honda that I'd never heard of. The chap there mixed the paint & filled two cans (that was interesting for her to watch). I also bought some cans of white undercoat and clear lacquer. The paint job is nothing like a pro job as I did rush it a bit, but from a few feet away it looks fantastic and cost very little apart from a bit of hassle.

One semi-unrelated tip: If the pickup on the musicmaster (either a 6 pole strat or mustang guitar pickup) is a bit noisy and/or weak sounding, the humbucking Cool Rails strat pickups for £30 from brandoni guitars fit perfectly and sound excellent, the black enclosed version looks exactly like the bass's stock pickup. The hot rails is similar but sounds a bit clanky to me.

[Stag]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='54472' date='Sep 2 2007, 10:38 PM']I bought a "stripped" musicmaster bass for £100 a few years ago for my daughter's birthday and promised we'd paint it any colour she liked as the alder used was not very well matched in colour & it wasn't very pretty.

At a larger branch of halfords, she flicked through the colour books & chose a lilac used on some model of honda that I'd never heard of. The chap there mixed the paint & filled two cans (that was interesting for her to watch). I also bought some cans of white undercoat and clear lacquer. The paint job is nothing like a pro job as I did rush it a bit, but from a few feet away it looks fantastic and cost very little apart from a bit of hassle.

One semi-unrelated tip: If the pickup on the musicmaster (either a 6 pole strat or mustang guitar pickup) is a bit noisy and/or weak sounding, the humbucking Cool Rails strat pickups for £30 from brandoni guitars fit perfectly and sound excellent, the black enclosed version looks exactly like the bass's stock pickup. The hot rails is similar but sounds a bit clanky to me.[/quote]


Id like to think I could do this but if im honest with myself I know id bugger it up somewhere along the line... hence me wanting to get a luthier to do it!

Got a call this morning from Dave in Northumberland what warwichhunt put me in contact with - far more reasonable, looking at about £180 ish from those guys so so far they are getting "the contract".... shame thery're all that way up there though!!! Argh - courier charge as well... :-)

[odub]

I havn't sprayed a guitar, but I have done car parts with the cans of paint and it's really not that hard to get a really good finish, especially if you're willing to do a bit of sanding down and lots and lots of little layers. The most imprtant thing is to buy a proper mask, because the stuff they put in car paint really isn't something you want in your lungs.

[Kiwi]

Martin Petersen at the Bass Gallery gets a small firm who refinish roulette wheels to do his basses, so he tells me.

[Stag]

A couple more replies have arrived...

Guitar Doctor quotes £175 to £250 (depending on if it needs setting up etc)

Bass Gallery quotes £250 / £300 (a chap called Alex instead of Martin?)

[Stag]

Ont his topic again...

THIS GUY has all the credentials and a good price guide for refinshing AND cheap courier service!!! Might be getting the job...

[url="http://www.guitarrepairman.co.uk/index.html"]http://www.guitarrepairman.co.uk/index.html[/url]

ill keep you all posted on how I get on... think this thread might end up becoming part of the recommended luthiers thread! lol

[Stag]

Reply from Jim - cant do resprays at the moment...

...does anyone know someone who can do this work for me? There's money waiting but I am not going to get ripped off for it... :-)

[Sibob]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='54704' date='Sep 3 2007, 01:02 PM']Martin Petersen at the Bass Gallery gets a small firm who refinish roulette wheels to do his basses, so he tells me.[/quote]

So that's what the 20% price hike was for!!

Si

[WalMan]

[quote name='WalMan' post='54265' date='Sep 2 2007, 04:40 PM']The chap I have used in the past on the south coast quoted me a starting price of £150 to refinish the MM Sub with a tobacco burst to match my Wal - depending on the current finish[/quote]
Just got the MM back from a set up and Graham has confirmed £150 if I wanted to add a tobacco sunburst. I guess it must depend where you are.

He is on the recommended list elsewhere - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=253&hl=wheeler"]Graham Wheeler[/url]

Edited September 10, 2007 by WalMan