To refin or not

[ezbass]

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

Take the finish off and see what the body's like. Go for natural if you can, otherwise paint it.

From the little you can see, it doesn’t look great, which comes as no surprise. What colour is the question? I reckon black would look great. What say you @Stub Mandrel?

[Ralf1e]

9 minutes ago, ezbass said:

From the little you can see, it doesn’t look great, which comes as no surprise. What colour is the question? I reckon black would look great. What say you @Stub Mandrel?

Time will tell but it does look like blockboard. Might look interesting when stripped though. With flake or just gloss?

Edited December 18, 2022 by Ralf1e
Typo

[Beedster]

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

Take the finish off and see what the body's like. Go for natural if you can, otherwise paint it.

Yep, that’s the one 👍

[Happy Jack]

Hmmmmmmmmm ... even with that nasty poly-peeling going on, I'm not convinced.

 

Right now, it is what it is and always has been, a cheap Japanese copy that was and remains better than it has any right to be as a player's bass. And yes, I used to own a more-or-less identical bass. If you leave it alone and just play it, then that's what it will always be, plus it has FORTY YEARS of your life baked into it. Fiddle about with it just once and that's gone.

 

Worse, any decent refin is almost certainly going to cost more than the bass is worth right now. From an investment POV (and I know that's not what this is about) you're talking money straight down the drain.

 

If I was lucky enough to have owned an instrument for as long as that, I'd leave it untouched, take it to dodgy pub gigs and jam nights, and enjoy playing it and the memories that come with it. The refin money would go on something more useful.

 

 

[grenadillabama]

Get some black or dark brown paint onto those bald patches around the edge. It will look fine to the audience.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 18/12/2022 at 09:05, ezbass said:

From the little you can see, it doesn’t look great, which comes as no surprise. What colour is the question? I reckon black would look great. What say you @Stub Mandrel?

 

I'm leaning towards Sherwood green or aged Olympic White

 

On 18/12/2022 at 09:13, Ralf1e said:

Time will tell but it does look like blockboard. Might look interesting when stripped though. With flake or just gloss?

 

It's blockboard, mahogany core with a  thin central layer and  3mm of more attractively grained wood as facings and no gaps I can see.  More of a 'complex laminate'.

[Stub Mandrel]

On 18/12/2022 at 09:44, Happy Jack said:

Hmmmmmmmmm ... even with that nasty poly-peeling going on, I'm not convinced.

 

Right now, it is what it is and always has been, a cheap Japanese copy that was and remains better than it has any right to be as a player's bass. And yes, I used to own a more-or-less identical bass. If you leave it alone and just play it, then that's what it will always be, plus it has FORTY YEARS of your life baked into it. Fiddle about with it just once and that's gone.

 

Worse, any decent refin is almost certainly going to cost more than the bass is worth right now. From an investment POV (and I know that's not what this is about) you're talking money straight down the drain.

 

If I was lucky enough to have owned an instrument for as long as that, I'd leave it untouched, take it to dodgy pub gigs and jam nights, and enjoy playing it and the memories that come with it. The refin money would go on something more useful.

 

 

 

I'm inclined to go with that. It's a lovely player and when I did take it to a jam night, no-one mentioned its war wounds.

[Happy Jack]

15 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It's a lovely player and when I did take it to a jam night, no-one mentioned its war wounds.

Best thing is when you turn up at a jam with a bass that looks like you found it in a skip, and when all the guys with their Stingrays and Dingwalls and Sadowskys have been up and played root+5 for their three songs, you provide 10 minutes of aural chocolate ...

 

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

Best thing is when you turn up at a jam with a bass that looks like you found it in a skip, and when all the guys with their Stingrays and Dingwalls and Sadowskys have been up and played root+5 for their three songs, you provide 10 minutes of aural chocolate ...

 

 

In my dreams 🤣

Performer turned a few heads, if not ears though 🤣🤣

[12stringbassist]

You could get it restored to its original finish.
Well worth doing if you love it.