My 1975 Jazz Bass project

[Pissy]

Some may recall from the old board when I got my 75 Jazz.  It was a complete basket case, and I made it playable by replacing the shot pickups and bridge ultimately landing on a set of Dimarzio model J's and a badass bridge.  I'm absolutely in love with the neck on it, but a few things in particular need addressing.

Tuners, frets and paint.

The tuners just need cleaning and lube, but the frets need to be replaced and the paint is atrocious.



my pasty white skin against the rich yellowed finish of the neck.  White block inlay that is cracking, but I likely won't touch.



better shot of the neck, the frets are worn down pretty flat.  Any guitar repair shop would've refretted it 100,000 miles ago.



here you can see the body is finished with a spraycan job.  But that's not the whole story.  It was like the whole guitar was in a humid environment for decades, and the paint stayed soft.  It took on the texture of the case and when i first got it, I had to peel the thing out of the case.  It's really bad.





this is the inside of the case where the lower horn lies.  it's literally sticky with paint residue.  I'll need to adress this somehow as well, likely laying a new color of velour or velvet or whatever I can find.  Maybe flannel in honor of Mike Watt.




So my thoughts concerning refinishing are to begin stripping.  Perhaps sanding.  I'm leaning toward stripping though given the thickness of the paint.  I've been through this before many years ago and royally fucked the whole thing up, and don't intend to make the same mistakes.

any thoughts are appreciated.  this is going to take some time.

[Danny G]

Never priced a fret job, and both of my basses will be needing them imminently.

Always wondered if it'd just be cheaper to buy a new neck

[Pissy]

I doubt it. Especially a fender USA neck

[mortlock]

how about you just leave it and accept it for what it is.. that bass has a story..its awesome the way it is..

[Lumpy]

Painting the body seems like a huge pain in the ass, and requires shop skills, special equipment, and proper environment (no dust, ventilation etc).

Since I have none of those things, I would probably send the body to a pro if it was me.

Oh yeah, I'm voting for Shell Pink.

Just kidding, black body/black pickguard/maple fretboard is my absolute favorite, hands down.

[Pissy]

Morty's, if the paint was original, I'd leave it alone. But as it is, it's pretty atrocious. Soft and sticky. I also never play it as it is, and the frets need to be replaced, that much is pretty obvious.

A re-finish would likely cost about $400 army local guy that I trust.  If I mess it up, I'll retreat to that. I want to try first though. I spent a fair amount to get the bass in the first place, so more money isn't where I want to go right now.

Scraping through the black, it looks like the bass was originally that brown caramel color from that era. I kinda like the idea of that. I already have a black/black/maple bass.  Think I might consider the brown.

[lordfinesse]

... Think I might consider the brown.

Future album title right there.

[Lumpy]

If I spent a bunch buying the bass, I would consider it an investment that I wouldn't want to compromise with my own (not great) shop skills.

Also, if you ever sell it, you might wanna be able to say it was refinished by a pro. I think the paint might even pay for itself, in that case.

[mortlock]

Morty's, if the paint was original, I'd leave it alone. But as it is, it's pretty atrocious. Soft and sticky. I also never play it as it is, and the frets need to be replaced, that much is pretty obvious.

A re-finish would likely cost about $400 army local guy that I trust.  If I mess it up, I'll retreat to that. I want to try first though. I spent a fair amount to get the bass in the first place, so more money isn't where I want to go right now.

Scraping through the black, it looks like the bass was originally that brown caramel color from that era. I kinda like the idea of that. I already have a black/black/maple bass.  Think I might consider the brown.

understood, it just doesn't look that bad in the pics, but ill take your word for it. beautiful bass regardless. im sure it will be beautiful when its done..

[Jake]

DIY. That's not an investment. Never was. Thats a player just begging for you to dial it in exactly however you do it....warts and all.

[VOLVO)))]

So... Ill respond to this when I get home. I have tips and tricks for you. How bad are the frets? Could you crown them?

[VOLVO)))]

I would tell you to just send it to me, but you wanted to do this yourself, right?

Body stripping, don't use sandpaper. Scrape it. Make sure you don't gouge it.
http://www.amazon.com/Crown-376-Cabinet-Scraper-Gooseneck/dp/B001C06BLE
http://www.amazon.com/Crown-377-20260-Burnisher/dp/B001BZZ0PS/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_img_y

This is the best/most efficient way to get the bulk of the paint off. Take the neck off, mask the neck pocket, and body cavity. You don't have to buy cabinet scrapers, I have used a sharp curved blade knife for years to scrape paint. The knife technique gives very satisfying shavings, and if you're good, it's one pass per scrape and you're down to bare wood. Then you can sand at 220 once all the paint is off, to smooth anything out. If there is appreciable damage, good old bondo, rough up the damaged area, then swipe it with acetone (won't hurt the wood, but will remove the dust so the bondo will adhere to the wood properly.) I suggest doing all of the paint stripping, and prep for paint yourself, then having a professional shoot it. It'll be in the hundred dollar area for just a body. Get some thick kitchen gloves, a couple pairs. Don't touch yourself, or get any of that stripper on yourself. It is heinous, heinous shit. Do it in the driveway on covered table (wax butcher paper is great for this,) and wear a pair of glasses. I burned the everliving fuck out of myself with it. I cannot caution you enough.

Can you shoot me some pics of the frets? If they're non-existent, it'll be a fretjob, if there's some meat, you can crown them, and let them ride until they're flat again. I wouldn't dick with the finish on the neck. It's gorgeous.

I'll shoot some pictures of the knife technique when I get off work.

[VOLVO)))]

Also, rattlecan paint rarely ever dries. Too much paint, no moisture trap, etc.

[Pissy]

I'll try to take some pics of the frets when I get home. I genuinely can't see enough fretwire to round them off. Neck finish won't be touched. I'm in love with the yellowed aged look. 

One thing I'm wrestling with is the Fender Mocha color.  It's actually transparent traditionally, and I'm going to have a few holes to plug. I think this means I'll be plugging the holes with wood plugs rather than filler so the finish is consistent.

And Hooper Jake, I bought this as a player, you're right.  I don't sell things often because no one that wants anything I have, has any money. Perhaps as I age, things may change. Perhaps not.

[VOLVO)))]

If you're going to pull the frets yourself, heat them with a soldering iron first. Just use a wide tip, and heat it so the wood around the tang relaxes/breaks down any glue. I usually try get one end up first, then free the rest of the fret slowly.

You can get appropriate sized hole plugging dowels at lowes/home depot. Oak dowels. You'll want to cut it as FLAT as you can to the body, or even recess it 1mm or so, and use the Bondo to fill the low spot. That way you don't sand a depression into the softer alder while trying to sand down the oak dowel. Been there. done that.

[Pissy]

I think I need to use plugged material rather than dowel material due to end grain issues.  Which I can do, no biggie.

The color though. That's going to take some time to pin down. I guess I need to think of it in terms of a stain rather than a paint. Then clear coat?  Not sure yet.

I think I'll pull it apart and start stripping this evening.  I first want to get down to the base coat and look at that color. I'll figure out where to go from there.

[VOLVO)))]

probably Nitro clear... probably yellowed.

[Hagard]

I like to see a P bass or J bass with the bridge and pickup covers.

[Pissy]

Frets:





Looks like they started life with flat tops judging from the higher frets in between the strings.


I may let a pro handle them. The finish rides up the frets all nice and whatnot. Damn. I'm not one to get spooked so much, but I'm thinking I should try fretwork on something else first.

[VOLVO)))]

There is plenty of meat there to work with. Would crown, polish, and let ride.

[CID Vicious]

DIY. That's not an investment. Never was. Thats a player just begging for you to dial it in exactly however you do it....warts and all.

This.

If the paint is what you say it is, strip it. Did auto body for years - soft paint is no bueno.

I'd citristrip it to the wood regardless of whether it was destined for ReRanch or Krylon. Once it's stripped you can play it while you decide how deep down the Refinish Rabbit Hole you want to go.

[CID Vicious]

However...any tard can goop up an old nice axe like that with rattle cans.

If you think you can handle a gloss finish...ReRanch has nitro. And forums dedicated to refinning guitars as *cheap as you'd want to*. If you decide to sell it, you may regret not dropping a fee extra bucks on nitro and a few hours extra work.

The neck - refret it. If it doesn't absolutely twist your tits, you have a refretted Fender 70's Jazz neck. Sell it and order up some roasted maple dopesauce from Warmoth with the proceeds.

If you don't feel comfortable doing a 'real' refinish...strip it to the sealer coat and leave it raw. Cost ya like $10 and it could be back together and ungooey within a day or two.

Good luck. Sounds like it'd be worth the hassle.

[Pissy]

Body stripped.  Citristrip and acetone. Now I need to figure out how to take care of the dings and the paint that settled into the grain. Perhaps Hydrogen Peroxide, or bleach. 

[CID Vicious]

If you're planning on staining the wood, you absolutely need to sand that puppy down through the sealer coat.

Lighter grade paper so reshaping isn't an issue.

Take your time, re-overlapping circular motions with an automotive style soft sanding block. Take it down to an even wood finish, wipe the surface with a between wet and merely damp rag -even coverage, but don't soak the wood.

That raised the high spots on the surface.Let it dry and sand again.

Really, do that whether you stain or don't. If you do stain, an oil finish - danish oil or tung, the former is easier IMO to work with - is cheap, easy, and fool proof - brush on generously, let soak for just a few minutes, and wipe with a rag dampened with fresh oil. (The oil has solvents added to keep the oil from drying in the can. If you apply fresh oil, the solvent will break up any tacking up non soaked up oil.

Then wipe with a dry rag. Two coats minimum. Add more if you like more gloss.

[CID Vicious]

As for dings and divots, thinner or stripper on a q tip + patience.

Now, if you go with a transparent finish the dowel work or filler will be less obvious. They make a "crystal clear" filler just for the purpose of making such repairs less obvious.

A dark "candy" like trans finish like the Mocha would be a good choice. That's going to be a bass that's easy to resell if you ever choose to. The oil finish option IMO is if you want it for life. If you want to do it all yourself, you're better off with the stain/oil unless you have body shop experience or are a rattlecan wizard. A "solid" color could just as easily be sprayed by a good body shop - their guns will be clean anyway, just bring them the nitro. Tell them "I know, I know, but this isn't automotive grade paint." $150 max. $100 for poly.

A sunburst finish however you're going to want an instrument refinisher.

Research twice, fuck up once (if you're lucky) ;-)