Dr. Phil

CornFlakes

Good Day Peeps Hope you all had a good weekend!

Somebody gave me a Bass Guitar a while ago it’s called a “Phil or something like that” I have never heard of the make before. This weekend when I was strolling around the house with a hang over
there it was staring at me all dirty, rusty and very old. So all of a sudden I came up with an idea “ why don’t I clean it up put new hardware on it and give it a new paint job!”

OK here is my question to all you luthier’s out there "am I wasting my time?"

scratchy

My very first electric guitar was a Phil "pro" edition. I loved it to pieces and it served me well for 10 years.

I really regret selling it.

As for your question, I'd say go for it

Manfred-Klose

What have you got to loose? since the bass was standing there all rusty and not in use.

AlanRatcliffe

If it's an old bass, why not (WARNING - the same advice does not apply to "old" Fender and other name brand instruments)?

At the very least, you'll get some experience at doing these things, at best you'll have a good and spiffy lookin' bass.

CornFlakes

Thanks for the motivation guys!
This is going to be my first guitar that I’m going to repair/modify. I will post pictures with my progress.
The only thing now is where do I start?

Spyke

I would say the if you're considering upgrading things like pups and hardware, do the paint last. That way any modifications that require reworking of the actual body / neck (routing, drilling etc) won't damage your finish.

I'd say hardware first, then electronics and then finish... but that's me.

CornFlakes

I’m looking forward to tonight! Just got some Paint Stripper, Steel Wool and Sandpaper “hope that is going to work”
I’m just worried about the neck though!
What is the best advice somebody can give me regarding taking of the paint on the neck?

AlanRatcliffe

Stripper is your first port of call, but if it's a polyester finish (common with Asian instruments), it will laugh at any stripper you could find easily.

Heat gun is the easiest, but you need to be careful not to scorch the wood or soften glue joints in a laminated body.

Sanding is laborious, uses a lot of paper and you need to be careful not to change the profile of the neck.

Chipping is my favourite, using blades and chisels to get under the finish and chip it off the wood. Start with a ding somewhere and see how easy it will be (they vary). You need to be careful not to gouge the wood with the tools.

Never use steel wool to smooth woods you are going to refinish (unless they are sold by a guitar tool company like Stewmac or a wood finishing suppy shop) - they often have a small amount of oil (sometimes the never to be dammed enough silicon oil), which can get into the wood and cause craters and fisheyes when you apply a finish.

CornFlakes

Somebody told me to use turpentine to get the polyester off is that going to work?
A heat gun was my first suggestion but cant get hold of one..
I’m only going to use the steel wool to get most of the paint off.

CornFlakes

Aaahhhhh! I have so many questions? Let’s just say I don’t want to F!@# this up.

AlanRatcliffe

Turps won't do anything...

Steel wool is very fine and it will take you a few months to rub off a poly (-ester or -urethane) finish.

Renesongs

Chipping is my favourite, using blades and chisels to get under the finish and chip it off the wood.

+1 Broken glass is an effective stripping tool (wear gardening gloves though). Pull the glass towards you in long sweeps at above 45 degrees to the surface you are stripping. As your piece of glass gets blunt break a fresh piece. Practice on a varnished piece of scrap to get the hang of it first. 8)

CornFlakes

The Paint Stripper worked like a charm! What I did is I took off the gloss layer off with sand paper and then I brushed on the paint stripper and waited for the paint to wrinkle and scraped it of with steel wool. Here is a few pictures of my progress…

AlanRatcliffe

Cool 8)