Finish Repair on Thumb Bubinga

[Banker Andrew]

Hi Guys,

I have a Thumb NT with a Bubinga body. There are shallow gouges where the pick has been coming into contact with the body. They are not deep, but is has led to patches that are a lighter color than the rest of the body.
I don't want to go to the effort of sanding back the whole top.
What is the best way to try and make it blend in? Put some lemon oil into it, and then beeswax over the top?
Thanks for your help.

 

[Hoggles]

Hi Guys,

I have a Thumb NT with a Bubinga body. There are shallow gouges where the pick has been coming into contact with the body. They are not deep, but is has led to patches that are a lighter color than the rest of the body.
I don't want to go to the effort of sanding back the whole top.
What is the best way to try and make it blend in? Put some lemon oil into it, and then beeswax over the top?
Thanks for your help.

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Thumb NT's normally only have the beeswax put on them and that is all. When they say natural oil finish on our beauties...they are meaning the beeswax surface conditioner...and that's all, from birth.

How they do it initially, is the wax has to be hot, melted, then applied...and cured overnight or longer...then buff it. This way the wood really grabs it, soaks it in. Then wax n buff normally. The bass is then supposed to sit for 4-5 days more to cure....as the warmth of your hand/fingers will discolor the fresh wax. I let mine sit for a week without touching it once. Torture....but well worth it.

Assuming no other finish other than the beeswax has been used on your NT over the years....your best bet to clean, darken and recondition those lighter areas, is with the hot beeswax method. Put a little on in that spot...give it decent wipe to clean the area. Put a final hot wax layer on those spots. Let sit overnight. Buff those spots shiny....then, wax and buff the whole bass, normal this time (room temp).

That should help bring back those areas back to life a bit. Darken and shine em up.

I just refinished my entire '04 NT And it came out great Feel free to check out the thread and you'll get a sense of what that hot wax does to the bubinga...sexy, dark, amazing.



Good luck! And you should definitely post some pics!

 

[Banker Andrew]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Thumb NT's normally only have the beeswax put on them and that is all. When they say natural oil finish on our beauties...they are meaning the beeswax surface conditioner...and that's all, from birth.

How they do it initially, is the wax has to be hot, melted, then applied...and cured overnight or longer...then buff it. This way the wood really grabs it, soaks it in. Then wax n buff normally. The bass is then supposed to sit for 4-5 days more to cure....as the warmth of your hand/fingers will discolor the fresh wax. I let mine sit for a week without touching it once. Torture....but well worth it.

Assuming no other finish other than the beeswax has been used on your NT over the years....your best bet to clean, darken and recondition those lighter areas, is with the hot beeswax method. Put a little on in that spot...give it decent wipe to clean the area. Put a final hot wax layer on those spots. Let sit overnight. Buff those spots shiny....then, wax and buff the whole bass, normal this time (room temp).

That should help bring back those areas back to life a bit. Darken and shine em up.

I just refinished my entire '04 NT And it came out great Feel free to check out the thread and you'll get a sense of what that hot wax does to the bubinga...sexy, dark, amazing.



Good luck! And you should definitely post some pics!

Yep.... That did the trick. They darkened right up, and are now every hard to see. I'll give the whole bass another go tomorrow, but it looks almost new. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Banker Andrew]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Thumb NT's normally only have the beeswax put on them and that is all. When they say natural oil finish on our beauties...they are meaning the beeswax surface conditioner...and that's all, from birth.

How they do it initially, is the wax has to be hot, melted, then applied...and cured overnight or longer...then buff it. This way the wood really grabs it, soaks it in. Then wax n buff normally. The bass is then supposed to sit for 4-5 days more to cure....as the warmth of your hand/fingers will discolor the fresh wax. I let mine sit for a week without touching it once. Torture....but well worth it.

Assuming no other finish other than the beeswax has been used on your NT over the years....your best bet to clean, darken and recondition those lighter areas, is with the hot beeswax method. Put a little on in that spot...give it decent wipe to clean the area. Put a final hot wax layer on those spots. Let sit overnight. Buff those spots shiny....then, wax and buff the whole bass, normal this time (room temp).

That should help bring back those areas back to life a bit. Darken and shine em up.

I just refinished my entire '04 NT And it came out great Feel free to check out the thread and you'll get a sense of what that hot wax does to the bubinga...sexy, dark, amazing.



Good luck! And you should definitely post some pics!

Thanks for the feedback. I tried it last night and the results looked promising. The timber darkened in those spots, and blended in quite well. This morning, they are back to looking a bit grey. I have tried the hot wax again, and I'll see how it looks tonight.

 

[Sean Fairchild]

Actually, you can try also steaming that area to see if you can get the compressed wood fibers to spring back a little, before doing additional refinishing. It has worked for me for kind of a big dimple, and stands a chance of working if the marks are from compression (dents) rather than chips taken out of the wood. You can accomplish this with a wet rag and a very hot soldering iron, or perhaps a hot hair dryer. Might be worth giving it a shot!

 

[schlobodan]

Actually, you can try also steaming that area to see if you can get the compressed wood fibers to spring back a little, before doing additional refinishing. It has worked for me for kind of a big dimple, and stands a chance of working if the marks are from compression (dents) rather than chips taken out of the wood. You can accomplish this with a wet rag and a very hot soldering iron, or perhaps a hot hair dryer. Might be worth giving it a shot!

not likely to work as the wood there normally is gone not dented