! ! ! ! ! ! !sanding my bass (urgent help required)! ! ! ! !

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funkassassin

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i have just bought a 1997 streamer lx 5 with a nirvana black laquered finish,i dont know much about finishes or the process of which to remove it.. i really dont like the black finish and would like to make her natrual and possibly use something to make the maple body look a little darker than the wood underneath the black oil.. i fear that if i sand it down it is going to take a long time to get to the original natrual finish and it might seriously affect the shape of the bass and reduce its size..basicly not sure how far into the wood the blackness goes!! how do i go about this process? please laugh at my stupidity and help me if you have done this to ur bass and or have and pics!! cheers
 
Hi mate,
I think we need to find out exactly what finish your bass has before trying to remove it.Nirvana black is a coloured oil finish that may be all but impossible to remove.I've seen high polish finishes removed quite easily with paint stripper but dont try anything until you know excactly what your trying to remove.If you can post a pic of the bass it'd help alot.
 
I would suggest starting with some 320 gritt sandpaper and some acetone... work your way up to about 600 or so... and finish it with quite a few coats of tung oil sanding in-between coats... then polish it all up with some linseed oil and 0000 steelwool... works great :)
 
Hey funkassasin, welcome to the forum :-)

First of all, I think it its better to let a professional to to such a job. A lot of things may go wrong.
However, if you really want to do it, go to this topic, I hope it will help you

Good luck, and pe very patient!
 
do you know whether your bass has an oil finish or a high polish finish?

to post pictures;



the pictures need to be on an internet site somewhere so try photo bucket. when its on there right click and select properties and the url should be there
 
finish

It is stained and double glossed on top if the advice I was given is correct, it is NOT a satin oil finish, it's quite shiny! It is nirvana black, a TRANSPARENT finish, the light flaming is visible, i cant really afford to get a proto do it at the moment unfortunately
 
Sounds just like my Streamer Rockbass. When I got the Rockbass it had a chip out of it (which I fixed myself) - but looked very much like the wood was stained first, coloured oil finish style, then a clear high polish laquer applied over the top... but I may be wrong (maybe the shop stained the chipped out bit black just to cover it up.... the buggers!)

Sounds like a big job to me... with a good possibility of messing the bass up!

By the way... I didn't take the bass back to the shop as it played so beautifully (still does) and I didn't want to risk swapping it!
 
im gonna start sanding soon so if anyone has any other ideas please let me know before i destroy the body of my bass pleeease!!!
 
You will not destroy your bass, don't worry. It will take longer with sanding, but it is the safest way.
It took me 2 weeks to refinish my thumb anyway, so... it's not l;ike you can do the job in 3 days.
Take your time, be shure you already have all you need. Read my topic, too, my english is bad, but my thumb came out really good. I have done practicly the same thing, removing high gloss finish, and oil finish the bass. I strongly recommend Tru OIl for that. Don't oil the fingerboard. Remove completly everything on the bass.
Good luck mate!
 
FLORIN

florin sorry to be a meither but do you think you could give me a step by step account of exactly what to do please just so i can do this properly, iv seen different posts and peolpe say different methods, ill put my full trust in you.cheers
 
Mate...

Do NOT sand that down now, unless you're 200% sure on what you're doing! It's not a table! It's a precision instrument!

I'm not trying to teach you how to sand wood .... but please be careful.

Good luck! /Pat
 
I've seen pics of the bass in question & it has a coloured oil finish under 2 coats of clear.The clear can be taken off but the coloured oil has actually soaked into the wood at varying depths.IMO to try to remove this coloured oil finish will be a disaster as you wont get all of it off without sanding your bass down to a toothpick.The wood absorbs this coloured oil like a sponge.The bass looks great imo,the flamed maple is clearly visible under the Nirvana Black finish,I suspect a previous owner did the 2 coats of clear for whatever reason.
Funkassasin,PROCEED WITH CAUTION,better yet,dont proceed & leave your beautiful bass as it is. :wink:
 
ohhh dear

oooooooooooooh dear... ur too late,or im too late rather,wiv sanded it all over its still a gray colour,havent yet reached the wood,in sum parts i have though and i see what you mean..iv just ruined a perfectly good bass, or is there anything i can do..could i use anything to get rid of these 'toothpick' dark bits in the grain? or am i shagged
 
I think it's fair to say you're shagged mate,I tried to warn ya.I have no idea how to go about fixing this up other than to take it to someone that knows what they're doing & pay them to try & salvage whats left of your finish.Dont feel too bad about it,when you plug it in,close your eyes,you're still playing & hearing the same bass.It's just a bit rough around the edges now.
This link will demonstarte what can be done to restore an oil finish from a high polish finish on a Rockbass.
 
il put a picture of what iv done on my myspace page.. would you be a true gent n have another look at what iv don so far, just wanna make sure im shagged!! cheers for your time
 
I had a peek & if it was my bass I'd stop sanding & take it to a luthier or french polisher & get their opinion on the best thing to do.If you've sanded the clear coat off completely you might be able to get the nirvana black oil finish restored.I've never seen this done so I'm guessing.
Keep us posted bro.
 
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