Dissentience

Your stain can either be wiped or sprayed on, your prefernce. If you get dyes they can be mixed into most clears and then sprayed on.

As for applying your clear coats, oil finishes are the easiest to apply since you just wipe them on and then the excess off. Any of the lacquers or urethanes need to be sprayed on, brushing won't cut it. A spray gun and air compressor that can handle the gun is going to spray the best. I would say at least a 30 gallon air compressor is minimum. Airbrushes will work for bursting and can get you by for color coats, but fall way short for spraying the clears. A lot of stores are selling Preval sprayers which is a glass jar and a can of propellant that lets you mix your own fluids and spray as you like. I've used them and don't like the spray pattern, and had a tough time getting good atomization. I would say you are better using rattle cans of nitro lacquer. I personally like the Reranch brand nitro or Deft nitro. You can check some autobody suppliers in your area, some of them will fill spray cans with 2-part urethanes and colors as well.

As I read through this forum and the Reranch forums, it's looking like an oil finish would be ideal for the colors and general look I'm going for. It seems somewhat easy enough, it seems to me to work like a natural stone enhancer (random, i know. I used to install tile and stone and we would "enhance" the stones using an oil based sealer. Basically it darkens and brings the colors out, which I'm assuming is what oil finishes do.), rub on and wipe the excess. What would need to be done to create a gloss/shiny finish? Does the oil finish create that, or would I need to lacquer after the oil finish is complete? I'm such a newb at this stuff. Again, thanks for the info.

I would not say that you have a limited color pallete if the wood is alder or some other light wood. In fact I would say you can do almost any colors you want because it is light to begin with. Try turning a piece of mahoganny lemon yellow. Oil finishes give a great natural look and can either have dyes added to some of them or can be applied over a dyed surface. I have found that making your own dyes is easier to work with than premade stains. StewMac sells their own line of dyes, but Trans-Tint is the same thing and can be found through wood working suppliers. Several of the luthier suppliers also sell analine dyes which work the same, they just arrive as a powder.

Check out the Reranch forum. It is guys that are mostly working on Fenders or Fender clones, and go for a vintage look so, there are quite a few guys over there that do great burst finishes and can offer a lot of advice. As for stripping the bass, I would recomend going with a heat gun, it works much quicker and easier than anything else I have tried. You just have to be carefull not to scorch the wood.

Thanks again. I'm am looking at the reranch forums right now actually, they have a lot of info their as well. I'm starting from scratch here as far as painting and stripping tools. I was planning on buying either a heat gun or a sander. How about the application of stain and clear coat? I'll look around for tutorials but if anyone has tips that would be amazing. Thanks.

Thanks for the advice guys! Sounds like I'm biting off a little more than I can chew with the whole sunburst finish. I would say that I'm technically and mechanically inclined to re-finish the bass, I love working on projects that are challenging. It's now looking like I either a) need to practice on some scrap for a while or come up with a new finish for it. I'm thinking just a straight natural finish would be technically easier, and it's still pretty close to what I want. The main thing, though, is that I'd like to start a project that is challenging, time consuming, rewarding, and (hopefully) a little fun. Thanks for the schedule idea as well! That could definitely help. I should even do a little more research on the whole method in general. Then again, you can only read so much before you need some hands on experience. Also, this bass isn't exactly of the utmost importance to me, I only paid $75 for it (and a practice amp). There is a little sentimental value to it (I learned everything I know now on it), but all in all it's replaceable.

If I were to aim for getting just a natural finish on it, what would be the best route? I've found some great tutorials on stripping and prepping the body, the one thing I need a little help with would be in choosing a wood stain. Are there certain brands that stand out over others? What sort of application should I expect for a decent natural finish (spray, oil, stain...)? It seems like the forum is a little more technical than I have imagined, (you guys are pros, or at least not amateurs) so I am definitely willing to be patient and learn/study up on the whole process. I understand the wood is potentially a light colored wood (possibly alder, but I'm not 100% on that), so I'm guessing I have a limited color pallete to work with. I just want it to look clean and interesting. If needed, I can research some colors/stains that I like if anyone can help me in choosing a stain. Thanks again for the help! Like I said, anything helps, so if you guys have any more suggestions, tips, or tutorials shoot 'em my way!

Hello everyone,

Im sure this is the 1000th topic on this, but I figured I'd try and weasel another one in. BTW, this is my first post/thread, so go easy on me! I just want to start by saying this forum is awesome! So much information, I've been lurking around here for a few weeks now. I'd have to say this is one of the best resources for refinishing Q & A ever. If you guys don't mind, I'd like to steal a little of your knowledge on refinishing. Basically, I'm purchasing a new bass in the next week or so (Fender JP90, not the best bass around, but in playing it recently, the sound was as good as if not better than my buddy's P-bass). That leaves me with a hunk-o-junk Yamaha BB450 bass I bought for $75 back in highschool. It's candy-ish red, which I'm pretty much done with. I'm going to throw in some new pickups in and mess around with the hardware, so I figured it'd be a fun project to re-finish the thing. I've read a lot of tutorials, and let me say I'm completely new to refinishing anything. I haven't found anything specifically relating to the finish I'm looking for (I probably have, though). This is the best picture of this finish I could find:

It's the guitarist for the band dredg, it's hard to tell in the picture, but it looks like a natural sunburst type of finish. There is no actual black on the finish, it seems like a darker brown and obviously fades to an orange-ish stain. I actually noticed it in a video I saw of them, this is just the best picture I could find of it. It looks almost "rustic" in the video, like it was done unprofessionally (in a good way, if that makes sense). I'm planning on stripping the bass hopefully this weekend. Anyhew, maybe there are some topics I may have missed that deal with this, or there are some online tutorials that could help with this. Anything. If more info is needed, let me know! Thanks in advance.

Here the best pic I could come up with if my current bass:

From google