Revarnish a bass ? possible ?

[Franck Callebert]

Hi all,

I'm the new proud owner of a vintage BT4 with stunning flame mapple top wood but with a lot of wear in the varnish.
Personnaly I don't care of the minors blemish and dings and i always favor the sound and the music coming from my instruments but...

I was thinking of a nice refresh of the varnish of this beauty and i would like some advice in how to do that, wich kind of varnish i may use.

I'm in France and the job would be done by a nearby french luthier...



What is your feeling 'bout that ?

Ken answer would be appreciated

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Franck Callebert

Hi all,

I'm the new proud owner of a vintage BT4 with stunning flame mapple top wood but with a lot of wear in the varnish.
Personnaly I don't care of the minors blemish and dings and i always favor the sound and the music coming from my instruments but...

I was thinking of a nice refresh of the varnish of this beauty and i would like some advice in how to do that, wich kind of varnish i may use.

I'm in France and the job would be done by a nearby french luthier...



What is your feeling 'bout that ?

Ken answer would be appreciated

This is one of the first basses we made here in Pa. I think we used a Vinyl sealer and then thin coats of Nitro. That was the process for about the first few years in Pa. To re-finish it, you have to strip all the parts, take written notes of how they go back together, wiring's included, strip to bare wood, sand to a scratch-less surface and then start over. Try not to loose any thickness of the original wood to avoid problems of the parts fitting. If you can measure the difference with any kind of ruler in the wood after, you have taken too much off. Use only a dial caliper to mark your measurements at each stage of the process. Different than furniture, this has to maintain its specs.

[Franck Callebert]

Thank you Ken.
That's a lot of work and the risk would be to loose its mojo...
But i really think that the woods would be so nice with a clear varnish just to enhance the flames of the mapple..

This bass sounds amazing and I don't know if i can stand not playing it during the re-finish process

Got to think about it a little bit further ...