Wanting to strip the paint off of my old Peavey Foundation S bass

[Pickngrin]

I have an old Foundation S bass I bought used years ago... it's a bright 1980s shade of red, and I'd really like to turn it into a natural or black. I've read various ideas online re: stripping and refinishing. If I use a chemical paint stripper, is it really that difficult to do this project? Any special kind of stain to use if I keep it natural? What's involved in refinishing the body? I am thinking that keeping it natural might look better than a crappy spray paint job. Any ideas?
Thanks!

[hubberjub***]

I've stripped several guitars using chemicals available at Home Depot. I think the last one I used was called Stripease or something like that. You should be able to strip a bass body in a couple of hours. Check out this site for wood preparation and anything you ever wanted to know about guitar finishing. It's great.

reranch.com

[M29]

Hello Pickngrin,

I would also suggest Reranch for info as hubberjub suggested, their discussion forum is very helpful.

If you end up just changing the color and not going for a natural finish, you could sand off as much as possible and use what is there for a base. It would be very stable after all these years. Just avoid sanding through to the wood grain or you will have to fill that to go further.

I hope this helps.

M29

[Bloozcat]

Pickngrin,

What's the finish that's on the bass now?

If it's polyurethane, it shouldn't be difficult to remove with commercial paint strippers as mentioned. If it's polyester, it could be more difficult. A thin polyester finish should come off with commercial paint removers, although not nearly as easily as with polyurethane.

If the polyester finish is thick, it may require the use of a heat gun to remove the finish. Either that, or a whole lot of repeated applications of the paint strippers, and a lot of sanding.

[Pickngrin]

Pickngrin,

What's the finish that's on the bass now?

If it's polyurethane, it shouldn't be difficult to remove with commercial paint strippers as mentioned. If it's polyester, it could be more difficult. A thin polyester finish should come off with commercial paint removers, although not nearly as easily as with polyurethane.

If the polyester finish is thick, it may require the use of a heat gun to remove the finish. Either that, or a whole lot of repeated applications of the paint strippers, and a lot of sanding.

Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure what kind of finish is on there now. Any way I can tell? I registered for Reranch today...thanks for the tip!

[oldguy]

I stripped a Strat copy and refinished it w/ Danish oil once. The finish was satin, not gloss, but it turned out to be one of my favorite guitars. The sound also changed once I got the goop of her. She's much more acoustic and open sounding now. If you want shiny, danish oil may not be for you, however, if you like earthy, smooth, and au~naturale in wood, it's wonderful.
Here's a link if you want a look. There's some before and after pics in there. I was going to put a clear gloss coat over her, but after I played her this way I just named her Maddie and kept her as she was.

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=1441

[marnold***]

From my research on Reranch when I was looking at redoing my Model 7, heat seemed to be the preferred way to go. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for me because mine had binding. There's tons of good info on their forums.

[Pickngrin]

I stripped a Strat copy and refinished it w/ Danish oil once. The finish was satin, not gloss, but it turned out to be one of my favorite guitars. The sound also changed once I got the goop of her. She's much more acoustic and open sounding now. If you want shiny, danish oil may not be for you, however, if you like earthy, smooth, and au~naturale in wood, it's wonderful.
Here's a link if you want a look. There's some before and after pics in there. I was going to put a clear gloss coat over her, but after I played her this way I just named her Maddie and kept her as she was.

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=1441

Interesting. Thanks for the info. I might try the Danish oil. I really like the way your Strat body looks. Did you apply some kind of stain first?
I don't know what kind of finish is on the bass now (factory finish), so I'm not sure how to strip it. Also, it just occurred to me yesterday that perhaps the weather is too cold for me to be doing a project like this now.I don't know what temperature range these finishes need to be applied... any ideas?

[oldguy]

Interesting. Thanks for the info. I might try the Danish oil. I really like the way your Strat body looks. Did you apply some kind of stain first?
I don't know what kind of finish is on the bass now (factory finish), so I'm not sure how to strip it. Also, it just occurred to me yesterday that perhaps the weather is too cold for me to be doing a project like this now.I don't know what temperature range these finishes need to be applied... any ideas?

The stain (walnut) was already in the danish oil. The temps. for the stain, whatever kind, will be on the can. I stained mine in the laundry room on about hundred old newspapers to keep the mess down. The temp was around 70 degrees F. The body had no binding, nothing fancy, and I wasn't too concerned about keeping it original. I didn't care much for the finish, and the headstock was messed up before I got the guitar.
The finish on mine seemed to be polyester... it was the hardest coating I ever tried to remove. I coated the entire guitar body in aircraft stripper 3 times and left it closed up in a garbage bag each time to facilitate the process. I did it in warm weather, also. It finally softened up around the neck pocket enough I could start "peeling" it, if you will, with a small putty knife. Once I had the worst of it off, I used a D/A sander to finish it. The very last fine sanding and steel wool I did by hand. I finished with "0000" steel wool, then wiped it clean with a tack rag, then rubbed the Danish oil on w/ a couple of clean old tee-shirts that were worn out. I always save old cotton tee's in case I need soft lint free cloth. After 3 or 4 coats of oil, I just buffed on it 'till I got a nice satiny sheen... Hope that helps.

[robert43]

Hi here is a guitar I did for a freind ( was a red body ) that I sanded & put Danish oil on it.
To be honest as some one else said here to be honest unless you get the guitar cheap or some thing its easier & quicker to buy a unfinished body & go that way . The guitar has never been as good a result that I had with my bass that had no finished when I started
http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/f...t=IMG_0003.jpg

[Pickngrin]

Thanks the the responses. I'm not really interested in spending money on a new, unfinished body, as this is a used bass I've had for years, and I just thought it would look like a nicer instrument without the red paint (reeks of the 1980s). I'm not sure if I should try this or not... then again, I'm not a bass player. If it doesn't come out well, I suppose it won't be a huge problem.

[Pickngrin]

I finally finished this project and wanted to post some photos. It's no pro job but I'm actually pleased with the results.






Here's a "before" pic: