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My bass guitar that I stripped, sanded, and stained

last photo ←

A while back, I bought a Fender Squier Bass at a pawn shop for $60, it had had a rough life. When I bought the bass it had some spray paint on spots of it, and it had been doused in glitter. It was originally blue and I think someone sanded the edges down a little to the white to give it a custom look. I actually kindof liked the way it looked but I wanted to stain it and make it my own. So I took it home and stripped the paint and stained it. I painted the pickguard, bought some knobs and a bridge cover and some new strings. It was a really fun project, my first of this kind. I had a blast doing it.

17 comments

Dec 31, 2011. 11:31 PMSgtJellyfish says:

HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR POOR POOR BASS GUITAR? nah, cool, hope it was a cheap one though

Jan 1, 2012. 3:59 PMmrschneeebly (author) says:

thanks, haha yeah I got it at a pawn shop for $60 so it wasn't a huge risk.

Jan 2, 2012. 2:44 AMSgtJellyfish says:

thats an awesome price! does it still work?

Jan 8, 2012. 1:41 PMmrschneeebly (author) says:

haha yeah it still works great!

Jan 18, 2011. 3:28 PMbaconrocks says:

That's awesome :) What kind of paint did you use on the pickguard?

Jan 19, 2011. 8:31 PMmrschneeebly (author) says:

Thanks! I just bought some spray paint from walmart that can be used on wood, plastic, metal, etc. I'm not sure what the brand was though.

Jan 20, 2011. 8:43 AMbaconrocks says:

Ok thanks :) I've been wantin to paint the pickguard on my bass black

Jan 21, 2011. 8:23 PMmrschneeebly (author) says:

No problem. Hope it goes well.

Mar 27, 2011. 2:55 PM-Syrus- says:

Paint will come off, why not buy a black pickguard or make a metal one?
Plus metal isolates the pickups perfectly ;)

Apr 12, 2011. 7:11 PMmrschneeebly (author) says:

Yes the paint has started to slightly come off, but it gives it a feel. Haha I dont know I cant explain it, but I like it. And I just painted it because I had the original and I didnt want to spend more money than I just had to so I painted it.

Apr 13, 2011. 9:13 AM-Syrus- says:

Relic look perhaps...? Something fender charges massively for ? :P

uhu... pimp my cheapo vibe :)

I'm working on my les paul on the moment, not so cheap. But pimpin' has to be done.

Apr 12, 2011. 5:30 PMthe_general says:

what do you mean by isolating the pickups? is it a sound thing or how it makes them stand out?

Apr 13, 2011. 9:04 AM-Syrus- says:

No, its not a visual thing. Metal isolates Radio Interference. So if your pickguard is totally metal, you can apply the ground cable to it, making it an effective way of isolation.

The pickup cavity is usally painted with copper paint of foil for the same reason. Grounding is important to avoid hum also. 50 Hz in Europe, and 60Hz in America.

If you want to read more, just google grounding electric guitar.

I.E.
Old telecasters sound very different from new versions. One part is the old brass bridge baseplate AND the brass plate under the bridgepickup. This makes the magnetic field aimed upwards to the strings, giving a tele its bite and its wide response.

Apr 13, 2011. 9:08 AMthe_general says:

hmmm, ill have to keep that in mind

Apr 12, 2011. 5:30 PMthe_general says:

what would have been really cooll for your pickguard (and i used this when i redid my tele, which i will do diferently on my next project) is if you used chalkboard paint and then draw on it. although on this with just the plain wood finished stain the flat black looks nice

Apr 12, 2011. 7:09 PMmrschneeebly (author) says:

Sweet! I may try that out next time. Thanks!

Apr 12, 2011. 9:27 PMthe_general says:

Yeah I know but don't get regular chalk get chalkboard pens because they won't scratch the paint and won't rub off easily