priming.

the first couple of coats of primer are on.

we spent about 2 hours in a number of DIY shops looking for a cellulose based primer, as thats what the laquer i got is and i dont want it to react and bubble.. however none of the wood primers say what they are made with! and our search on the net for some was unnsuccessful. so i am taking my chances.

The first couple of coats are on but, although the body felt as smooth as a babies bottom, we are having major grain issues...

i have got a cellulose putty and, once this primer has hardened properly, will be covering the full body in it to fill in the grain. was considering sanding it, but...its grain!

it is finally ready to prime!

After extensive sanding, and then even more sanding, we finally got her ready for priming! i really really wish the guy before me hadnt started converting her, and filled the three holes on the right. it would have been amazing to get her varnished as she is now!

The parts are starting to arrive!

Getting rather excited now! got a couple of nicks that need some wood filler in, but the paint, the bridge and the knobs got here this morning!

Had to try them on for size! i think they look rather good, if i do say so myself!

To prime or not to prime?

Sanding is done! shes getting sprayed charcoal metallic. Still not sure whether or not to prime her. I'm leaning towards no at the moment.

Also fitting her with passive pickups, rather than the original actives she had, mainly because of my inexperience with both restoring and electrics!

stripping....again....

After a bit more careful consideration, i decided to go for a more purposeful paint, as yes i was naughty the first time round and used wilkos spraypaint..

So i started sanding:

And after nearly two hours of sanding, and it still pretty much looking like the above picture i decided to take it outside, and get the paint stripper out.

The paint stripper completely ripped through the paint in one shot, and left me with a bass almost back to bare wood!

Let the sanding continue!

Out with the old, in with the new!

The original colour.

Old control knobs V New control knobs

(chrome)

Old bridge V New bridge

Old strap pegs V New strap pegs

New pickups

the stripping and spraying!

So she went black! (with a bit of glitter, just for good measure)

(control knobs yet to be removed)

So after a bit of speculation as to wether or not i had removed the old bridge when i sprayed all those years ago (i had), and a huge fight with numerous hex keys, i finally managed to remove the old knobs, to a lovely suprise.
I hadnt removed the knobs when i sprayed....

Luckily the new ones are larger!

The project begins!

This it the bass!
Well...it isnt the actual bass, as i didnt get a picture before i started the project. but this is what it started its life looking like.

I purchased the bass off Ebay, in 2006. (yes, yes it has been a while!) for £15. It was such a beautiful bass, but badly beaten up and listed as "spares or repair" which is exactly what is happening.

I promptly started work on the bass, sanding down to the wood and removing the pickups. I decided she should be purple.

After priming her white, i sprayed her purple.... it was a disaster, she was far too pretty for such a ludicrous colour. I decided upon black.