Old finish question

I've fixed a lot of the miscellaneous abuse that my new-to-me L-1000 suffered under a previous owner. Now I'm starting to think about refinishing options. This bass came to me with a thick, nasty, uneven coat of metallic burgundy spray paint. At least he masked the pickup and control cavities before doing the deed. I can see some evidence around the pickup suggesting the bass originally had a black finish, which would have been an option when this instrument came off the line (January '82).

My question is this: Has anybody seen an original finish from this era where the finish was contoured to the grain of the wood beneath? My first though when I saw this bass was that the original finish had been chemically stripped, and sanding sealer wasn't used before the spray paint. I have five other G&Ls from '83 or earlier, and all of them have smooth finishes, that is, without any ridges or ripples carrying through from the wood. The repair tech at my local shop says he's seen several original G&L finishes like this one, though. Could this refinish have been done over the original rather than over bare wood? The ridges and valleys in the paint won't photograph clearly, or I would throw up a couple of pictures.

Ken

I don't think so. All the older G&Ls I've seen had pretty thick and smooth finishes. You could always start under the neck plate or control plate and see what you find under the spray paint. It will be a genuine hassle to try to take the finish down to original w/o sanding through it, though.

I'm assuming the bass is ash, if the grain was open enough for the spraypaint to sink into. That strikes me as odd with a solid color instrument.

My question is this: Has anybody seen an original finish from this era where the finish was contoured to the grain of the wood beneath?

Not an original finish from G&L. I can't think of one that was as you describe.

The repair tech at my local shop says he's seen several original G&L finishes like this one, though.

I believe the repair tech to be mistaken. Refins may be like that.

It is possible that there is deep finish checking on the original underlying paint, which might give the impression of grain if going in the right direction.

Good luck with your project. Maybe come visit us over on the low side. But just so you know, we like pics. In fact, they're required.

Ken...

It isn't finish checking, as it distinctly shows the end grain in the body wood. The wood is definitely swamp ash. The neck pocket had the metallic spray paint directly on the wood, and it scraped off with only a tiny bit remaining in a couple of places. The cavity beneath the bridge was spray painted, but the pup and control cavities must have been masked off. There are some hints of black paint overspray at the tops of the cavities, like I have seen around the neck pockets on several of my other old G&Ls. There are also a couple of very slight traces of red paint.

I think the comment about paint sinking into the grain is correct. The surface is relatively smooth everywhere except where there is end grain run-out. It's almost like the finish on recent low-end Gibson models. I'm assuming at this point that the body probably had been red when it left the factory, was stripped and repainted black, and then spray painted metallic burgundy over that. Any chance of making a clear or natural finish is probably out the window at this point. That still leaves plenty of choices though.

Thanks for the input!

Ken C

BTW, I have been lurking at BassesByLeo lately. I will register and start participating soon.

Hey Ken,

If you don't hink you can get it down to clean wood yourself, a furniture repair shop could do the job for you.

If you DIY, once you get down to the wood wipe it with a washcloth soaked in hot water, this should cause the grain to rise and feel a little rough. This would allow you to clean further into the wood. A stiff toothbrush and rubbing alcohol may do the trick of getting the remaining paint out of the pores.

John,

Thanks for the tips!

Ken