Hello everyone, I just bought a Bass guitar that needs some work and I’m not sure how to go about cleaning and refinishing it. I was told that it’s lightly stained and finished in oil. There’s finger grime in areas on the Maple Top that looks to be into the pores and some of the stain color looks like it may be worn off. The top also feels a bit rough like it could use a light sanding. I’m not sure what the wood is on the back but it has some deep dents and gouges. It would be nice to fill some of the dents in but that would fill in the grain. It would also be nice to be able to match the stain on both the front and back but I have no idea how to match the colors. It also looks like the back must’ve been stained before the maple Top was glued on because there would would be no way of not getting the dark stain on the light maple top, so if I could match the back color, I would have to be very careful not to get it on the maple top. I also could use some tips on the best way to refinish the oil. This isn’t really a high end guitar but I sure like the looks and feel of the instrument and I would love to restore it back to as close to new as possible. It’s the first oil finished instrument I’ve owned and i will certainly do a better job taking care of it than the previous owner I rescued it from did. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
First steps would be a simple cleaniing. I'd use Naphtha to clean off oil soluble dirt. Use plenty of paper towels or rags so you don't just smear the dirt around. Then a cleaning with soap (dishwashing liquid soap like Dawn) and water to remove other dirt. Don't use lots of soap--just a few drops to break the surface tension of the water, and don't get carried away with the water.
If the finish is an oil type finish, the cleaning will leave you prepared for a refresher coat or two. Bet to use an oil/varnish mix. One good recipe is equal parts of an oil based varnish, boiled linseed oil, and paint thinnner (Naphtha left over from cleaning would work) You apply it, let it soak in for 20 minutes, give or take, and then use a dry cloth to vigorously wipe off all the finish that remains on the surface.
I don't see much in the way of stain. Of course computer monitors aren't all that accurate with colors. The front and back are different colors because the front is maple and the back is some kind of mahogany. It would be a hopelessly ambitious project to try to get the colors of those two woods to match, and even then they wouldn't look alike because the grain structure is so different. The original maker intended that difference.
Filling dents won't be a good idea either. There is very little way to do that that wouldn't make them stand out more, especially on a semi-ring porous wood like mahogany. I'd just consider them part of the history of the instrument. It can be done, but you would have a very steep learning curve to color the filler and model in fake grain and pore, and then get the sheen to match that of the surrounding wood.
Thanks Steve for your reply. I realize the front and back are two different woods. The top is Flamed Maple and I think the back is Mahogany like you said. The web site claims it is a walnut veneer. How in the heck could they veneer all those curves. What I wanted to do was to match the light yellow maple color on the front in case I wore it off cleaning it. And I wanted to match the walnut or mahogany color on the back to color up a few gouges and worn thin areas on the sides. Another site recommended just using Lemon Oil to clean the marks with and follow that up with either Tung Oil or True-Oil. I realize that there's no way to match the stain colors without getting pricey so I'm just going to clean it up and oil it. I think I'll try your soap method too in a few spots. Do you think Ammonia would be too harsh. It seems to be a very good dirt lifter.
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