Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello everyone, I just bought a Tune TWB53 FM Bass 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. I'm currently restoring a Schecter Hellraiser 5 Bass so this project is next. 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.

It looks good in the pictures,
so what's really wrong with it?
I like war worn dents in instruments myself.
History.
We all different tho.
Take it through the sandpaper grits,
and re-oil it with tung or "Tru oil".

Thanks for the tip on oil. The pictures hide the details a bit. I mostly want to remove the dirt marks and then refinish it with oil. I tried a little mineral spirits on the dirt spots but it seemed to lighten the color so I'd like to re-stain those areas before I oil it but I'm sure it's probably impossible to match the stain . Would sanding it down affect the stain color?

Oil finishes are nowhere near as durable as a lacquer or other hard finish is. That's part and parcel of why people like them. You can feel the wood, and it looks more natural than a really high gloss lacquer or poly finish. It also wears much faster. IMHO, I'd leave that finish alone. Yeah, you can take sandpaper to it. But if you go through the very thin oil finish(which you likely will if you are not experienced working with it) then you'll probably end up sanding through the stain as well. Then you're opening up a really big can of worms trying to fix that, which will more than likely necessitate stripping it down to bare wood and starting over. I'd leave it alone. It looks like a nice bass. Enjoy it for what it is.
Again, IMHO.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Get some lemon oil, it will clean the dirt and grime right out, you can then decide what to do after it is cleaned up. I use Tru-oil on my necks and I clean them about once a year with lemon oil, and just re-wax, looks brand new.

_________________
John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com

I really have no problem sanding it lightly because I've restored plenty on cars in the past and I have plenty of very fine sandpaper around but I really don't see the need to. Even the most experienced person could go through to the stain and that was my initial concern. I only would do so if I could match the stain but that seems unlikely. I'm assuming the guitar is actually stained and not the natural color. I'm sure no expert on wood. The back looks like some kind of walnut color stain to me. They must have stained the pieces before they glued the top on I would think. How else would they avoid getting the dark color on the top and achieve the fine line between the two colors.
I'll definitely try the lemon oil and thank you for that tip. Is the lemon oil for finishing too or should I follow that with Tung or True Oil. Hopefully the oil will darken the wood a little to help blend everything in and I agree that should do the trick. Thanks

I took it apart tonight and it looks like the finish is natural with only oil. I put some mineral spirits on part of it to show how it darkens. That should make life a little easier now since I don't have to match stain. I should be able to sand it down some and oil it up . The maker replied back to me and said they use oil from the Hafele company to finish it. Hopefully I will be able to sand out the dents a little to take the edge off them. It would be nice to find a filler though but it might show.

The lemon oil is just for cleaning. It shouldn't leave any residue, it is really more like a furniture polish/cleaner (pledge) type thing.

_________________
John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com