Latest Hobby

As mentioned some time ago, I got a new bass for my birthday in March. I wouldn't have gotten $5 for the old one so I decided a while ago to take it apart to see how the electrics worked, just for fun. Then a few days ago I got the more interesting notion to pull it completely apart and resurface it, just to see if I could. Here it is, stripped of all the hardware, before working on it. Very luckily the very day I was figuring out how to go about it, Grandma decided to clear out her basement and gave me a perfect door with two saw horses, which I am using as a really big work bench.

Today I went to Home Depot and got some tools for the trade. First, I need some screwdrivers (or one with lots of different bits) that are not all stripped and mangled.

I couldn't get the screwdriver and its bits out of the packaging before unscrewing the packaging. What if I didn't already own a screwdriver? Very weird.

I also got these devilish sand paper pads which boast this amazing new and innovative "hook and lock" technology (eliminating the need for clamps) which turns out to be velcro. It works very well.

I spent a long time looking at masks and eye protection. Apparently the resin that is used to seal up guitars is very dangerous if inhaled and can irritate asthma--all I needed to hear to motivate me to buy something. There was an amazing variety of styles to choose from: some for lead paint removal, some for asbestos removal, some for mold and mildew treatment, and this one for painting and sanding.

It seemed to take forever to get down to the wood. After grinding off plastic, paint and then more plastic, I finally started to see what was wood--which surprised me, as I thought it might be plastic all the way down.

But then I sanded more and discovered real wood with the grain going in the opposite direction. I still don't know what that first layer was. It was not a very thin layer of wood as it peels away as the resin did.

I also cleaned up the neck which because it is all curves was really tedious. Tomorrow I'll go over it with finer sand paper. And then I have to decide what I am going to do with it. I don't want to just cover it all up with black spray paint all over again. But what?