[umcoo]

Hello there. I recently acquired a Gibson G-3 in natural. I was thinking about refinishing to black as I think it's a classic look. Is this generally frowned upon seeing as it's an old bass, or does it not make too much of a difference.

I guess I'm talking about value, but with no thoughts on selling it, should I just go ahead?

Many thanks

[anyfour]

Well, anytime you change a vintage instrument, you can kill the resale value. Refinishing in a factory color usually doesnt hurt it so bad, as long as you do a good job.

What I did with my natural G-3 in I left the original finish on there, and just sprayed it black. I still had any nicks, and dings in the original finish transferred to the new one. This way it doesnt look TOO good and still retains a worn vintage look. I left the original finish on because the wood was already sealed. No sense in messing that up. Makes it much easier to get a nice "new" finish. Keep in m ind black is the hardest finish to do correctly. It is unforgiving of imperfections. Runs show, swirls and cloudiness in the laquer are very evident.

[Redbird]

Depending on how good the job is, you would loose a couple of hundred dollars off it.

It's your bass, and they are not really that rare, so I do not see why not?

[jules]

A lot depends on the state of the original finish.

Yeah, I agree, if you want a black one paint it.... unless it is in superb condition... perhaps in that case you should buy a beater and paint that.

[anyfour]

If you live in the U.S., you can get black, white, and clear laquer in spray cans at home depot or lowes.

[umcoo]

The finish isn't spectacular, but isnt falling apart either. Just average. I'm in the UK, but I looked into reranch stuff when I was bored ages ago.

With the finish still 'intact', would it just be a case of adding the colour coat?

[umcoo]

http://www.vintageguitars.org.uk/phpBB/ ... ght=gibson

just so you know, this is the bass i got.

[Redbird]

That bass has some really nice figuring. I would just leave it as is since it has a nice figured body it would definately be worth more not refinned.

It looks fine to me.

[jules]

Sorry.... reranch won't ship to the UK.... something about exploding cans.

And no, you'll need to do a lot more than spray it on i'm afraid. There will be sanding, and clearcoating and so on.Quite a lot of work.The more steps you skip the worse the final result.

The reranch site is good as a 'how-to' guide - well worth reading their instructions. Just a shame they won't ship to us!

[umcoo]

mmnnn perhaps I should just leave her be then :o