My first referb attempt....

RussG

As you wil see from the pics below, I have bought a bit of a 'dog' to play around with and referb.
I paid £20 for it so the paint I have bought has cost me more than the guitar,
So far so good. Have managed to get 5 oats of colour on it without much mishap, bit i have a couple of questions.
By the look of it, I think someone has already had a bit of a go at this and Im not too sure if the pickups were installed properly by the previous owner, and they are rather rusty.....too rusty to bother with?
Electrics all seem to work fine, but if the picks are too far gone, I may but a pre-loaded pickguard.
Planning on getting a new black pickguard, black bridge, chrome or black controls, new strings and new nut.
Im just wondering how to finish the paint job.
I have polyurethane clear coat, which I am going to build up in layers. 
I presume I flatten off after each coat of clear, but how do you achieve a very smooth final coat?
Do I need to look for a suitable polish after the final clear coat? 
Any advice really appreciated 
Russ



https://imgur.com/8kxvqSJ

https://imgur.com/3zerqwx

https://imgur.com/aixueGN

https://imgur.com/FAtqHyO

https://imgur.com/De8oDcZ

https://imgur.com/Dfjeo1Y

https://imgur.com/p7hek0M

Kilgore

Interesting reflection on the scratch plate of the first one. 

RussG

oh shit lol, its not what it looks like but i take your point!!!!

Funkfingers

RussG said:

not too sure if the pickups were installed properly ... too rusty to bother with? Electrics all seem to work fine but, if the picks are too far gone, I may but a pre-loaded pickguard.

On a P style bass pickguard, the expression of pre-loaded is a misnomer because only the pots and jack are attached to the plastic.

In your position, I would reassemble the instrument and test it unamplified before throwing very much money at it. 

RussG said:

Planning on getting a new black pickguard, black bridge, chrome or black controls, new strings and new nut.

Pickguard is a good idea. My own preference with red would be for an off-white/black/off-white one. 

IMO, randomly combining hardware finish colours tends to look naff. There is an argument for getting a high mass bridge but, unless you upgrade all of the hardware to the black finish, a chrome one will look better.

The new nut and strings could turn out to be your heaviest investment. 

RussG said:

https://imgur.com/p7hek0M

Your final photograph shows the bass guitar body painted red and, critically, with none of the pickguard screws drilled yet. Leave it this way for as long as possible. This will improve your chances of persuading an aftermarket pickguard to fit tidily.

munckee

There are pro finishers who can tell you better, when I painted mine I sprayed coats of halfords spray poly and sanded with 1200 sandpaper after each coat.  When I finished I used turtle wax to polish to a shine.  I believe you should use scratch compound before polishing if you want perfect, I was looking for good enough and was pleased with how it turned out.