[Scott]

I bought a Carvin bass off ebay a little while ago, and the finish on it is pretty bad. And so are the frets.

I want to send it off for a professional refinish and a refret, but would prefer to have it done all at once.

The finish i'll be going with will probably be a burst, so it won't be a simple solid colour (Still shouldn't be a problem)
I know SCS does refinishes and builds their own guitar line, but not sure if they offer a refretting service.

I also know that Mike Sherman restored Steve's UV, but not sure if he offers that on a regular basis.


Aside from these two, are there any other options I should look at? If either Sherman or Sims are willing to do the work, i'll go with them of course.

I'll probably email both of them within the next few days to see if either one of them is up to the job. But i'd like to hear of other options in case they can't take on the job for whatever reason.

[darren]

Have you been to The Twelfth Fret yet? Repair Price List

These guys do top-notch work. I wouldn't take my guitars anywhere else for serious tech work. (Except maybe to Dendroaspis.) Their finishing rates are pretty sky-high, but the high costs of the permits and equipment required for legally running a spray booth are probably a fact of life these days in the paint business.

[Chris]

Go with Mike if you have the option. Steve's UV is fucking flawless.

[frank falbo]

I would split it up. In my experience the best finish guys are not the best fretwork specialists. I can do a great finish but I'm a fret guy. I get impatient and I can't stand doing finish work. I don't even feel rewarded at the end because I can't stand all the leveling, sanding and buffing. A guy like Patrick Sims would put a killer finish on there, but I'd find a different source for the fretwork first.

Rick Cremer at Cremer Guitar Works would do top notch fretwork, and he's got a finish guy in his shop. So again, that speaks to the division between the two procedures. You could try him. His shop would do both jobs even though the work would be done by two different people.