# De-fretted and Mirror coated my bass!



## ApteraBassist (Mar 9, 2012)

After seeing a few glamor shots of basses that have been defretted and mirror-coated I decided I had to have one!

not wanting to screw up any of my personal basses I decided to buy a cheapie. 

I got this ibanez 6 string used for 200 bucks at guitar center







I pulled the frets out with some nippers that weren't the right size so It was kind of a pain in the butt, but the frets all came out pretty easy and with very little chipping. just a few chips past the 17th fret.

Here she is without the frets and a tiny bit of sanding.





I taped off the fretboard so just the lines were showing, and then puttied the holes with wood filler. 
Here's the bass all taped off next to another bass neck I had lying around that I'm also working on.






The taping was probably not necessary, but it only took a few minutes so.. .oh well.

The next morning I took off the tape and sanded it a bit more.






Already looking pretty great! I used a razor blade to dig the filler out of where it had filled in the chipped parts after I took this picture, which made most of the chips way less noticeable.

Then I taped off the sides and mixed my epoxy while drinking some great Imperial IPA by Pyramid.






In the instructions for the epoxy, it says that some bubbles may form when you pour it, and to lightly go over it with a propane torch to pop them

Since I'm a poor bassist and have no shop or tools... I don't have a propane torch. 

What I was able to find was a heat gun, normally used in stores for shrink wrapping things. this worked GREAT.

The epoxy had tones of little soda-like bubbles in it from when I mixed in the hardener, and going over it with the heat gun popped them immediately without burning the masking tape.

Mirror Coat is self leveling, so I just set my neck level and let it sit over night.

here she is!







It's got to cure for 3 days before I can sand it with a radius block and then take a buffing wheel to it to get it back to this high gloss.

I'll post a bunch more pics and video clips of it next week!

Thanks for reading. I really had a lot of fun with this project, and am considering offering to this for other bassists, since the only other place I know of that offers this costs 500 bucks and has a 2 year waiting list.


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## rekab (Mar 9, 2012)

Looks great so far! I'd love to do this with my Ibanez 5 string


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## Tones (Mar 9, 2012)

definitely something more unique. i love it!


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 9, 2012)

This is going to be the hardest 3 days EVER having to wait for it to cure...


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## Bevo (Mar 10, 2012)

What a great project, looks like it was fun!

Hey, if there is demand and you have a bit of cash you can do a few of the popular models then sell them or buy and build on demand.


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 10, 2012)

Yeah! Actually, after postingg the last pic on facebook I already have 2 people wanting me to do this to their basses since I'm only charging half the price of HG Thor(the company that charges 500 bucks)


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## davisjom (Mar 12, 2012)

This is beyond gorgeous


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 13, 2012)

You thought that was beyond gorgeous?

check out THIS!!!





Here it is strung up!






I left my video recorder at my buddy's house and I'm getting it back tomorrow. Look forward to some videos!


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm also doing my 4 string with a birds-eye maple fretboard and it's going to look fantastic. More updates on this soon.








I have my first customer giving me payment on wednesday for a 5 string he wants done. If anybody is interested I'm charging $250. I'm not sure how much shipping will be since I'll need the whole bass to do a setup/ possibly make a new nut. If you're interested just PM me or find me on facebook Jason Masters | Facebook


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## davisjom (Mar 13, 2012)

Mother of god that look sexy! That maple fretboard is gonna look damn good as well can't wait to see that one finished!


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 13, 2012)

Thanks! I'll upload pics ASAP! will be Epoxy-ing it tomorrow I think


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## idunno (Mar 13, 2012)

what did you use to buff it out? Did you have to wetsand it first? I always get rainbowy streaky colors with system 3 when i let it self level so i always have to sand it...


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## Necris (Mar 13, 2012)

Sweet work man. 

I've found that if you put in some strips of maple veneer (or plastic) for fretlines the end result looks a bit more professional, it's also more work but that's a small price to pay in my opinion. 

When defretted my guitar I wanted the fretlines to be less visible so prior to applying epoxy to the entire fretboard I sanded the fretboard and combined some of the wood dust with epoxy and used that to fill the slots. I also didn't use mirror coat so I ended up with the board looking pretty much the same as it had before with no mirror like reflectiveness with the major difference being the feel of the fretboard itself being glassy smooth.
I've yet to finish my project though.


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2012)

I used a SUPER old hand sander at 400, 800, and 1000 grit sand paper. Only wet sanded when I got to the 1000 grit. Then buffed it with my dads car detailing buffing wheel lol.

As for the vinear strips, I did think of that, but don't have all the right tools to do it... maybe eventually


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## Ironbird (Mar 14, 2012)

Holy shitballs, that came out GREAT!


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## Scattered Messiah (Mar 14, 2012)

Cool 

Now I've got a question: I've made the experience, that glossy finished guitars tend not to feel "as fast" as they do, when you sanded them to be satin.
As I am planning a similar mod on my schecter (guitar), I wanted to ask, how the fretboard feels now?

cause if it is still fast to play on - HELL YEAH - I know what to do^^


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## Goatchrist (Mar 14, 2012)

OMFG! That is amazing! want to do this on my Ibby sr305! Looks awesome dude!


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## Vostre Roy (Mar 14, 2012)

Awesome man, just plain awesome. Looks like I'll be doint the same thing with my fretless guitar, really gives a cool look


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks everybody! As for the "speed" of the neck, I can understand why you would think it's not as fast, depending on what epoxy you use. But this stuff feels preeeeetty great. Unless you're michael angelo batio I don't think you'll have any problem. This stuff does also sand do a great looking matte finish, but it seemed like after a few minutes of playing, my natural oils and sliding around on it was causing it to get glossy anyways.

so if you use this epoxy and and dont want a shiny finish, don't sand it with anything past like 800 grit


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## Scattered Messiah (Mar 14, 2012)

that's what I wanted to hear 
great news, so I'll be slowly preparing to defret my schecter blackjack *hurrhurr*


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2012)

Cool man. Be sure not to use any more than 3 ounces of mixed epoxy. I made the mistake of putting on way too much and it took forever to sand down.


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2012)

Tested out this bass playing some Reggae last night. Has a great fat sound. Tonight is Metal band practice night. WoO!


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## Tyghor (Mar 14, 2012)

Inspiring stuff! On the last pics of the OP, did you make a ''bowl'' with the tape to hold the resin? How much did the stuff costs?

Thanks!


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2012)

Yes I did! worked like a charm and when it dried, the tape just peeled right off.

The resin cost me 40 bucks.
I borrowed some nippers, but if you had to buy them id go to stewmac and buy some defretting pliers for 20 bucks

You'll need some sandable wood filler which costs about 2 bucks, some sandpaper, which is maybe 5 bucks for a multi pack, and a rotating sander, buffer for the high gloss shine, which cost about 70 bucks?


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## Tyghor (Mar 14, 2012)

Cool! I think that i will have a fun weekend soon!


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2012)

Its a blast! if you don't put it on 2 thick you can sand it after a 48 hour cure time


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## Soubi7string (Mar 14, 2012)

yep now doing THAT to the neck of my RG7321 I'm modding lol


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 14, 2012)

Would be kinda interesting to see this epoxy on a guitar and the re-fretted!


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## Tyghor (Mar 19, 2012)

So i did this during the weekend with one of my frineds (Vostre Roy on this board). I still need to do some sanding, but i'm very excited to see the final outcome of this project, I will post some pictures this weekend when I'll be back in town from work.

Cheers!


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## Vostre Roy (Mar 19, 2012)

Tyghor said:


> So i did this during the weekend with one of my frineds (Vostre Roy on this board). I still need to do some sanding, but i'm very excited to see the final outcome of this project, I will post some pictures this weekend when I'll be back in town from work.
> 
> Cheers!


 
I'll probably post my pictures before that, the sanding and polishing has been done yesterday. The job ain't stellar, but I'm happy with the result. I'll probably post the finished picture later tonight.

Edit: Here it is: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...621-gfx-groove-factory-now-fretbuzz-free.html


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## ApteraBassist (Mar 20, 2012)

looks great!


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