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Post subject: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:26 pm
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Gents,
In 1977 I bought a Precision (black, black pickguard, maple neck).
I recently put flatwounds on it (previous post) to get the original sound back.
But here's the focus of this post:
The bass has been through many eras/gigs with me - classic rock/pop, disco, soul, blues, simple jazz, etc. Its been under hot lights with me jumping around sweating on it , as well as under the hot sun at pool gigs and more sweat. The finish on the back of the bass is still shiney, but the front has lost its shine. Many times a milky-white moisture would form where my arm rested on the top front only to be wiped off later. I thought it would be cool for the finish to dull and even come off exposing the wood. The bass was put away for years as I would play 5-strings and newer AV reissue '62 basses.
Now I want to protect the finish. Last night as I was trying to polish it, the top front of the bass would turn milky-white from the polish and try to grab the soft cloth! It dulled even more from the polish. I even noticed a trace of black paint on the polishing cloth. The back of the bass took the polish well and shined up nicely. I tried three different polishes on it last night: Music Nomad "One," Gibson "Pump Polish," and "Lizard Spit" polish. All seemed to make it duller and left serious polishing swirls in the paint.
A guitar tech friend said the laquer has left it and the paint is exposed (I didn't know Fender still used laquer finishes in 1977).
Any solutions out there?


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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 4:33 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Never refinish a Fender. There's a thread somewhere on here about wax protection.


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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 6:06 pm
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Would not dare refinish it!
After surfing through the forum, I found that an automotive car wax might be the solution. What is the best automotive non-abrasive car wax out there that any of you have used?


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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 9:12 am
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Location: Albemarle, NC
There are several automotive products that work on intact painted finishes. NuFinish which is a liquid polymer is one. It is great at restoring shine. Many auto paste waxes are slightly abrasive, such as Classic Car Wax and I would avoid them for sure.

However instead of any auto wax or polymer product I'd use instead a product called Renaissance Wax. That is a museum developed hand applied non-abrasive micro-crystalline paste that leaves a protective and very professional looking finish. Good stuff.

You can use Renaissance Wax on every surface of an instrument including the hardware down to the screws. Fretboard/fingerboard too. This stuff was developed by the British Museum. It is the ultimate safe protection/restoration product I know about and in no way will it cause the finish to deteriorate. It is great for preserving any wood, painted surface or metal. Museum curators worldwide have been using it for going on seven decades. It may not make it like new but Renaissance Wax will never make anything worse. It is pricey but a little goes a long way and a canister of it should last you for years and years.


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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:45 pm
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Location: SW Florida
Great information BD. Thanks. I was following this thread with interest.

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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:10 pm
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Brother Dave and other aficionados,
Do you mean NuFinish "polish" or "wax?" On NuFinish "polish" it reads not to use on plastic, vinyl, etc....or flat paint.
The problem areas on my bass now look like flat black paint!
It looks flat black with serious polishing swirls and does not feel quite as slick or look as shiney as the back of the bass.
Will NuFinish not take any more paint off?

If not NuFinish polish, then where can one find Renaissance Wax?


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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:46 pm
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Location: Gilbert, AZ
Wick6,

If you are in the USA, you can pick up renaissance wax through Amazon.com.

Find it here.

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2000 Squier Standard P-Bass Special (sunburst)
2004 Squier Standard P-Bass Special (black & chrome)


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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:58 pm
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:idea: :arrow: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=renaissance+wax&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=3482228645&ref=pd_sl_7jqji5qglv_p

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One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: Protecting Finish on '77 Precision
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 10:54 pm
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The Nufinish product that works well on exposed color layers is the LIQUID POLISH in the orange bottle. It is the only Nufinish product I ever used on a car or guitar. I used it because I had it in the garage and it had worked great on my 1962 Ford Galaxy with nitro paint, so I figured why the heck not try it on a Fender? It is polymer based and totally non-abrasive because it is liquid. I found if I applied it and then reapplied it about a month or two later that I could go basically forever with just a dusting now and then. Sweat rolls right off after that to this day on the instruments I put this stuff on 25 years ago.

The liquid Nufinish also proved to be good for slowing down flaking on real vintage sunbursts. Yes some loose color will flake off in application and in residue removal/buffing but after you get it on and get the residual hazing off that seemed to stop flaking completely! I was astounded. Usually once a sunburst starts flaking it just gets worse and worse and worse until eventually it all flakes away. This is really the only thing I ever tried that controlled flaking it to any degree whatsoever.

In the late 90's, maybe 97 or 98 I can't remember for sure, I went to a luthier about a neck problem on a Jazz. When I walked in he was rubbing something from a little tiny can onto a cello he was setting up and I asked about the stuff he was rubbing on it and he held up a tin of Renaissance Wax and then told me all about the 19th century cello which was a recent auction purchase at a Christie's New York auction by a patron of the Charlotte Symphony who was donating it to them for a tax write off, which was twice what I paid for my house. I cared more about the tin figuring it must be good stuff. Yeah it is.

He let me buy a spare can from him that day, but that luthier is now deceased, so I got my most recent tin from an outfit called WOODCRAFT. They have stores nationwide in the USA and one near my home in Charlotte. It is about $25 for the larger tin which lasts me about a decade at the Woodcraft shop. If you go to their website you can see if they have a store near you.

Renaissance Wax protects well and adds some luster but it will not restore color or a super lacquer type gloss. It does seem to remove previous waxes too. The main reasons I use and recommend it is because it does absolutely no harm to wood, metal, plastics, bakelite or paint and because since you only use a very miniscule tiny dab at a time my first can lasted maybe 15 years. I now use it on many more things than just guitars. It is great for firearms and even leather guitar straps! I put it on my wristwatch. I put it on chrome on my car. I had a problem with sweat soaking into leather guitar straps and this product helped a lot with that.

The only downside to it is that it is petroleum based so it has a petroleum odor. Use in a well ventilated area and allow one to two days for the odor to dissipate from the finish before putting the instrument into the case or the case will pickup the petroleum odor. Once it dries there is no odor whatsoever and the wax will last a very long time. An immediate second application can improve luster and protection but wait until the first application is completely cured, you'll know that it is cured because the odor will be totally gone. They use this stuff on oil paintings at the British Museum, no kidding! So it is safe for my Fender. I can not emphasize enough how little of this stuff is required. If you can actually see it on the application cloth, you probably have too much.

I'm more into preservation than refinishing and I'm more concerned about doing no further harm than I am in making something battle scarred look brand new. Renaissance Wax will do no harm.


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