re: MB Musicians: Opinion on Short Scale Basses

It's possible ... e-mail me at info AT thefretshack DOT com

I don't do anything biz or pricing related on the message board. E-mail me on that.

But I assume you mean change from a solid color to a sunburst? If so, I don't recommend it.

Solid colored guitars are generally solid colors for a reason and it's typically the factory's way to conceal cosmetic issues on perfectly good tone wood. And you might not like what you find underneath, particularly when it's full frontal nude via a transparent finish.

Examples: Mismatched color planks in a two- or three-piece body (I learned this the hard way when I stripped a candy apple red body to refin it a sunburst) ; or a stray mineral streak, spalting or a tiny knot or natural fiber split that was patched prior to paint.

I emphasize, however, solid colors typically don't hide "bad" wood, just cosmetically challenged wood. My personal tele I built - that gets an immediate "is it for sale?" out of EVERY player who touches it - I handpicked its body from DOZENS of raw bodies for what I consider perfect weight, grain pattern and density, resonance and stuff for a telecaster. It had a mineral streak across the treble bout so it was finished in desert sand to conceal it.

Look at the mineral streak on the treble side of the body ...




So we did this ...



If you want a sunburst bass, acquire one that's already sunburst. That's my experience-based two cents.

Mine is natural already. So hiding the bad wood isn't an issue.