LeftyBassist.com

For anyone who doesn't know the story, I have this Lakland 55/94 that I LOVE, but I gigged with it really hard for about two years straight in a drunken rock band before I had children...

Anyway, the Lakland body suffered some SERIOUS mojo in the process, and it's really bothered me because I felt like I didn't baby it the way I should have.

Now... don't get me wrong. I LOVE a nice P-Bass or Jazz that's been beat to holy hell... but for some reason, the boo-teeky (I made that word up) basses really start to lose their luster when they've been punished.

Well... I finally gave Pat Wilkin's (the man who finishes ALL USA Lakland basses) a call, and told him I wanted something custom, and asked if he was willing to do a black burst for me... which is NOT a color offered by the Lakaland factory.

Not only did he say he would, but he said he was actually pretty excited about it... having him say that got me even more excited!!!

So, off it went, and here are the initial results!!!

Before (please note that the mojo I speak of is NOT visible in this photo):



AND AFTER!!!!







WOW!!!!!

I am TOTALLY FRIKKING STOKED to say the least!!! He did it EXACTLY as I asked... all the way down to doing the back darker than the front of the bass and everything. And photos cannot capture the DEPTH of the blackburst and the way this thing pops!!!

On top of all of that... Pat is probably THE coolest guy I have EVER done business with and is willing to do almost anything. If you have any kind of refinish projects in mind, PLEASE consider him to do the work... he is an AMAZING guy.

Oh, and he even signed the neck pocket for me!!! I thought it would be a great idea to "authenticate" having a custom color on a bass that was finished by THE guy who finishes those basses... he was more than happy to oblige.

Check him out!!!

http://www.wilkinsguitars.com/

I recently considered getting rid of this thing... I am so glad I kept it... can you tell I'm happy???

LOL

WOOOOOOOT!!!!

The black really does make the quilt pop! Looking forward to pictures of the bass assembled.

Pat did an outstanding refinish for you. Congrats!

Wow, that looks FANTASTIC. Can't wait to see the bass once it's all back together, I bet the chrome hardware will really make that finish pop.

Simply stunning. I can see why you're stoked.

Thanks for the kind words everybody!!!

I just got her together... ran into a couple of snags, but no big deal.

Here she is!!!







She plays just as good as she did before, only now she's a LOT pertier!!!

Wow, that is beautiful!! I love that look so much better than sunburst “vintagey” looking finish. I made “vintagey” up myself too. Boy this is a fun thread making up words and all.
Seriously Addison that is killer. How much did it run you if you don’t mind I would like to know. This could affect me buying or not buying a used bass in the future. Could you break it down like shipping, stripping, finishing, clear coat etc…????? Thanks man and I need some Beano because I be gassing heavy on her.

That is gorgeous. Just when you think you've run out of ideas to make black exciting for lefties. I'm normally not a fan of the quilted look, but I have to say that's one of the most beautiful looking finishes I've yet to see in combo with black. Nice job!

Thanks guys!!

No problem at all on the price thing... Pat is totally up front about pricing and will get back to you right away.

For that particular job, he quoted me $350 + shipping for the strip, sanding, stain, and refinish if I sent him the body ONLY... which is very reasonable.

For $425 + shipping, I could have sent him the whole bass and he would have included a complete disassembly, reassembly, and set-up of the instrument... so, it was another $125 to not have to bother with that kind of thing. I'm not sure if that price includes strings... but, either way, that option is also very reasonable.

I went for the "body only" option for several reasons...

1.) I know how to solder and I'm not afraid of doing my own wiring
2.) I prefer to set-up all of my own basses anyway
3.) I knew it would be quicker if I didn't have to wait for reassembly, etc.
4.) Shipping the body only is easier and less expensive
5.) I thought it would be fun

Looking back, I would have done the same thing with a FEW exceptions...

I would have sent him the neck screw retainers (Laklands don't use neck plates), the conrol plate cover, and the string ferrules to have him reinstall those. Since the bass was refinished, they no longer fit, so I had to pull out the Dremel to get it all to work without cracking or chipping the finish.

Nobody EVER likes to hold a running Dremel over a boo-teeky bass.

All I had to do was remove like .001" of finish out of the inside of the routes where the strinf ferrules and neck screw retainers were, and then take about .001" around the edge of the control plate cover, but UGH. I think I shugged a whole bottle of Pepto in the process!

So, yeah... that part was not fun, but I got everything back to where it's supposed to go and the bass honestly feels like it plays better now than it used to... so I must have done something right.

I plugged it in and man... that thing is dreamy. It sounds unlike any other bass I own. It's like a Jazz/P-Bass/Stingray mutant love child.

It also only weighs 8.25 lbs, so it's SUPER comfortable to wear and practically plays itself.

Looks awesome!

$350 is a very reasonable price for a professional refinish.

Here's a couple more pics I just took at work... I finally got a good one of the back.

Addison, I see some wood color or maybe even some of the old orange color showing through above the bridge sort of around the biggie pickup and in the center. Now I realize many times when I photo my basses the camera has a way of showing sort of layers or through the finish due to the flash or how the camera captured the light. My question is when your right there in front of it how noticeable is it? Does it look like it was refinished and the orange are showing through? I like it black better I’m just curious about how you feel about it.

Man, another new word you made up!

The black makes the quilt pop like no other I've seen! Awesome!

Pat deos great work, and that's evidenced again with your bass body. I like your choice of the darker back - good call! also, $350US to refinish a already finished body is indeed a good deal - there is a TON of work to accomplish to get your body stripped, re-leveled, and ready for grain filler and primer

in the future you can avoid taking a dremel/router/fil to your newly refinished bass by utilizing a soldering iron on the neck and string ferrules you're fitting back into the recess. the trick is to get the ferrule hot enough to soften the finish enough that it will slide back into place. but don't get the ferrule too hot or you could potentially change/damage the finish color (especially true for gold plated parts)

I would also have recommend utilizing a fine grade sandpaper to alter the edge of your control cavity cover plate instead of grinding on the body finish. even if it is a metal plate, it is far easier to modify the size a little smaller than to refinish the back of your body if you slip and do the unthinkable to that brand new finish


looking forward to hearing a report about how the tone changed because of the new finish color

all the best,

R

That's only some of the natural wood color you see... there is NO old finish remaining on the bass. I've noticed that in certain photos the natural wood color seems to "stand-out" more, but in others it's hardly visible.

But, yeah... I requested that the bass be finished like that.

On the front of the bass, I wanted the black stain to be light and the burst to be subtle to allow as much of the natural grain to be seen as possible. Since some of the wood grain is more dense in some areas than it is in others, it just looks like the stain may have penetrated better in certain areas making it darker, while in other areas where the wood was more dense, the natural color of the wood stands out more.

For the back of the bass, I asked him to go darker, but to still try to allow some of the swamp ash to be seen... and he did it perfectly.

The MOST interesting thing about the finish is that it looks different in every room... under some lights it takes on a bluish hue, under others it looks almost like a midnight blue/purple... under others it looks like silver/gray... and then there are times where it looks like a straight-up black burst. And the grain looks different at every angle too... all of this is evindenced by the pictures I've been taking (which is why I'm posting so many ). Very crazy.



You know, I tried that first, but I wasn't having much luck... maybe I worried about getting it TOO hot and chickened out, but I couldn't get the finish to soften up at all really...


Oh, I agree!!

With the control cover plate itself, I ONLY used my Dremel on the plate... NOT inside the edges of the control cavity.

I then used a piece of 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out my handy-work.

I only used the dremel on the inside of the routes for the string ferrules and the neck screw gromets.

To be honest, that control cover plate is pretty beat to hell anyway, so I'd like to get it replaced at some point... I'm sure Brian at Lakland will hook a brutha up.

Here's a close-up from the same photo above that shows how the natural color of the wood interacts with the black stain...

WOW. That is smokin' hot!

AMAZING !!!
What a great makeover.