Entwistle's NR was Cardinal Red (Gibson) which is the same color as Dakota Red (Fender).
IMO makes no sense to strip a perfectly good finish before doing a repaint no matter what solid color or type paint you are putting on top of it. The bass was white. Perfect for painting any color over it with a leveling, scuff sanding and spot priming if necessary.
'Vintage finishes' were glossy when they were painted. Just as glossy as cars of the day because it was the same exact paint, in the case of Dakota/Cardinal Red, acrylic lacquer. You want it duller, a pro painter will add flatting paste to cut the gloss...ask yours if he knows what it is.
Painting red over gray or white doesn't make that much difference with opaque paint. Just takes slightly more paint to get to the same color.
BTW if you're doing it 'vintage' Gibson ran the paint to the top edge of the fretboard with black dots. Not to the bottom like Bach.
I am not certain that John's NR was stock Gibson Cardinal Red, only because I think his was painted after he got it...
Also, the front face of his headstock is Black. This would not be the first time he had basses painted after he got them.
The reason I thought it was Fiesta Red, or something similar, was because that seems to be brighter than Cardinal Red.
The reason I had it striped down to the wood was because there were several drips and runs from the original paint job...
If I was going to spend the money on having it repainted, and the painter said it wouldn't take much to chemically strip it, I figure why not.
Also, I am making the same changes to mine as the one found here...
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10832Regarding the finished look... I was only trying to avoid a high gloss appearance.
Yes, the painter commented on the amount of paint needed with reference to primer color... and also that reds seem to take more paint in general.
Not going to have the edge of the fretboard painted.
Thank you...
