When...if ever refinish question

[Dr. Aquafresh]

Hey Y'all,

I have been thinking about refinishing my late 90's Les Paul bass, the solid body style.

It is a plain top with the "Honey" finish and I'm thinking of sending it back to Gibson for a "Gold Top Treatment".

Is this a bad idea?

There is nothing wrong with the finish right now, I just think it could be a little cooler  .

What say ye'

[Chris P.]

Cool. Do it!!

[Basvarken]

I think honey burst is one of the most beautiful finishes on Les Pauls...

[ramone57]

when I spoke with customer service at Gibson asking about factory refins, I couldn't believe their prices.  personally, I really like the look of natural mahogany (yeah, I know, boring).  good luck with whatever you decide on.

indoors


outdoors

[eb2]

A factory refin I would imagine is a costly road to take.  I think if you check with local music shops, or at the ReRanch board you could probably find someone qualified and willing to shoot a gold top for less.  The bonus in having a natural finish is that its already level and smooth.  It needs minor prep work, as it just needs some roughing and primer coat. Of course, to me and many others, a gold top sans binding is peculiar at best, so you may want the top bound.  Good luck.

[Dr. Aquafresh]

Yeah I hear ya on the binding issue.

My bass, however, is a carved top with binding! So, again I will toss in the little smiley man  (my wife is right, I'm a super dork)

I'm really leaning toward this option. I was thinking y'all would overwhelmingly tell me to leave it as is.

I have contacted a local shop and they could also do it, it can't be that tricky.

[Highlander]

I refinished my Tequilabird with a selection of "off the shelf" car colours, but I wouldn't trust my opinion when it comes to refins...

[godofthunder]

 In the '80s I checked with Gibson for a refin for my Non reverse Thunderbird, back then they wanted like 2k just to refin the bass. 

[TBird1958]

 I wouldn't hesitate to refin it, having done it to two of my 'Birds already. I don't know if you saw this thread but the work is great and from what I understand the  $$$ was very reasonable.

 http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=1725.0

[Chris P.]

Well, send it to Ken S. and let him surprise you!

[uwe]

If Gibson will do it at all these days, they'll ask for a king's ransom. Any luthier with a hand for fins will be able to help you. Just have a look at some of his work and then decide.

[rahock]

I know of one person who used Gibson several years ago to repair a split in the headstock and refinish his original Thunderbird. It came back better than new .  I don't recall what he spent, but I remember it was a very big ticket. This was back in the early or mid 70s when Thunderbirds were extremely rare and there were nothing but originals out there . Dinosuaurs roamed the earth and there was no such thing as a Reissue, so he figured it was worth sending it to Gibson. Good as it was, if I were in your shoes , I'd either leave it alone or shop around .
Rick

[uwe]

I have a Felix Pappalardi pre-owned fifties EB-1 about which the myth has it that he had it refinished in cherry by Gibson. Well it is cherry and the refin is great and looks perfectly original, but that is not to say that the same standard could not have been reached in some luthier boutique.

Uwe

[Captcolour]

I had Michael Dolan do a refin on my '65 EB3.  Did an awesome job and the price was very reasonable.  Doesn't hurt to get a couple of quotes.

[rockinrayduke]

Dolan. Nuff said.