Gibson paint Question for NR Bach Thunderbird

[dc10bass]

Group...

I have had my white NR Bach Thunderbird striped down and prepped for paint.
Either going with Cardinal or Fiesta Red.
My guess from this picture is that Entwistle's bass is closer to Fiesta Red... your thoughts?

2 Questions...
Can anyone tell me the best place to get this paint?
What is the best color primer to use under Red? (White? Grey?)

Thank you!
Curt

[drbassman]

Are you doing it yourself?  Do you have spray equipment?  Do you have a paint type preference?

[dc10bass]

Are you doing it yourself?  Do you have spray equipment?  Do you have a paint type preference?

I am not doing it myself... I've got a local professional painter doing it.
What I'm looking for is more of a vintage style finish, not heavily glossy.
Not sure what Gibson used back in the mid to late 1960's, or their processing.
The painter said you will get a different look when you use grey vs. white primer, causing a darker or lighter red.
Wasn't sure what the standard was...

[Highlander]

Carlo...! Input time, please...

Someone clarify for me please...? With a solid colour how will a base coat affect it...? After all, it is not opaque...?

[dadagoboi]

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.

[dc10bass]

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=10832

Regarding 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...

[Highlander]

iirc Peter Cook was working for him then so if it was a refin it was most likely PC did it, so colours would have been similar to what he could obtain from UK sources...?

[dc10bass]

iirc Peter Cook was working for him then so if it was a refin it was most likely PC did it, so colours would have been similar to what he could obtain from UK sources...?

Agreed

[gearHed289]

Fiesta was JAE's favorite colour, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he had it re-finished. Those guys seemed to love spending money back in the day!

[Denis]

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've heard that before but am not sure that was always the case. I looked at all the photos I could find of NRs after I bought mine and I found photos of Glenn Cornick's Inverness Green NR which show the sides of the fretboard unpainted and then again I found photos of an original paint Pelham Blue NR which shows the sides of the fretboard were painted but the dots were white.
Since mine is going to be Inverness Green like Cornick's, I'm going to leave the fretboard sides unpainted.



Even better and a photo I hadn't seen before. Interestingly, this photo shows his NR without the stock pick guard and was probably taken around the time he added the second pickup and before the new custom pg was added.

[the mojo hobo]

When I bought my '66 in 1969 it was finished in Cardinal Red, sides of the fretboard finished, and it has white fret marker dots.

It had white primer under the red.

Yea, 18 year old me stripped and refinished it because the red was too gaudy.

[godofthunder]

I'd  say it's Cardinal Red or something close. Fiesta looks much more washed out.