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A friend has a Christopher upright bass that has a very glossy finish. I am assuming that it is lacquer? He wants to dull it down some. What is the best/safest way to do this?

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

He can either gig with it for 40 years doing recitals in a church band and storing it in between times at a child care centre, gig with it professionally for 2 years in a working jazz band, or bash the crap out of it with a 3' length of 1/4" link chain and rub it down with 0000 steel wool, all will give a remarkably similar patina.

Cheers

Kim

Casey,
Not an expert but I do have some experience with creating distressed effects. I worked briefly with a violin maker who had a customer return a brand new violin saying he loved it, but make it look 300 years old so I can pretend it is a real Strad. The builder hated it, but did the work. What he tried to do is reenact 300 years of use and abuse. He used an old bow to bang the C bouts as if it had been done through bowing. He gently bounced a chisel and a screwdriver to make some dents, and scratches on the surface all around. Then all the scratches and dents got dirt rubbed into them, dirt being him rubbing all different dry colors into a corner of his bench, then rubbing a rag into the dirt and into the scratches. Steel wool was used to create wear where the hands would rub it.

I have tried the beat it with a chain on my window product, did not work for me. On my windows, I blister the finish lightly with a heat gun, don't think I would do that to an instrument. My other trick is using some different dark liquid stains in spots, then misting with thinner and rubbing off. This allows some dirt or color to get into the cracks and has worked for me on windows.

Creating an authentic distressed or antiqued look is difficult, but rewarding if it comes out well.

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I generally have no trouble making a finish look old and dinged up..... It's making a finish look smooth, even, and clean that I have trouble with.....

In no particular order....

I suggest spraying the finish outside on a windy day...
Make sure the dog is around and feeling playful..... Have plenty of sticks nearby...
Make sure you hang up the Guitar in question under a large nut tree....

Once the finish is on..... Sit it on any flat surface in the house and don't worry too much about people setting things on it.... Some suggestions are:
Wool Coats
Shoes
Dog toys
Beer cans
Drink glasses

Once the finish is all the way cured... Stand it up against some furniture in the middle of a high traffic room... Give everyone in the house strict instructions that they need to pick it back up if they knock it over.....

Let the kids and their friends play with it outside...

And finally... Lend it to one of your smoker friends... Tell them it is a new wooden ash tray you are working on....

Thanks

dont know if this will help you or not since the finish is already on it, but what i do for making an instrument look like it has checked after 40-50 years of sitting around is i shoot the finish first of what it would be, say a burst. it can be done in nitro. clear it with acrylic lacquer, which still looks fine, and THEN, clear it again with nitro. the whole finish will check like a 50s les paul. you can then wipe some amber stain on the finish after its cured to get it into the checks, start lightly and go to the desired look.......of course, it will still look like a new finish, so it all comes down to sanding and polishing, and if you want to "relic" it......

in the case of that bass, i would hit it with 0000 steel wool, if its not enough, try 000, and so on. i use that technique to give a satin finish on glossy necks.