Proper Care for Bubinga

[Tone Meister]

For those with Bubinga bodies, what do you use to oil it? I've been using lemon oil for years, but, at a gig recently, another bassist mentioned a better way to treat the wood, and as luck would have it, I forgot what he said ...

What would you consider the best care for Bubinga? Better yet, what are you doing to care for yours?

[darkstorm]

I like warwicks wax for unfinshed bodys. Is yours finished in gloss, matte, or minimal? If either of the latter two, the warwick wax would be nice choice imo.

[Tone Meister]

Thanks for the reply darkstorm. Mine has a minimal, almost natural oil finish. The body will absorb lemon oil without leaving any residue behind.

[deaconblue]

Hey Tonemeister,

I second darkstorm's rec on the warwicks wax, especially on an unfinished, or even lightly finished body. I have a fretless bass with a solid bubinga body. When I first got it I had been using the warwicks wax and had run out. I checked my pantry and found a bottle of Howard Feed-N-Wax wood preserver, which is essentially beeswax and orange oil.

When I had first picked up the bass, I liked the natural grain quite a lot and had not really heard of Bubinga wood before then. So I did a little research and found all these beautiful descriptions of the wood finish, including a 'subtle purple highlights' reference in many discussions. Mine was missing this feature. Once I rubbed a healthy dose of the wax onto the body, I started to see these purple grains showing through. Beautiful!

peace.

[SolidFooting]

Was it possibly Danish oil that he mentioned? A lot of people will use it in the same situations one might use lemon oil, and report similar results, but more longevity.