Ibanez BTB and transparent black flat finish

[dax21]

I have couple of questions about finish maintenance. Excuse my lack of knowledge in this particular area in advance, I can hold my own when it comes down to basses/amps/pedals but I never really gotten particularly into wood finishes and related matter.

My BTB700 has what Ibanez calls transparent black finish. What kind of products should I use for cleaning it? I ask because I know that use of wrong wax/polish/whatever can damage the finish. Back of the neck is slightly different, I guess it's lacquered because it has a bit of glossy shine to it. It's really hard to capture the character of it on photos, and my camera is pretty bad but it will have to do.




Also, the first layer of finish is getting stripped down on the areas of the body where I'm mostly in contact with the bass, above the pickup where I rest my thumb and around knobs. So there are some glossy stains now on those places. I know it's fairly normal for basses with satin/natural finishes since it's a common thing to see on used Warwicks for an instance. It can be seen here:



My question is if there is some kind of polish that can revert those spots to the original state?

I asked this on the official Ibanez forums but that place is pretty much dead and I've gotten no replies.

Thanks in advance guys.

[fourstringbliss]

Originally Posted by dax21

I have couple of questions about finish maintenance. Excuse my lack of knowledge in this particular area in advance, I can hold my own when it comes down to basses/amps/pedals but I never really gotten particularly into wood finishes and related matter.

My BTB700 has what Ibanez calls transparent black finish. What kind of products should I use for cleaning it? I ask because I know that use of wrong wax/polish/whatever can damage the finish. Back of the neck is slightly different, I guess it's lacquered because it has a bit of glossy shine to it. It's really hard to capture the character of it on photos, and my camera is pretty bad but it will have to do.




Also, the first layer of finish is getting stripped down on the areas of the body where I'm mostly in contact with the bass, above the pickup where I rest my thumb and around knobs. So there are some glossy stains now on those places. I know it's fairly normal for basses with satin/natural finishes since it's a common thing to see on used Warwicks for an instance. It can be seen here:



My question is if there is some kind of polish that can revert those spots to the original state?

I asked this on the official Ibanez forums but that place is pretty much dead and I've gotten no replies.

Thanks in advance guys.

It's probably a thin lacquer finish. SR500's and some older model BTB's had a thin lacquer finish. You might be able to take everything off the body and spray it with some satin polyurethane lacquer.

[dax21]

Thanks for the input. It doesn't bother me that much so I think refinish would be a bit of an overkill right now, but I'll definitely keep it in mind.

[PatQ]

I don't think there is anything wearing off, it's just the grease from your hands that make it glossy.

[dax21]

Well that's a possibility too I guess, but I did try to clean it and it was a no-go.

Any advices on general maintenance of the wood, what polish should I use etc?