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Basic maintenance

I

Inverse Kinetix

Jul 12, 2012
168
0
#1
Hi, just a couple of probably simple questions,

1: Should strings/fretboard be cleaned regularly? if so, what should be used?

2: The neck on my bass feels a bit "sticky" now, by thumb doesn't slide a smoothly as it did, is there some kind of wax (like that used for a pool cue) that could help with this?

3: Any other basic maintenance tips I should know?

Thanks for any advice

IK
 
#2
If you wipe the bass down very good after every use, you will probably never need to do a major cleaning. But if you are replacing strings then that is an excellent opportunity to really clean the fretboard. On Rosewood boards, buffing frets and wood with 0000 steel wool is a common way and final cleaning with Lemon oil to rejuvenate the wood is good.
The back of the neck can also be cleaned with steel wool and then buffed with a dry cloth.
Most bodies are finished in Poly Urethane which can be cleaned and polished with auto polish products. If it's an oil finish then you need to treat it with oil (furniture polish)
 
#4
1) You'll get many different reads on this. The answer may depend on whether you like live or dead strings, and your body chemistry.

It appears from past posts that some people's body chemistry and perspiration causes oxidation faster than others. I'm not so afflicted, so for me the answer is "no" to both. I like old flats, and the oldest set on one bass is 40 years. They've never been cleaned and neither has the fretboard, because neither have been dirty as far as I can tell.

If you like eating fried chicken or BBQ while playing (no joke, some do) then you may have to clean both...for obvious reasons.

But some folks seem to like bright zingy strings, and they boil them, treat them with alcohol, and do other things. Someone will have more helpful comments about that approach.

2) For a "sticky" neck feel, many people use something like a Scotchbrite pad to scuff the neck finish lightly; evidently this reduces the stickiness. I haven't heard of anyone using wax, but that might work just as well and it's not a permanent change to the finish.
 
#5
Thanks for the info.

That actually brings up another point, perhaps it might help with something I posted about in another thread.


I just recently bought a mij Jazz and of course am using it with the strings that came with it. I have no idea what they are other than being round wound. It sounds good overall, but I am not keen on my perceived difference in "weight" between the E and G strings, it seems like the G is too "twangy"/bright and the E is too "floppy"/loose. I don't know the correct terminology, sorry. It just seems like they don't belong together.

Perhaps it's just my lack of experience, I don't know.... I think I would like something that is a bit tighter, if that's possible.

Ideally I want to try and get the sound in the following track for the time being.



Any ideas on what I could do?
 
#7
Pilgrim said:
1) You'll get many different reads on this.

2) For a "sticky" neck feel, many people use something like a Scotchbrite pad to scuff the neck finish lightly; evidently this reduces the stickiness. I haven't heard of anyone using wax, but that might work just as well and it's not a permanent change to the finish.
Click to expand...

I may be the exception to your rule here, but I heavily wax all my necks and quite frankly, it last a long long time.

Just make sure to really PRESS hard when you apply REAL carnauba wax (notice the spelling of that wax!) to burnish it into the finish as a hard shell.

Inverse Kinetix said:
Thanks for the info.

That actually brings up another point, perhaps it might help with something I posted about in another thread.

I just recently bought a mij Jazz and of course am using it with the strings that came with it. I have no idea what they are other than being round wound. It sounds good overall, but I am not keen on my perceived difference in "weight" between the E and G strings, it seems like the G is too "twangy"/bright and the E is too "floppy"/loose. I don't know the correct terminology, sorry. It just seems like they don't belong together.

Perhaps it's just my lack of experience, I don't know.... I think I would like something that is a bit tighter, if that's possible.

Ideally I want to try and get the sound in the following track for the time being.



Any ideas on what I could do?
Click to expand...


You DO know that the G string has to be and is thinner because it creates a higher pitched note - right?

If you don't like the feel of those strings, there are scads of brands and thickness that you can buy to see which you like.

Kinda expensive to use The Columbus Method for string research though (Seek, and Ye shall find), but you'll eventually home in on a brand you like - eventually.

Welcome to Frustration and G.A.S Land. :D
 
#9
Inverse Kinetix said:
I am not keen on my perceived difference in "weight" between the E and G strings, it seems like the G is too "twangy"/bright and the E is too "floppy"/loose.
Click to expand...

String manufacturers have long relied on the status quo when it comes to string gauges, although times are changing. The old standard string gauges resulted in D and G strings of higher tension than the E and A strings, for the most part, and string companies continued to produce what bass players were used to as opposed to what actually made sense.

But today, there are some better options. At Circle K, you can get rounds that are better matched in terms of tension. Other string makers are also offering gauges that are better matched in terms of tension. So, shop around and try to read up on string gauges here.
 
#10
flatb said:
You could use a hair dryer to soften the carnauba wax and help spread it.
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly when I took a summer of 1966 job at Pro Wax in Santa Ana, California, the melting point of carnauba was around 420ºF - so that may not be the best idea - to use a heater to melt it.

It may have been the processing heat though - come to think of it. But I know we had huge vat-grinder heaters there for the purpose of grinding it into a paste mixed with some other esters as a vehicle.

If you can melt the wax you think is carnauba, then it prolly isn't real carnauba but carnuba instead which is a synthetic, it would be better using a candle instead.
 
#11
Melt and re-pour Carnauba paste wax
Invalid Link Removed

- I heated some water, to almost boiling, ...
- Placed the jar into the water for a make-shift double-boiler.
- Didn't take too long to start melting.

Water boiling point is around 212° F.
 
#12
I just read that link and they spoke of oil separation in the week or so after it was re-congealed.

I know we had a hard time getting the carnauba flakes to melt until they were finely ball-milled and then heated over much more heat than boiling water though.

I suspect that there is an adulterant in the wax to keep it miscible at room temperature.

I'll keep an open mind concerning the melting point - but I know I had to really use a lot of heat to get those wax flakes to melt.
 
#13
Carnauba Wax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnauba_wax

Carnauba consists mostly of aliphatic esters (40 wt%), diesters of 4-hydroxycinnamic acid (21.0 wt%), ω-hydroxycarboxylic acids (13.0 wt%), and fatty acid alcohols (12 wt%). The compounds are predominantly derived from acids and alcohols in the C26-C30 range. Distinctive for carnauba wax is the high content of diesters as well as methoxycinnamic acid.

Carnauba wax is sold in several grades, labeled T1, T2, and T4, depending on the purity level. Purification is accomplished by filtration, centrifugation, and bleaching.

Melting point: 82–86 °C (180–187 °F), among the highest of natural waxes, higher than beeswax, 62-64C.
 

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