Double Bass Bass Care

[Simon Marsh]

Another (probably) daft question from a novice - but is there anything I should be doing to / applying to the bass (fingerboard especially?) in terms of protecting it / helping give it a longer life? I remember putting some sort of oil on the fretboard of my guitars when I used to play. Any advice greatly appreciated, as ever!

 

[perogato02]

sing song for it before it goes to sleep
But seriously: Putting oil on your fingerboard keeps it (more or less, depends how dirty YOU are) clean and shiny and lengthens the life span of your strings ...
To be honest, I've never taken care of my fingerboards in the 15+ years I play bass and they are still there and playable ... but dirty

 

[Simon Marsh]

Thanks - I feel daft for singing it a lullaby every night now though!!

 

[Marc Piane]

Wipe it down with a towel after you play. Strings and fingerboard. Occasionally I breathe on a dirty spot (like I am cleaning my sunglasses) and put a little elbow grease into it. Cleans thing up nicely.

I don't think oil extends the life of strings. I actually put a little mineral oil on a new set of Spiros to try to get 'em to settle down.

I used to do the oil thing but I find this method works just as well. If you do decide to use oil don't use lemon oil. It attracts too much dirt. I found mineral oil works best. It can be found in the pharmacy and is really cheap.

If you keep up with it you'll never have to get out the oil though. Some people even suggest using oil or rubbling alcohol and really fine steel wool. Works great but 15 minutes I'd rather spend practicing.

 

[drurb]

Wipe it down with a towel after you play.

This has been my practice and my fingerboard stays clean and shiny. I leave any cleaning/oiling of the fingerboard (if ever) to my luthier when he sees the bass for its routine "check-ups."

 

[dave79]

The standard practice is rubbing alcohol and a rag on the strings and lower fretboard to remove rosin. Wrap it around tight and get those super painful piercing sounds from the strings. Aside from that, and of course the occasional wipe-off of the strings after a long practice or a gig, you really shouldn't worry too much about your fingerboard if its ebony unless you've got a ridiculously expensive bass.

 

[drurb]

Don't know about "standard practice," but I try to keep alcohol away from any wood.

 

[dave79]

Prob should have mentioned to keep the alcohol away from the body, thought that was somewhat intuitive. Standard practice would be at all the universities and symphonies I've played at, but maybe thats just chance.

 

[dave79]

The funny thing is that I put fretboard.

 

[dave79]

And speaking of whats best for the wood (yeah, I'm blowing this forum up), that would actually be lemon oil. I don't use it on my upright but its the only thing I use on instruments that I keep in cases (ES-175, 64 strat, K Smith, etc.). There's so much dust around this part of the country, I wouldn't put any oil on my upright.

 

[drurb]

Yeah, I noticed the "fretboard" thing. IIRC, a few years ago there were a bunch of threads about lemon oil. Depending upon who was doing the talking, it was either the best or the worst thing ever to put on your bass. I'm too lazy at the moment to go and find the threads. In any case, I only occasionally will use an instrument polish. Most of the time, I just wipe the bass down with a clean, soft cloth.

 

[dave79]

Yeah, I might search for those forums myself. It was only two days ago that I was changing strings on my Eminence EUB and realized that the fingerboard was really dirty, looked over at the lemon oil and thought hmmm maybe. I had a rehearsal in the next hour so I just scrubbed it down with rubbing alcohol fearing slipperiness. My experience with lemon oil is definitely restricted to fretted instruments. Makes me wonder about fretless basses, uprights, etc.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Very occasional use of mineral oil is acceptable. As in once a year or less.

The rest of the time, take care of your expensive strings and instrument by wiping with a piece of towel or T-shirt after you play, especially if you're a damp-handed player!

 

[mattfong]

This may very well be an extremely stupid question. I apologize if it is, but I though't I'd ask anyways.

I have a Jim Dunlop guitar polish for my BGs and guitars. Formula No. 65 if any of you are familiar. It says it contains 'emollients'. No ingredients or anything.

Safe for the top of my bass to clean the rosin dust off and polish it in general? Yay? Nay?

 

[Jake deVilliers]

There are no stupid questions Matt.

I would suspect that 65 of having silicone in it but don't really know for sure.
You're talking about your newish Eastman, right?

Stewart Macdonald sells a polish that they guarantee not to contain silicone.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

It would be a safer choice in the event that your finish needs some work.

 

[mattfong]

Thanks Jake, and yeah it's for my Eastman. Made in '05.

I'll check that site out. Theres rosin dust all over the lower bout thats been there since I bought it and it's starting to bug me. Is silicone bad for spirit varnishes?

I may also email Dunlop to see whats in the polish I've got, I'm curious.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Petz Rosin Cleaner looks like a good bet - Link Removed

Or you could try turpentine on the rosin too, or lighter fluid, but please TRY IT on an inconspicuous spot before slathering it all over the front of your DB!

I can't tell from here what your finish is so....don't blame me if you wreck it.

 

[Damon Rondeau]

Don't know about "standard practice," but I try to keep alcohol away from any wood.

Alcohol isn't going to hurt wood -- it evaporates very quickly and there isn't anything it can do to wood that will hurt it. Well, if you submerse it in tub of alcohol and leave it soak there, that wouldn't be good, but you could say the same for water, gasoline, chocolate milk, etc....

Here's the big caveat: if you've got a shellac finish then you've got to keep alcohol away from it, as it will dissolve shellac. Shellac is applied by dissolving it in alcohol. Very quickly upon application the alcohol evaporates, leaving behind a film of shellac. Millions of wood articles have been finished in exactly that manner. Alcohol will not hurt the wood at all.

I am no fan at all of applying any kind of oil to finished wood -- I just think it's unnecessary and I dislike the slick, greasy feel it leaves behind. To clean the skin gunk off my fingerboard I use alcohol -- it's very effective and it leaves behind no yucky residues.

After-thought: I have no idea how alcohol reacts with any of the blackening dyes that may have been used on a fingerboard. Does that stuff come off?

Yet another after-note: I've just consulted my copy of Flexner's book on wood finishing and I see my lack of experience with nitro lacquer has betrayed me. It seems as if alcohol will in fact dissolve lacquer but, according to Flexner, not very well on its own. The overall point is the same, though: alcohol may pose a danger to some wood finishes (namely, evaporative finishes like shellac and maybe lacquer), but not to wood itself.

 

[mattfong]

Petz Rosin Cleaner looks like a good bet - Link Removed

Or you could try turpentine on the rosin too, or lighter fluid, but please TRY IT on an inconspicuous spot before slathering it all over the front of your DB!

I can't tell from here what your finish is so....don't blame me if you wreck it.

lol I'll pass on the poisonous/flammable stuff

I emailed Dunlop for the ingredients and I'll probably buy something made for basses/violin family anyways. I've got spirit varnish on my bass if that helps.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Matt, ALL the good stuff is either poisonous or flammable!

I use both turps and lighter fluid to take rosin off the instruments that I deal with both here and for Long & McQuade and it doesn't hurt then one bit.

Please post the ingredients for the Dunlop No. 65 if they send them to you. Thanks, Jake