I've got a couple highway 1 j basses and all I've ever done to keep them smudge free is wipe them down with the yellow polishing cloth that came with them.
On my ESP with clear satin spault maple finish I really don't have to do anything to keep it looking good. I seriously don't even remember the last time I wiped down the body because nothing shows on it. My yamaha with gloss black finish though.. It's impossible to keep smudge free and clean. My preference to either is microfibre cloth which I very very lightly wet with a few sprays of water.