Double Bass Clean, polish, maintence

[DocBop]

I looked in the beginner stuff but didn't find anything. I just bought my first DB yesterday a used student bass. I neck is a little gunky and with a cloth I was able to clean it up some, but wonder what to use to clean and do I polish it. What about rubbing down with a 0000 steel wool and oiling???

Can someone point me to same basic Care and Feeding for DB info?

 

[toman]

Steel wool is a mess, I'd stay away. My neck is finished in danish oil over some "secret" stain. (Something to do with coffee and lemon juice, if I recall ) and when it gets grungy from, say, eating peanut butter sammiches and practicing, I just hit it with my bit of scotchbrite pad and wipe it with a damp cloth. Sure, there are probably better ways to maintain a super slick, polished finish, but this just maintains a nice smooth satin surface.

As for other stuff... well, just make sure you get any open seams or cracks glued up ASAP, keep your strings clean (scotchbrite again, imo) and your machines lubed. I use some silicone spray (carefully) for that, because it doesn't attract dirt and gunk. For overall polishing and cleaning, I just ignore it. My luthier is anal and whenever my bass goes in for some tweaking, it comes back clean and shiny. Not that I really care...

 

[DocBop]

Steel wool is a mess, I'd stay away. My neck is finished in danish oil over some "secret" stain. (Something to do with coffee and lemon juice, if I recall ) and when it gets grungy from, say, eating peanut butter sammiches and practicing, I just hit it with my bit of scotchbrite pad and wipe it with a damp cloth. Sure, there are probably better ways to maintain a super slick, polished finish, but this just maintains a nice smooth satin surface.

As for other stuff... well, just make sure you get any open seams or cracks glued up ASAP, keep your strings clean (scotchbrite again, imo) and your machines lubed. I use some silicone spray (carefully) for that, because it doesn't attract dirt and gunk. For overall polishing and cleaning, I just ignore it. My luthier is anal and whenever my bass goes in for some tweaking, it comes back clean and shiny. Not that I really care...

Thanks I've get a Scottbrite pad for the neck. I think who ever had this bass before me was in the Jaco school of chicken grease on the fingers. I used an old t-shirt today and neck is not as sticky.